how to remove the "remove hardware" icon

[Aaron_]

Just a tip:

You won't see that icon anymore but if you want to use the "safely remove hardware" function, you can use this command in the "run" box:

%SystemRoot%\System32\RUNDLL32.EXE shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll

[Jito463]

What's the big deal about "Safely remove hardware"? It's not necessary so long as you make sure nothing is writing to the drive when you unplug it. As long as it's not in use, it's safe to unplug.

[Zxian]

What's the big deal about "Safely remove hardware"?  It's not necessary so long as you make sure nothing is writing to the drive when you unplug it.  As long as it's not in use, it's safe to unplug.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's actually not true... by using "Safely remove hardware" you're ensuring that all the data that was supposed to be written to the drive is there.

If you check under Device Manager, if any sort of disk caching is enabled on the USB device then you must use the "Safely Remove Hardware" to ensure that you don't end up with data corruption. Trust me... it's happened to me a number of times before I figured that one out.

Also, some digital cameras need to be "released" before unplugging them, otherwise you run the risk of damaging the USB controller on the camera.

[Jito463]

Well, so long as my flash drives aren't flashing (indicating in-use), I've never had an instance where I couldn't just unplug it and everything worked.

[DigeratiPrime]

way to go Aaron_ and ripken204, the hacked stobject.dll works perfect.

[Shark007]

Thanks for the new solution. A hacked stobject.dll does the job.

It also does a few other things, I havent decided if i can live with them yet.

1. i have several NIC's in my computer and on a clean install, the nics that

arent connected 'used to have' a tray icon with a red X on them.

This no longer appears in the tray.

2. I use broadband DSL with a username and password to access the internet.

Upon creating the account information, i 'used to have' an icon in the properties

of My Network Places for this connection. The icon no longer appears.

3. The volume control icon will no longer show in the system tray

Later . . .

Shark

Edited August 10, 2005 by Shark007

[godan]

If you use the method originally posted on this topic, the one where HideSRHi.exe is run after 30 seconds everytime your computer starts (ripken204's method) you don't have to modify any files and you don't lose any functionality, especially if you use the installer I made becuase it creates a shortcut in your start->all programs->accessories folder that lets you run the safely remove hardware procedure just like if you had clicked on the tray icon... also as a side note I recompiled the autoit script ripken204 made so that it runs HideSRHi.exe from the system32 folder (still being started via the registry at each boot if setup using my installer) instead of the windows dir and as such I rebuilt my installer for this change as well. So you can PM me if you want this updated version, include your email, or you can download the older one from the bottom of the first post.

Edited August 10, 2005 by godan

[ripken204]

ya so there are basically 2 ways to do it, use hidesrhi if u dont want to loose anything

[Zxian]

Well, so long as my flash drives aren't flashing (indicating in-use), I've never had an instance where I couldn't just unplug it and everything worked.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That may be the case for drives that appear as "Removable Storage" in My Computer (since there is no caching on these drives), but if you have a flash drive (or USB hard drive) that shows up as a Hard Drive in My Computer, you either need to disable disk caching or use the safely remove hardware icon to ensure data integrity.

Just a warning to all the other members here...

[Shark007]

Using the hotplug.dll from win2000 does work giving you the option

to remove the icon. On reboot, you'd have to select its removal again.

The hotplug.dll from win2000 is attached.

If anyone can figure out how to not need to select the 'hide'

option every boot, that would be great.

Shark

Edited August 10, 2005 by Shark007

[Aaron_]

I like my method b/c I can live without the volume icon, but I will try to help you finding a way to just delete that "remove hardware" icon and no more.

@Shark007:

Maybe you could use regshot and see if there is some change in the registry when you select the "don't show the icon" option.

I would do it if I could but I don't know why even restoring the hacked files, that icon doesn't appear anymore in my tray. It's gone.

Edited August 10, 2005 by Aaron_

[Shark007]

I already did watch the registry.

The change isnt occuring there.

Shark

EDIT

I've come up with a viable solution.

as long as you use both hotplug.dll and stobject.dll from win2000

when you click the option to NOT show the icon, it doesnt return on reboot.

stobject.dll from win2000 is attached for your convenience.

Shark

Edited August 11, 2005 by Shark007

[EchoNoise]

Using the hotplug.dll from win2000 does work giving you the option

to remove the icon. On reboot, you'd have to select its removal again.

The hotplug.dll from win2000 is attached.

If anyone can figure out how to not need to select the 'hide'

option every boot, that would be great.

Shark

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Finally... somebody taking onboard my advice

*feels special*

[Aaron_]

@Shark007:

That's good news, but I think I will stay on my method unless we find out a way to choose the "don't show" option unattended.

[Shark007]

Borrowing *.cmd functionality from Yzöwl's assistance in this post:

Yzöwl

I came up with the following solution.

Using hotplugg.dll and stobject.dll from win2000 and running the attached

SRH.cmd file from cmdlines.txt, svcpack, or if creating a user account,

after the account is created, will result in no icon appearing on a

clean installation and any reboot thereafter.

The functionality is still accessible through a shortcut created to:

%SystemRoot%\System32\RUNDLL32.EXE shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll

And by the user accessing this shortcut, may choosing whether the tray icon appears or not,

and this choice is kept on next boot.

Contents of SRH:

rem my compliments to Yzöwl
cmdow @ /HID
@echo off&setlocal enableextensions
for /f "tokens=*" %%a in ('reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList" /s^|findstr "S*-100*"') do (
  for /f "tokens=1,3 delims=	" %%b in ('reg query "%%~a" /v "ProfileImagePath"') do (
      if errorlevel 0 (
            echo/%%~c|find "%userprofile%">nul
            if errorlevel 0 set UserSID=%%a
        )
    )
)
if not defined UserSID echo/ SID not found&&endlocal&goto :eof
set UserKey=HKU\%UserSID:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\=%
rem echo/ Your Users Registry Key %UserKey%&&echo/ is set as %%UserKey%%;I left this line in for testing
REG ADD %UserKey%\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\SysTray /v Services /t REG_DWORD /d 29 /f
REG ADD HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\SysTray /v Services /t REG_DWORD /d 29 /f
exit

SRH.cmd is attached for convenience.

Shark

Edited August 14, 2005 by Shark007