Jump to content

safely remove device


martins

Recommended Posts

Hi,

I used to left click the "safely remove device" icon in xp to turn off my usb stick. This method seems not really to work in vista... After I do that my usb stick just blinks several times or it is as if I do nothing... To make the dialog "it is safe to remove..." appears, I have to double click the icon and turn off the device (which is 3 clicks more than normal)

Do you guys have this problem either?

Oh.. and the second thing... In xp you could turn the usb stick off although you are opening a folder in it with windows explorer, but in vista you have to close the explorer first. Is there any way to make it like xp?

Thx in advance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


If I left click once on the systray icon, then a moment later a tooltip sized window appears and I can click on one of the drives listed to safely remove it. If I click more then once with a left click then a window appears where you can safely remove any drive listed or get drive properties etc. If I right click on the systray icon, then appears a tooltip window to "Show Remove Hardware" which is the alternate 2 click method compared to the left double click.

Sometimes you may not know which drive letter resembles your drive so right clicking on the drive within My Computer to safely remove the drive is a good method as you also have the drive title name to recognize the drive.

:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with the OP - in XP SP2 everything worked great: one left click in the tray, then click the menu item and a little balloon tells you it's done. No need to confirm the balloon tip, it just goes away on it's own.

Now, in Vista it is very unreliable and fails a lot of the time for no reason* - additionally, they have also added the abilty to right click the drive in explorer and choose to safely remove from there. Great! However, the option has disappeared most of the time and the single left click on the tray icon now reults in a msgbox instead of a balloon so you have to acknowledge the fact that it actually worked. :puke:

*I've found the use of vLite to remove 'Windows Portable Devices' improves greatly the reliability of 'Safely Remove'. However, some may need that service for cameras etc.. Also, the right click item in explorer can be restored (most of the time) by restarting explorer. :rolleyes:

I really hope SP1 puts this right - even if it just restores the functionality and reliability that XP SP2 had. Although, if they got the explorer bit working too that'd be nice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Strange, because in Vista I have had no issues whatsoever with the Safely remove hardware - both on an older P4 mobo that only had USB 1.1 onboard, as well as my current MSI P4 board with USB 2.0.

The only time I had issues at all was when I added a USB 2.0 PCI card to the older mobo - Vista recognized it, and would recognize devices attached - but it ate my UFDs for breakfast lunch and dinner - which is why I swapped mobos in the first place.

re: the second issue, I believe that is built in to the way Vista works - the OS recognizes that you ahve the drive 'in use' by having an explorer window open - and will not allow it to be removed until that explorer window frees that UFD from being in use. I use an alternate file manager, and yet the same behavior occurs - if I have the UFD open, it will not allow me to remove it.

One thought, though - I have not allowed my UFD (a 2 GB device) to be used for ReadyBoost - is it possible that you ahve for your UFD< and thus it is not letting it go until it can clear any of the ReadyBoost stuff off the UFD?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes jamieo, I have the problem as you.... I hope SP1 would fix this...

Hi John, do you know if there are any ways to make the windows explorer not to lock the USB device? I think it is unconvenient to close the win explorer first every time I want to pull off the usb stick...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes jamieo, I have the problem as you.... I hope SP1 would fix this...

As we seem to be alone with this problem I wonder what hardware you have that is similar to mine?

I have an Asus Notebook, with these specifications:

- Motherboard F3JP

- CPU T7200

- RAM 2 GB, but I don't know from which manufactor

what hardware do you have?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes jamieo, I have the problem as you.... I hope SP1 would fix this...

Hi John, do you know if there are any ways to make the windows explorer not to lock the USB device? I think it is unconvenient to close the win explorer first every time I want to pull off the usb stick...

Sorry, Martins, I thought I had replied to this already, but appearently not....

Instead of closing Explorer, navigate to another drive - your CD / DVD (provided there is a disc in) or else to a local HD....

Another thing, is it possible that your AV is scanning the drive prior ot releasing it (old scanners, particularly Norton / Symantec, used to watch for removable media and scan them on removing, so it was just a thought).

If changing the explorer window to another drive does not alleviate the symptoms, and it is not your AV program, do you have ReadyBoost enabled? That could partially be part of the problem as well, if it is actively using it....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have an Asus Notebook, with these specifications:

- Motherboard F3JP

- CPU T7200

- RAM 2 GB, but I don't know from which manufactor

what hardware do you have?

Toshiba M30X Notebook

Pentium M 735

Intel i855 Motherboard

1GB RAM

Only thing in common seems to be Intel Centrino based Notebooks. Do you have the foloowing USB controller:

Intel® 82801DB/DBM USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller - 24CD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you have plugged USB device on Quick Removable setting. You don't need to right click or follow the step to remove any USB device. You can unplug directly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

this fix resolves some issues with the safely remove feature in Vista. Try it out, perhaps is helps you.

That one only seems to apply to using 'Eject' from within Explorer. I found KB931619 though which sounds promising...

When you click the Safely Remove Hardware icon in Windows Vista, the device in question may not be removed as expected

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That one only seems to apply to using 'Eject' from within Explorer. I found KB931619 though which sounds promising...

uh... This might be a stupid question... But how can I download this hotfix to install on a computer, which doesn't have an internet connection? I can't find the download link on the page... :unsure:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...