Safely Remove Hardware Problem

When I double click the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon in the taskbar and click one of the memory card reader devices which are installed in the front of my computer, it will tell me that it is now safe to remove the memory card. However, at the same time it shuts down the memory card reader and the icon in the taskbar disappears. I have to restart to get it active again.

I do not think it is supposed to function in this manner, but I have been unable to find anything to change it.

Any suggestions?

Daniel

 

Pete

I understand that I do not have to go through the step of the computer telling me it is ok to remove the card, as I had a USB card reader attached to my old computer with Win98se. My question is why this program is shutting down the card reader when I use it. The only time I might feel the need to use this function is when loading a large file to a card and making sure it is finished before I pull it. I may never need to use it, but it should work properly.

I have considered setting it to disabled at startup and forget it. However, I have not found how to disable it or simply remove the icon from the taskbar. I do keep the icon hidden.

I do not believe that the "Safely Remove Hardware" program is supposed to shut down the card reader to where it cannot be used again until restart.

Daniel

 

Pete

I forgot to mention that my memory card readers are set to "Optimize for Quick Removal ". This appears to be the default setting.

I may decide to just disable this "Safely Remove Hardware" program if someone can tell me how to do it. Waiting for the light on the card reader to quit flashing will tell me when the write function is finished.

Daniel

 

The behavior you're describing is normal. When you use the icon to shut down the drive it will become unavailable. However, you shouldn't have to reboot to get it to work again. It's just like any USB device. You should be able to unplug the drive and plug it back in and it should then work again.

 

Zander

This card reader is built in to my computer and I cannot easily unplug it and replug it.

Is there some way to tell the computer to activate this reader?

Daniel

 

OOPS!!! I guess I misunderstood or just was thinking clearly. When you said installed in the front of your computer I should have known but my first thought was a drive plugged into a front USB port. Should have known however from the word installed.

I would guess that unless there's a reset button of some sort on the drive, rebooting is probably your only option if you use the icon. As Pete said though, the way you have it set up you should be able to just take the card out of the drive and not have to use the icon.

 

I guess I will just leave the icon hidden and forget about it unless I feel that I must be sure that a large file is finished loading to one of my memory cards.

Thanks

Daniel

 

Daniel wrote:

• "My question is why this program is shutting down the card reader when I use it. The only time I might feel the need to use this function is when loading a large file to a card and making sure it is finished before I pull it. "

Zander wrote

• "However, you shouldn't have to reboot to get it to work again. It's just like any USB device. You should be able to unplug the drive and plug it back in and it should then work again. "

I have a Sandisk external USB card reader, and never had tried "Safely Remove Hardware" with it (no need to) until I read this thread. I found that, after using it, the card reader no longer appeared in either Device manager or Windows Explorer. Unplugging and replugging it, as Zander suggests, didn't help, nor did scanning for hardware changes in Device Manager ... I had to reboot to get the system to recognize it.

Daniel, if your reader shows up as a device in Device Manager, you should also be able to see it in Windows Explorer. You can monitor the file transfer right there, and not have to worry about when, or whether, it's complete. Forget about the systray icon ... with the exception of the test mentioned in the previous paragraph, I've never used it.

 

Jim
That's kind of odd. I have a PNY drive and it makes no difference whether I just unplug the drive or I use the safe to remove hardware thing. Whenever I remove the drive, If I plug it back in, it's always detected again regardless of what process I used when I removed it. I don't have any other flash memory drives myself but I've used other peoples drives on this puter and they've always acted the same. Remove the drive, plug it back in, they're always detected again (once again, regardless of the process I go through).

Having said all this, (and perhaps you already know this) dan239's problem is a bit different. His drive is an internal one so there's no way to unplug the drive without opening the case.

 

Hi Zander,

I can remove the drive by unplugging it, and it's recognized again when I plug it back in. If I remove it from the system via the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon, however, I have to reboot for the system to see it, just as Daniel does.

