Defender and system tray icon

[Minxii]

Today I switched on Windows Defender (for the first time) and ran a quick
scan which was fine, but I've noticed a new icon in the systems tray with a
green circle and a tick in it. When I hover the pointer over it, it says
"Safely Remove Hardware". I've looked everywhere for an explanation but can't
find any info anywhere. Can someone tell me what it means please. Also, do I
need Defender on as I have McAfee Security Centre installed on my pc. Thank
you.

 

[Charlie42]

Today I switched on Windows Defender (for the first time) and ran a
quick scan which was fine, but I've noticed a new icon in the systems tray
with a green circle and a tick in it.

The Defender system tray icon looks like a small grey castle. If ticked and
green, everything is ok. A spinning green wheel shows during scans, and your
attention is called in yellow in case an issue have to be addressed.

When I hover the pointer over it, it says "Safely Remove Hardware".

Are you sure you do not inadvertently hover over an adjacent icon? I.e. the
one that shows up when a USB device or similar is connected.

Also, do I need Defender on as I have McAfee Security Centre installed
on my pc.

Under the assumption you mean McAfee's suite, I would say it is not crucial
to do so. However, as long as you have adequate system resources available,
I would advice you to keep Defender enabled. Having a second anti-spyware
program is recommended, and the chances of any conflicts are small.

Charlie42

 

[Minxii]

Hi Charlie42. The icon that has appeared is a little grey USB connector with
a green circle and a white tick in the circle. If I click on the icon a box
pops up which has two lines. One says "safely remove (loads of
letters/numbers) Disk Device - Drives (D:,C" and the other says "safely
remove (loads of letters/numbers) Cd Rom Device - Drive (E". As I mentioned
before the icon only appeared after I enabled Windows Defender, which I have
now DISabled but the icon remains in the same place!! I have not plugged
anything into or unplugged anything from any USB ports!
Minxii.

 

[Charlie42]

Hi Charlie42. The icon that has appeared is a little grey USB connector
with a green circle and a white tick in the circle. If I click on the icon
a
box pops up which has two lines. One says "safely remove (loads of
letters/numbers) Disk Device - Drives (D:,C" and the other says "safely
remove (loads of letters/numbers) Cd Rom Device - Drive (E". As I
mentioned before the icon only appeared after I enabled Windows
Defender, which I have now DISabled but the icon remains in the same
place!! I have not plugged anything into or unplugged anything from any
USB ports!

I have seen this behaviour before, and a reboot took care of it. Before you
resort to that, right-click the taskbar and from the context menu select
Properties > System Tray tab > Customize button. Make sure the "Safely eject
hardware..." icon is set to be hidden when inactive.

As long as the drives listed (C, D, E...) actually exists on your system,
there is nothing to worry about anyway. I doubt Defender has anything to do
with this, so you might as well reenable it.

Charlie42