[Lee43]

I recently bought my first USB (8Gb) flash drive and I need to know if it is safe to unplug it from the USB port without going to the system tray to click on the "safely remove hardware" icon to prepare it for removal then safely remove it before pulling it out? I'm sorry if this seems like a dumb question but it's got me concerned and I really need to know.

Will it hurt my flash drive (or computer) if I don't "safely" remove it beforehand?

Or is it like the same as an SD card when you can pop it in and remove it without any worries? It seems like a hassle to do this every time but I will if it is deemed necessary. I'll appreciate any and all input regarding this issue.

Thanx!

Edited by Lee43, 10 February 2010 - 12:04 AM.

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is it ntfs or fat 32
if its fat32 then it safer than ntfs but still better to safe remove.

my computer right click on usb eject

Edited by infected????, 10 February 2010 - 01:17 AM.

[infected????]

is it ntfs or fat 32
if its fat32 then it safer than ntfs but still better to safe remove.

my computer right click on usb eject

Edited by infected????, 10 February 2010 - 01:17 AM.

[123Runner]

You should always use the "safely remove hardware" icon in the system tray. This is what is always recommended (even for SD cards). If you choose to just remove it, then at some point in time it will fail to work. This also goes for USB hard drives.

123runner

[Lee43]

is it ntfs or fat 32
if its fat32 then it safer than ntfs but still better to safe remove.

my computer right click on usb eject

Thanx for your reply. I didn't know there was a difference (ntfs/fat32) when it came to flash drives.

When I go to My Computer, and right-click on my flash drive, then eject...is that doing the exact same thing as clicking the safely remove hardware icon in the system tray before removing my flash drive? I thought that "eject" only applied to ejecting CD's or DVD's from the drive versus manually pushing the eject button.

[Lee43]

You should always use the "safely remove hardware" icon in the system tray. This is what is always recommended (even for SD cards). If you choose to just remove it, then at some point in time it will fail to work. This also goes for USB hard drives.

123runner

Thank you 123Runner for your reply. You definitely confirmed my suspicions about it possibly ruining the flash drive from not safely removing it first. I have two USB external hard drives and I knew I had to "safely" remove them first which is understandable being mass storage devices with a power supply.

But with my SD cards tho, when I have one in the reader, I click the safely remove hardware icon in the system tray and the drive letter for the SD card (G:) isn't listed to remove it. That's why I had to post and ask about flash drives to see if it was the same way as SD cards.

Thanx again!

[infected????]

right click properties on your usb it should say fat32 or ntfs. ntfs allows file to be copied that are over 4gb. fat32 is more solid but has not got the capabilities

[baula]

I already lost 2 pen drive coz force unplugging. so my recommendation is to use safely remove option on system tray flash drive icon.

[Cold Titanium]

I heard of a teacher (a rather dumb one) that stored all her students grades, assignments, etc on her flash drive. She never used safely remove and then one day when she was removing it, it made a little spark. All gone.

That being said, I always use safely remove on mine. Although, before I knew about it, I yanked them out quite regularly without ever having a problem...

[Lee43]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I will without a doubt do the "safely remove hardware" thing before removing my new flash drive!

Thanx again...

Lee43