ModerateComputerUser

I have been using Windows Vista for approx 9 months now. Recently I did my usual Microsoft updates and then all of a sudden, the 'safely remove hardware' icon appeared in my taskbar. When clicking on it, it shows my internal hard drives and my internal CD ROM drives. There is nothing else plugged in. I have it set to always hide so it is hidden but when clicking on the left arrow, it will display it. My question is how do I remove it from this tray and have it only appear when an external drive and/or ipod, etc. is plugged in. Obviously, it is showing up because of the internal items I have but to me that seems ridiculous. Any info anybody has who can help me would be appreciated...