Hello dear friends. Today I decided to touch upon another holy topic from the world of computer technology, namely, safely removing the device. Now we will try to figure out whether you really need to use safe removal, and what can happen if just pull the USB stick out of the computer.
It's interesting to see different people and how they feel about safely removing USB devices. I will say, perhaps skipping ahead, that I almost never use safe removal of flash drives.
I stick to the phrase:
“Life is too short to waste it safely removing a USB flash drive”
And most likely, someday I will regret it, having lost information, although it seems to me it is almost impossible. I safely remove flash drives only for those who are very fanatical about it, so as not to injure their psyche :).
Let's now figure out what can happen to a USB flash drive if you just pull it out of your computer? Well, many people think that the USB drive will fail. And for obvious reasons, they do not want to take risks, let's figure it out in order.
Can a USB flash drive burn if you don't use safe removal?
Can not. Why? Yes, because flash drives most often burn from a bad computer power supply, or from bad connectors. You see, a stable voltage is always supplied to the USB drive, and even when you use safe removal, the system simply stops transmitting and reading information from the flash drive, and the power does not turn off. If I am not mistaken, the power was turned off only in Windows XP.
So it's safe to remove the USB flash drive, just so that it doesn't burn out there is no point.
Another issue is information loss.
I will tell you this: if you do not pull out the flash drive at the moment when the process of writing or reading files is in progress, then it will be difficult to lose something. There is such a feature as data caching, when data is written to the device, in the background, that is, when the copying process is not in progress. But again, I speak from my own experience, with more than one year of active use of flash drives, no problems with the loss of information have happened.
But if you look from the other side, if there is such a function, if it was invented, then it is needed for something and you do not need to ignore it.
Well, if you have read this article and have just learned that there is such a function, but do not know how to use it, then I show it.
When a USB flash drive is connected, the following icon appears in the tray (lower right corner):
Just click on this icon with the mouse and select Extract "Your USB stick".
Do you often think about the correct operation of the flash drive? Indeed, in addition to such rules as "do not drop", "protect from moisture and mechanical damage", there is one more important rule. It sounds like this: you must safely remove the drive from the computer connector.
There are users who consider it superfluous to do mouse manipulations to safely remove the flash device. But if you remove the removable media from the computer incorrectly, you can not only lose all data, but also break it.
In order to properly remove the USB drive from the computer, there are several ways you can use it.
Method 1: USB Safely Remove
This method is suitable for those users who constantly work with flash drives.
With this program, you can quickly, conveniently and safely remove such devices.
Method 2: Through "This computer"
Method 3: Via the notification area
This method involves the following actions:
Your data remains intact and this is the most important thing!
Possible problems
We mentioned above that even with such a seemingly simple procedure, some problems may arise. People on the forums often write about a variety of problems. Here are just a few of them and how to solve them:
If you do not adhere to these simple operating rules, then there comes a time when files and folders disappear on the next opening of the flash drive. This happens especially often with removable media with the NTFS file system. The fact is that the operating system creates a special place for such disks to store the copied files. Therefore, the information on the drive does not get immediately. And if you remove this device incorrectly, there is a possibility of failure.
Therefore, if you do not want to lose your data, then do not forget to safely remove your USB drive. An extra couple of seconds to properly close the work with a flash drive gives you confidence in the reliability of saving information.
You can't just take and pull out a USB flash drive from a USB connector. Incorrect disconnection of any drive can lead to its breakdown and data corruption.
This is the correct way to disconnect a USB stick from your computer. If everything is done correctly, then the operating system:
- cancels all active read / write operations on the USB flash drive;
- Will "inform" all running programs that the removable disk will be disconnected;
- Will "notify" the user if it is impossible to stop interaction with the drive in some current processes.
Safe removal of a flash drive is a guarantee of the safety of the data stored on it. This is especially important if the user is encrypting information.
How do I safely remove it?
Let's look at the example of Windows 10, but in older versions this procedure is not fundamentally different.