My point was that he shouldn't have to use the icon at all. My best guess is that he's dragging and dropping on the Desktop, and that he doesn't get a visual indication of his transfer. My Desktop is virtually icon-less, though, so I can't test my theory. However, if he does his file transfer from within Windows Explorer, he'll get a visual how-goes-it, which will disappear when the transfer is complete.

 

Jim

I do my transfer in windows explorer. I have not done this yet in my new computer, but in my old Win98se, I had an external USB card reader/writer through USB 1.1. I would simply right click the file and 'send to' the memory card. My only indication that the file was completely loaded to the memory card was when the light on the reader would quit flashing. For a large file [over 100 mb] it would take a while and I would just sit and wait for it to finish. I do not do this very often, so it is not a problem to watch the light in the front of my computer and wait for it to quit flashing.

My question, as you have noted, is why does the "Safely Remove Hardware" function shut down the entire card reader so that it cannot be used until reboot. If I wanted to use the SRH function I could not load a file to two different cards without a reboot. It seems strange that it would be designed to work this way.

Daniel

 

Hi Daniel,

Unfortunately, I can't answer your question about why Windows acts the way it does. Apparently, it handles Zander's hardware differently from the way it does yours and mine.

Rather than using "Send to" in Explorer, try this ... right-click and hold on the file you want to transfer, then drag it to the icon for your card reader and, when you release, select either "copy" or "move ", depending on what you're doing. This will give you the file transfer window, which will display the progress of your transfer and disappear when the transfer is complete.

HTH

 

Jim

Thanks for the suggestion.

I think our machines would handle an external card reader just as Zander's does. On my old computer, if my external card reader was not detected, I could unplug it and replug it and it would then be detected. I am curious if Zander's USB Driver for his card reader is being shut down if he uses the "Safely Remove Hardware" function. How about it, Zander?

Daniel

 

Daniel ...

To quote Zander, in an earlier message (emphasis mine), "I have a PNY drive and it makes no difference whether I just unplug the drive or I use the safe to remove hardware thing. Whenever I remove the drive, If I plug it back in, it's always detected again regardless of what process I used when I removed it. "

 

Jim's got it right. If I use the remove hardware icon, all that's necessary to get the drive to function again is to remove the drive from the USB port and then put it back in again. It's always detected again after doing this. I can see where you'd run into problems with internal drive. Can't imagine why Jim's external wouldn't act the same as mine though.

 

Putting a flash memory card in or removing it is the same as loading a CD-R-RW There is no need to use Safely Remove Hardware when pulling a flash memory card from an "internal" card reader, just like you don't unplug your optical drives just because you removed a CD.

When you use the internally mounted flash card reader, it is plugged into the MOBO with with a USB cable, just like an external is plugged into a USB port.

I'm guessing the difference you are discussing is because you told Windows you were going to remove (unplug) the "internal" flash card reader but didn't.

After using the Safely Remove Hardware, If you open the case and unplug the USB cable from the MOBO, then plug it back in, I'll bet Windows will recognize it without reboot, just like an external card reader.

Daniel just needs to find a different way to see if transfers are complete.

Martin

 

Martin

Thanks for adding your thoughts to this thead.

I agree with most of what you have said except that there is a great difference between removing a CD and pulling a Memory Card. The computer will not let you remove a CD until it is finished. However, a memory card can be pulled in the middle of writing a file to it and perhaps cause a problem with the card.

It seems that the intent of the 'Safely Remove Hardware' function is to make sure the card is finished so it can be pulled safely. I came to this conclusion because the only devices in SRH are the four card reader slots. Also, the proceedure for safely removing a card requires that a particular slot be selected before it replies that it is safe to remove that device. It seems strange that it requires that a slot be selected and then shuts down all four slots.

I do not think the SRH function was intended to be used to remove USB devices or all of mine would be listed. I did notice that Zander obviously has his external card reader listed in his SRH list. Perhaps this SRH only recognizes Memory Card reader/writers, whether they are internal or external.

I started this thread to try to determine why this function acts so strange and makes it of no use.

Daniel