External disk icon still stuck on desktop after removal

BlooHorse wrote:

An external drive keeps returning to my desktop every time I restart, and the drive isn't attached to the computer.

Wondering how to remove that icon permanently without having to eject it every time after a restart.

I've tried connecting the original external drive again and ejecting both partitions (in various orders, and both drives ejected at the same time) but to no avail. Actually when I plug in the external drive I then see the unwanted icon and the new icons of the two partitions. Also, the unwanted external drive icon has the same graphic as my computer's hard drive, and not the usual graphic of an external disk.

?

Try a SafeBoot How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support will sort many anomalies