- Through the "Taskbar"... Move the cursor to the lower right corner of the display, click on the first icon on the left (up arrow) - hidden icons will be displayed. Look for the flash drive icon there - when you move the cursor over it, "Safely Remove Hardware and Disks" will be displayed. Click on the icon with the left mouse button and click on "Eject X", where X is the name of the USB drive.
- Through the context menu... Open "This computer" and find the required flash drive in the list of removable drives. Right-click on it - a context menu will appear on the side. In the list of commands, find the "Extract" line and click it.
IMPORTANT! The above approaches should end with a system alert - "Equipment can be removed (removed)".
What problems can arise when removing a USB flash drive?
Sometimes the computer doesn't “want to let go” of the removable storage device. This is usually due to one of two factors:
- data caching... Information is not always recorded in real time, when you see a status window, where progress is displayed as a percentage. The operating system can cache the data - transfer it to RAM. In fact, writing to the drive will occur later, if there are free resources;
- process failures of individual utilities... For example, photo editors are able to constantly check the availability of pictures on drives connected to the computer. Such a process can loop. Then he needs to have access to the USB flash drive all the time and he will not "allow" to disconnect it in a safe way.
In any case, the system will notify about the impossibility of removing the drive - a corresponding message will appear. The easiest way to get out of this situation is to disable active programs and close all windows. This also applies to applications running in the background: antivirus, instant messengers, OS optimizers.
Generic volume problem
The most common difficulty with safe extraction is an error "Windows cannot stop generic volume device"... This means that there are processes that are using the drive, but the system cannot stop them automatically.
Solve generic volume problems
Safe removal shortcut error
It happens that the icon for starting safe extraction disappears in the "Taskbar".
Restore Safely Remove Icon
First of all, use manually running the extract command.
The algorithm of actions is as follows:
- hold down the key combination Windows + R - a window will appear "Run";
- copy the request to the window line "RunDll32.exe shell32.dll, Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll";
- confirm the launch by clicking on OK;
- a safe removal window will appear, where you need to select the appropriate drive and click on "Stop".
If that doesn't help, then use the official Microsoft USB Diagnostic Tool. Download , install and run the utility, then follow the instructions that appear - they are extremely simple.
If this did not help, then edit the registry, for which you need:
- start window "Run"as in the first step of the previous method;
- enter a query into the string "Regedit" and start it by clicking OK;
- in a new window, pay attention to the panel on the left, consisting of many lines - sequentially get to the line along the path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER \u003d\u003e Softaware \u003d\u003e Microsoft \u003d\u003e Windows \u003d\u003e CurrentVersion \u003d\u003e Applets \u003d\u003e SysTray;
- move your gaze to the right, where there will be 3 lines - click first "Services", in the window that appears, set the value "1b", save the changes by clicking on OK, and then do the same with the line "HotPlugsFlags", but set it to "2".
- restart your computer.
It happens that not only the safe removal icon disappears, but also the drive icon itself. Most often, this is to blame, in particular, highly specialized - authors. To combat them, perform a full scan of the system with an antivirus - preferably not free. In addition, you can use special utilities Anti-Autoran or Online Solutions Autorun Manager .
Safely Remove Hardware is typically used to remove a USB flash drive or external hard drive in Windows 7, Windows XP and Windows 8. It may happen that the Safely Remove icon disappears from the Windows taskbar - this can cause confusion and confusion, but there is nothing wrong with that. We will now put this icon back in place.
Note: In Windows 8, for devices that are identified as a Media device, the Safely Remove icon is not shown (players, Android tablets, some phones).
Usually, in order to safely remove the device in Windows, you click on the corresponding icon near the clock with the right mouse button and do it. The purpose of Safely Removing is that when you use it, you inform the operating system that you intend to remove this device (for example, a USB flash drive). In response, Windows completes all operations that could lead to data corruption. In some cases, it also stops supplying power to the device.
Failure to safely remove hardware can result in loss of data or damage to the drive. In practice, this does not happen often and there are certain things that you need to know and take into account so that this does not happen, but I will write about this sometime.
