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Why does unplugging USB stick WITHOUT dismount destroys always data?

 
 
Jason Stacy
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      21st Oct 2008
According to the USB specification I should always be able to unplug an USB stick
from my computers without having arsik to loose data.

But this is not the case.

Whenever I copy something onto my USB stick and plug the USB stick out
then all the just copied data is lost.

Is occurs with different USB sticks and on different computers (under WinXP).

To prevent data loss I always have to dismount the USB stick first (by clicking on
the icon in the Systray).

Is there a way to enable "quick unplug" without having to dismount first?

Maybe there is an option to allow this.

J.

 
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philo
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      21st Oct 2008

"Jason Stacy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:48fe376e$0$16190$(E-Mail Removed)...
> According to the USB specification I should always be able to unplug an

USB stick
> from my computers without having arsik to loose data.
>
> But this is not the case.
>
> Whenever I copy something onto my USB stick and plug the USB stick out
> then all the just copied data is lost.
>
> Is occurs with different USB sticks and on different computers (under

WinXP).
>
> To prevent data loss I always have to dismount the USB stick first (by

clicking on
> the icon in the Systray).
>
> Is there a way to enable "quick unplug" without having to dismount first?
>
> Maybe there is an option to allow this.
>
> J.
>



Play it safe and properly disconnect the drive


 
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John Wunderlich
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      21st Oct 2008
(E-Mail Removed) (Jason Stacy) wrote in
news:48fe376e$0$16190$(E-Mail Removed):

> According to the USB specification I should always be able to
> unplug an USB stick from my computers without having arsik to
> loose data.
>
> But this is not the case.
>
> Whenever I copy something onto my USB stick and plug the USB stick
> out then all the just copied data is lost.
>
> Is occurs with different USB sticks and on different computers
> (under WinXP).
>
> To prevent data loss I always have to dismount the USB stick first
> (by clicking on the icon in the Systray).
>
> Is there a way to enable "quick unplug" without having to dismount
> first?
>
> Maybe there is an option to allow this.
>
> J.
>
>


The only option that comes close is to double-click "My Computer",
right-click on your USB drive -> Hardware (Tab) -> Select USB Drive ->
Properties -> Policies (Tab).

.... but usually "Quick Removal" is the default.

HTH,
John
 
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Tom Stephenson
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      22nd Oct 2008
Jason Stacy wrote:
> According to the USB specification I should always be able to unplug an USB stick
> from my computers without having arsik to loose data.
>
> But this is not the case.
>
> Whenever I copy something onto my USB stick and plug the USB stick out
> then all the just copied data is lost.
>
> Is occurs with different USB sticks and on different computers (under WinXP).
>
> To prevent data loss I always have to dismount the USB stick first (by clicking on
> the icon in the Systray).
>
> Is there a way to enable "quick unplug" without having to dismount first?
>
> Maybe there is an option to allow this.
>
> J.
>

You have to FLUSH the buffers (cache) so that the data is actually
written to the USB stick. That is why you should eject then remove.

Tom S.
 
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JS
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      22nd Oct 2008
Try using this utility before you unplug.
Sync v2.0
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s.../bb897438.aspx

JS
http://www.pagestart.com


"Jason Stacy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:48fe376e$0$16190$(E-Mail Removed)...
> According to the USB specification I should always be able to unplug an
> USB stick
> from my computers without having arsik to loose data.
>
> But this is not the case.
>
> Whenever I copy something onto my USB stick and plug the USB stick out
> then all the just copied data is lost.
>
> Is occurs with different USB sticks and on different computers (under
> WinXP).
>
> To prevent data loss I always have to dismount the USB stick first (by
> clicking on
> the icon in the Systray).
>
> Is there a way to enable "quick unplug" without having to dismount first?
>
> Maybe there is an option to allow this.
>
> J.
>



 
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Jim
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      22nd Oct 2008

