Safely Remove Hardware
Sunday, October 25th 2009 @ 10:22 PM
Safely Remove Hardware
From time to time, you may attach a piece of equipment into a USB port on your computer. 
(photo courtesy of Microsoft)
Some things you might connect could be your mobile phone, or a digital camera, an external hard drive or a memory stick. When you do connect something like this, your computer recognises that something’s been added, and power and a connection are provided so your computer can access your device.
When you have finished working with your device – such as when you’ve finished saving a file onto your memory stick, don’t just pull the memory stick out. Use the Safely Remove Hardware function.
Double click, or right-click on the icon in the bottom right hand side of your screen –in the System Tray.
It looks similar to this in XP: 
And this in Vista: 
(can’t tell you why they look different on different systems – maybe to keep a graphic designer in a job???)
Usually a screen will appear, with any devices listed. Click on the one you want to stop using, (there might only be the one device in your list), click on Stop. A message will appear (either on top of that same window or down in the System Tray) saying: 'This device can now be safely removed from the computer', or: 'Safe to Remove Hardware'.
Windows needs to close down the connection, and the power to your device. That’s why it’s important to do this little step, otherwise there is a very real chance that your device can become corrupted – in other words won’t work properly.
It's a little bit like turning the power off at the switch that your toaster is plugged into, before you pull the plug out. It's safer for you and your equipment.
So remember, if you’ve attached something to your computer, use Safely Remove Hardware before removing it.