How to get the Safely Remove Hardware icon back
Sometimes, for unknown reasons, the Safely Remove icon may disappear. Even if you connect and disconnect the USB flash drive over and over again, the icon for some reason does not appear. If this happened with you (and this is most likely the case, otherwise you would not have come here), press the Win + R buttons on the keyboard and enter the following command in the Run window:
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll, Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll
This command works on Windows 7, 8 and XP. The absence of a space after the comma is not an error, it should be. After running this command, the Safely Remove Hardware dialog box that you were looking for will open.
In this window, you can, as usual, select the device that you want to disconnect and click the "Stop" button. The "side" effect of this command is that the safe-remove icon reappears where it should be.
If it continues to disappear and each time you need to re-execute the specified command to remove the device, then you can create a shortcut for this action: right-click on an empty space on the desktop, select "New" - "Shortcut" and in the "Object location »Enter the command to invoke the safe remove device dialog. In the second step of creating a shortcut, you can give it any name you want.
Another way to safely remove a device in Windows
There is another simple method that allows you to safely remove the device when the icon is not on the Windows taskbar:
I hope that the methods listed here to safely remove a portable hard drive or flash drive will be enough for you.
The Windows operating system consists of a large number of mechanisms and components that almost always work without problems. Yet sometimes something takes and falls off. It is especially unpleasant when something falls off that should not fall off in principle. The Safely Remove Hardware icon is one such mechanism. It should always be displayed if removable devices are connected to the computer. But from time to time, a Windows user may find that the desired icon has disappeared somewhere. Of course, this will not be a problem for those who go through their lives at risk and do not use secure removal of devices to disconnect their flash drives. But those who prefer not to risk the health of their carriers and information on them, do not regret two extra mouse clicks for the sake of peace of mind. It is these users who can be upset by the disappeared icon. This article will show you how to replace the Safely Remove Hardware icon in Windows 10.
How to get the Safely Remove Hardware icon back on Windows
A bit of theory. Safely removing a device in Windows 10 is a special "switch" that notifies the operating system about the user's plans to remove a USB flash drive or any other removable device. When you click on the ejectable device, Windows stops working with it, thus preventing unexpected breaks and possible data loss. Also, this mechanism can cut off the power supply to the removable device, which in turn guarantees that very safe shutdown.
If the Safely Remove Hardware icon disappeared in Windows 10, you need to start the repair using the simplest methods. First of all, make sure that the display of the cherished icon is enabled in the Taskbar Settings. You can check this as follows:
If the icon is on, but there is no safe removal of devices, proceed to the next method. It consists in using a special utility developed by Microsoft to troubleshoot USB problems in Windows computers. It can fix various USB problems on your computer, including a missing or vice versa - a permanently displayed Safe Disconnect icon even when no devices are connected.
If this method does not help either, try to get to the section of safely removing the device in another way. Like any other system component, Safely Remove Hardware in Windows 10 can be opened with the command Win + R.
In theory, removing the device using this method should return the safe removal icon to its place, but this is not confirmed information. If the icon in the notification area stubbornly disappears and you can't get it back, create a shortcut on the desktop so that you don't have to enter a long command from memory each time.
Now, when you click on the created shortcut, a menu for safely disconnecting devices will appear.
Not everyone knows, but safe removal of the device is also hidden in the context menu of a flash drive or external drive. Open File Explorer, right-click on the flash drive or drive you want to disconnect and select Extract... The system will notify you that the device can be safely removed.
There is one more method to get to the safe removal of the device:
- Again, open File Explorer, right-click on the disk or flash drive and select Properties.
- Go to the tab Equipment and click Properties.
- On the new window, click open the tab Politics and click on the link Safely Remove Hardware.
It is worth noting here that the masonry Politics in the properties of removable devices is not displayed on our computer with Windows 10 1803. Perhaps Microsoft cut it from the system in new versions of Windows. Even if this is the case, the loss is not great, since you can open the safe removal of devices using much simpler methods, even if the icon is not in its proper place. But if you have a computer running previous versions of Windows 10 or Windows 8.1 / 7, and you can't get to the Safe Shutdown section, a “detour” through the hardware properties can help you get to the desired system component.
If you know of other ways to safely disconnect a device that we did not mention in this article, please share them in the comments. Also tell us if you use this mechanism at all.