"Jason Stacy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:48fe376e$0$16190$(E-Mail Removed)...
> According to the USB specification I should always be able to unplug an
> USB stick
> from my computers without having arsik to loose data.
>
> But this is not the case.
>
> Whenever I copy something onto my USB stick and plug the USB stick out
> then all the just copied data is lost.
>
> Is occurs with different USB sticks and on different computers (under
> WinXP).
>
> To prevent data loss I always have to dismount the USB stick first (by
> clicking on
> the icon in the Systray).
>
> Is there a way to enable "quick unplug" without having to dismount first?
>
> Maybe there is an option to allow this.
>
> J.
>

The reason is that the copy operation may not be complete when control
returns to you. Hence, use the "safely remove hardware" button.
Another way would be to shutdown the computer, but such an operation seems a
bit drastic.
Jim


 
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Arno Wagner
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      22nd Oct 2008
In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage Jason Stacy <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> According to the USB specification I should always be able to unplug
> an USB stick from my computers without having arsik to loose data.


Where did you read that? Since it is a technical impossibility
without using special filesystems, I highly doubt they put it
in there...

> But this is not the case.


> Whenever I copy something onto my USB stick and plug the USB stick out
> then all the just copied data is lost.


> Is occurs with different USB sticks and on different computers (under WinXP).


> To prevent data loss I always have to dismount the USB stick first
> (by clicking on the icon in the Systray).


> Is there a way to enable "quick unplug" without having to dismount first?


> Maybe there is an option to allow this.


No. There is an option to reduce the time after a write that you have
to wait. If you unplug during writing, you can cause an arbitrary
amount of damage, including loss of the filesystem.

What youa re observing is write buffering. You can disable that,
but you are still only safe if you either unmount or wait
long enough after each write.

Arno
 
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Harry331
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Posts: n/a
 
      22nd Oct 2008
Jason Stacy wrote...
>
>According to the USB specification I should always be able to unplug an USB

stick
>from my computers without having arsik to loose data.
>
>But this is not the case.
>
>Whenever I copy something onto my USB stick and plug the USB stick out
>then all the just copied data is lost.
>
>Is occurs with different USB sticks and on different computers (under WinXP).
>
>To prevent data loss I always have to dismount the USB stick first (by

clicking on
>the icon in the Systray).
>
>Is there a way to enable "quick unplug" without having to dismount first?
>
>Maybe there is an option to allow this.



Googling your $Subject line ... and you're already here.

http://forums.techarena.in/xp-hardware/1058957.htm


 
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Ed Light
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      22nd Oct 2008

Plug in the usb drive and wait several seconds. Right click on the usb
drive in windows explorer or equivalent and choose properties. Click on
the hardware tab. Click on the usb drive. Click on properties. Click on
policies.

I assume it's set to optimize for performance. Change it to optimize for
quick removal.

This turns off write cacheing, meaning that it no longer saves the data
to memory and feeds it to the usb drive as it will take it. The usb
drive now has to take on the whole file before the application con be
finished writing it.


--
Ed Light

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Mike S.
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      22nd Oct 2008

In article <48fe376e$0$16190$(E-Mail Removed)>,
Jason Stacy <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>According to the USB specification I should always be able to unplug an
>USB stick
>from my computers without having arsik to loose data.
>
>But this is not the case.
>
>Whenever I copy something onto my USB stick and plug the USB stick out
>then all the just copied data is lost.
>
>Is occurs with different USB sticks and on different computers (under WinXP).


USB devices are designed for hot plugging, but AFAIK there is no way to
tell an application that is writing to the drive, that it needs to stop
because someone has just yanked it out of the socket. Also, if the drive
is configured by Windows for performance, then write cacheing is in effect
which delays the write process until the system is idle ... when you may
already have unplugged the drive before that occurs.

>To prevent data loss I always have to dismount the USB stick first (by
>clicking on
>the icon in the Systray).
>
>Is there a way to enable "quick unplug" without having to dismount first?
>
>Maybe there is an option to allow this.


Yes, under the hardware properties for the drive, select "optimize for
quick removal". This will turn off write cacheing which may reduce the
chances of data corruption after unsafe removal.




 
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