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is it ok to ignore the safe to remove hardware message

Discussion in 'Windows XP' started by pishbloom2, 2006/12/14.

  1. 2006/12/14
    pishbloom2

    pishbloom2 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    i have a computer on windows xp home edition. ive seen a message that says safely remove hardware. i looked to see what it was and its a usb mass storage device on drive e. after all of the messes ive made on 2 computers in the last couple of weeks touching things i shouldnt have i just ignored it and i guess it got tired and went away. :) im not about to remove anymore things and get in more trouble. i figure can i just let the device stay in the computer? after all i dont think i put it in there and didnt even know i had an e drive. for me ignoring it might be the better part of valor unless it will break the computer by staying in there. i promised pete i would keep my hands to my self and not cause anymore disasters. just call me the dennis the menace of computers. :) any comments welcomed.
     
    pishbloom2,
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  2. 2006/12/14
    mailman Lifetime Subscription

    mailman Geek Member

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    Hi, pishbloom2. :)

    Have you (or someone) used a USB flash drive (a.k.a "thumb drive ") or external USB hard drive recently on that computer? If so, then I suspect that is your E:\ drive.
     
    mailman,
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  4. 2006/12/14
    pishbloom2

    pishbloom2 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    re is it ok to ignore the safe to remove hardware message

    no one has used or touched it that i know of. can i ask a stupid question what does this device do? the only thing that we use thats plugged into the back of the computer is a cable we use to download pix from our digital camera and thats been plugged in for years. other than that it has to be something that came with the computer. but i hope i can keep ignoring it as this computer is working fine and i want to keep it that way. :)
     
    pishbloom2,
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  5. 2006/12/14
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    Hello Pishbloom2,
    Since you are not sure if you have USB storage device connected to your computer, I would suggest loooking on the back of the machine where the USB ports are (they are directly below where your keyboard and mouse plug into) if you see a USB device on the back of the computer and you still have the safely remove hardware icon in the taskbar click on it and it will say safely remove hardware. Click that then you will get a notification that the USB memory stick can be safely removed from the computer. Once thats done then you can remove the USB device from the USB port. :)

    The safely remove hardware icon shows up if you put in a USB drive in one of the USB ports into the computer. BTW the safely remove icon won't mess anything up on your computer when you remove the USB device. Oh and one more thing what the USB storage device does is it acts like another small harddrive that you back up your data onto or you can use it transfer data from one computer to another. Personally I use a USB device to transfer security updates from microsoft from one computer to another. :D

    I hope this helped to solve your issue or concern that you had and feel free to post back with any other concerns or comments you may have. ;)
     
    Last edited: 2006/12/14
    Evan Omo,
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  6. 2006/12/14
    pishbloom2

    pishbloom2 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    i just took a look at the back of the computer and since ive seen pix of what flash drives look like theres nothing back there that looks like it or theres nothing new plugged in back there. the only things plugged in are the plug for the digital camera, the mouse, keyboard, printer, and the netgear router and of course the speakers etc. in other words stuff you really need or the computer doesnt work. so why is it telling me this when as far as i can see theres nothing to remove?
     
    pishbloom2,
    #5
  7. 2006/12/15
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    When you connect your digital camera to the computer it will be seen by Windows as the E: drive .....

    A: floppy
    B: second floppy - not used
    C : your hard drive
    D: CD-Rom , DVD drive, etc.

    If you only have one optical drive any storage device you plug into a USB port will be seen as the next drive letter, in your case E:

    Try connecting the camera, switch it on and look in Windows Explorer - is there an E: drive?

    Leave the camera switched on and go to the Safely remove hardware icon in the notification area, left click on it and the camera should be listed - as a storage device. Click on the entry, wait a moment and then disconnect or switch off the camera.

    Does this fix your problem?
     
    PeteC,
    #6
  8. 2006/12/15
    pishbloom2

    pishbloom2 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    thanks for the info pete. if i get the message again i will do the steps that you suggested. but since ive ignored it, it hasnt come back. shhhhh. it might hear us. :)
     
    pishbloom2,
    #7
  9. 2006/12/15
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    Glad to hear you sorted out the problem and let us know if you have any more concerns. :)
     
    Evan Omo,
    #8

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