Safely removing removable USB drives

[Eldritch]

I've been occassionally using a removable "flash" drive to move data
between computers. (By flash drive, I mean a little gizmo which acts
like a disk drive which you plug into a USB port.)


Until recently an icon has appeared on my task bar when the drive is
installed and active. You need to click on this icon to activate the
dialog boxes to uninstall the drive before you physically unplug it from
the USB socket. You get a message that "It is now SAFE" to remove the
drive.

My problem is that the icon is disappearing. There are other icons
there. And I have unchecked the preference to hide inactive icons, so I
don't know why it's missing in action. However, without the icon, I
really don't know what bad things will happen if the drive is removed
before it is safe. I've been shutting my laptop down before removing
the drive. Very inconvenient.


Is there an altervative way to uninstall the flash drive which doesn't
require the icon?


E

 

[Will Hoenig]

I use a flash drive too, and it works just fine if I just pull it out. My
FD is made by Lexar, and it may differ if you can just pull it out
brand-by-brand. If you want to safely remove it, just go to My Computer.
Then, left click on the flash drive and click eject. Even the drive will
still appear in My Computer, you can safely pull it out.

 

[Robin Walker [MVP]]

Until recently an icon has appeared on my task bar when the drive is
installed and active. You need to click on this icon to activate the
dialog boxes to uninstall the drive before you physically unplug it
from the USB socket. You get a message that "It is now SAFE" to
remove the drive.

My problem is that the icon is disappearing.

This is a long-standing bug in XP: that random Notification Area icons are
not properly displayed. For a workaround, log out, and log in again (do not
restart).

 

[Eldritch]

I use a flash drive too, and it works just fine if I just pull it out. My
FD is made by Lexar, and it may differ if you can just pull it out
brand-by-brand. If you want to safely remove it, just go to My Computer.
Then, left click on the flash drive and click eject. Even the drive will
still appear in My Computer, you can safely pull it out.

Thanks for the suggestion, however, attempting to eject the flash drive
I'm using only results in an error message.


E

 

[Eldritch]

This is a long-standing bug in XP: that random Notification Area icons are
not properly displayed.

That's good to know. I've noticed other icons disappearing and have
wondered whether my Windows had gotten corrupted.

For a workaround, log out, ....

I tried this, but the icon does not reappear. I'm doing this on my
laptop. Windows XP Professional. The flash drive: ScanDisk Cruzer
Mini 256 MB. I only have one profile one this computer, but it does go
through a re-log-on procedure.


Any other suggestions or workarounds?

... and log in again (do not restart).

Is restarting a bad thing to do?


In general, what bad things happen if I just unplug the flash drive
before Windows tells me it's safe?



E