Is it OK to unplug USB devices without turning them off?

[OM]

I was wondering, is it OK to unplug USB devices without turning them
off?
I have several USB hard drives (hard drives in USB cases).
I just pull out the USB connection and reconnect to another PC all the
time.
Am I in danger of causing damamge to my hard drives?

Thanks.


OM

 

[Og]

There is no danger of physical damage to the drives. There is, however,
danger of data corruption on the drives when Windows has not had an
opportunity to close out its contact with the drive.

steve

 

[Anna]

I was wondering, is it OK to unplug USB devices without turning them
off?
I have several USB hard drives (hard drives in USB cases).
I just pull out the USB connection and reconnect to another PC all the
time.
Am I in danger of causing damamge to my hard drives?

Thanks.

OM

OM:
Doing what you're doing will have no effect on the drives in terms of
damaging them, but there is a chance (albeit very slight) of file
corruption. What you should do is access Device Manager, and in the Disk
drives section, identify your external drive, right-click on it and click on
Properties. Click on the Polices tab and select the "Optimize for quick
removal" option, should that option not already have been selected (it's the
default).
Anna

 

[Ron Martell]

I was wondering, is it OK to unplug USB devices without turning them
off?
I have several USB hard drives (hard drives in USB cases).
I just pull out the USB connection and reconnect to another PC all the
time.
Am I in danger of causing damamge to my hard drives?

Thanks.

When using a USB data storage device there should be an icon in the
System Tray labelled "safely remove hardware". Click on that icon to
bring up a list of the removable devices. Select the hard drive and
click on it. In a few seconds you will get a message that it is safe
to disconnect the device.

That will avoid any possibility of file corruption because files were
being updated when the drive was unplugged.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm