"safely remove hardware" tray icon appears incorrectly

[Johnl]

I've had this problem for a while with my USB modem, but
now it's happened with my printer as well (also USB).

For both items, a system tray icon appears inviting me
to "safely remove" these items. I have no intention of
removing these items, safely or otherwise, so it is a
little irritating.

It started on about the printer today. I'd unplugged my
PC and moved it to another room since I'm in the middle
of decorating, then plugged it back in to check my
email. I'd inadvertently swapped the ports I'd plugged
the items into, and then swapped them back after the
printer failed to work at all. Then the icon started
listing the printer as something it thought I should
remove. Grrrr.

I've tried selecting to remove them, then restarting, but
as soon as I start the PC with them plugged in again, it
re-appears.

Anyone else had this issue? Anyone know how to fix it?

Thanks

 

[Johnl]

-----Original Message-----
I've had this problem for a while with my USB modem, but
now it's happened with my printer as well (also USB).

For both items, a system tray icon appears inviting me
to "safely remove" these items. I have no intention of
removing these items, safely or otherwise, so it is a
little irritating.

It started on about the printer today. I'd unplugged my
PC and moved it to another room since I'm in the middle
of decorating, then plugged it back in to check my
email. I'd inadvertently swapped the ports I'd plugged
the items into, and then swapped them back after the
printer failed to work at all. Then the icon started
listing the printer as something it thought I should
remove. Grrrr.

I've tried selecting to remove them, then restarting, but
as soon as I start the PC with them plugged in again, it
re-appears.

Anyone else had this issue? Anyone know how to fix it?

Thanks

I found a couple of other posts which suggested that it
can't be removed (isn't this stored in the registry or
something - I figured there'd be a key somewhere that it
uses to populate that list. Oh well) and I should just
hide it (which I've done anyway on the Taskbar
properties).