Sandisk problem

[Tara K.]

Hi,

I've contacted Sandisk about this, it's a minor problem, but I'd like to
know the fix if there is one.

I've got a Sandisk Cruzer micro 256mb USB drive. It will plug in and unplug
fine through the hardware removal wizard, no problem with writing files,
etc. However, if I try to eject the drive by right-clicking in windows
explorer I get an error of "An error was encountered trying to remove . . .
"

The USB controller is an Intel 82801eb.

Sandisk's suggestion was that it is a permissions problem, but it's not. I'm
an administrator on this machine, but just in case, I checked the settings
in group policies, as suggested by Sandisk, and as referenced here:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;256592&Product=win2000

There are no obvious problems there either.

I don't have the same issue with other makes of flash drive.

Anyone have any suggestions?

TK

 

[Rodney Kelp]

What is there to eject?

 

[Tara K.]

Full error message:

"An error was encountered trying to remove 'Removable Disk (F'".

TK

 

[Tom J]

Full error message:

"An error was encountered trying to remove 'Removable Disk (F'".

There is no eject on the SanDisk case. You are trying to do something that
is not there. Just take a finger and thumb and pull the disk out!!

Now, it's a "removable" disk because it's plugged into the USB port and not
fastened into the case, but removing it from the computer just requires you
to "pull the plug".

Tom J
that's the way my SanDisk setup works

 

[Tara K.]

There is no eject on the SanDisk case. You are trying to do something that
is not there. Just take a finger and thumb and pull the disk out!!

Riiiiiiight.

Maybe I wasn't clear enough in my original post.

There is no physical "eject" for flash drives. There is, however, two ways
to safely remove a USB device under XP:

1. Use the "Safely Remove Hardware" wizard (accessed from the system tray)
to unplug the device.

2. If we're talking about a "removable storage device" (which we are) one
can additionally unplug the device by right-clicking on it in Windows
Explorer and selecting "eject". At least, one can do this with all other USB
flash drives - other than Sandisk.

Now, why do we do this?

1. Because it makes sure that any files being written or read from the drive
are completely written to the drive, and not still cached in memory while
the OS gets around to writing them.

2. Because if you don't, it shortens the life of the drive (as using the
safely remove hardware wizard or ejecting through WE effectively turns off
power to that port - would you yank the cord out of the wall to turn off
your telly? You would? Remind me not to buy a telly from you, k?)

If you like, I can come over there, insert this drive somewhere that
suggests itself in reading your reply, and you can have a go at it yourself.
If you're not just being a smart b*st*rd, and really don't understand why
this is important, then I apologise in advance. But at the moment, I'm
thinking, if Sandisk can't even get something this basic correct, then I'm
certainly not going to be buying their products in the future, or
recommending them to my clients.

Unless it really is a windows issue. Which is why I asked the question here.

Now, it's a "removable" disk because it's plugged into the USB port and
not fastened into the case, but removing it from the computer just
requires you to "pull the plug".

Anyone else got any suggestions?

TK

 

[Tom J]

Riiiiiiight.

Maybe I wasn't clear enough in my original post.

There is no physical "eject" for flash drives. There is, however, two ways
to safely remove a USB device under XP:

My SanDisk drive is a 4 port drive that takes all size cards. My drive has
an "active" light that plainly indicates when the drive is being activated.
My digital camera that has a SanDisk card also has an "active" light that
tells me when it is being activated. In using these cards for over 4 years,
I have never had a problem from just removing the card or the drive or
camera as long as the activity light is not on. I just don't see what YOUR
problem is, because it's not a windows or SanDisk problem, not for me
anyway!!

I deleted the rest of your rant because it was not very becoming. :-(

Tom J

 

[Tara K.]

My SanDisk drive is a 4 port drive that takes all size cards. My drive has
an "active" light that plainly indicates when the drive is being
activated. My digital camera that has a SanDisk card also has an "active"
light that tells me when it is being activated. In using these cards for
over 4 years, I have never had a problem from just removing the card or
the drive or camera as long as the activity light is not on. I just don't
see what YOUR problem is, because it's not a windows or SanDisk problem,
not for me anyway!!

And because it's not a problem for you, it's not a problem for me, with a
totally different piece of hardware, and a totally different issue?

I deleted the rest of your rant because it was not very becoming. :-(

Your reply was less than helpful, not to mention smart-mouthed. Please try
to read people's posts more carefully in the future and you'll avoid getting
flamed.

And the "rant", as you call it, is good practice for most USB hot swap
devices.

TK