Many external devices can be connected to your computer via the Universal Serial Bus or USB. When we are in a hurry, we sometimes just plug it in and unplug it from the computer. Most of the time, this would not affect your USB device but sometimes this can cause a problem. Suddenly removing a USB drive or flash drive while data is being written to it could cause corruption of data on that drive. To prevent this kind of issue, it is best to practice proper removal of your USB device.
Follow these steps to properly remove a USB device:
1. Find at the USB icon on the system tray. By default, the system tray is located on the lower right corner of your Windows screen. Point the mouse over the USB icon. A pop-up message will appear. In Windows 7, it will say “Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media.”
2. Click on the USB icon. In Windows 7, an option would come up like the one below. Click on “Eject USB disk.” In Windows XP and Vista, the message would be “Safely Remove Hardware.” Simply click on it.
3. Wait for a message to come up saying “It is now safe to remove your USB device.”
You may now remove your flash drive or other USB device. These steps are very easy to do and are highly recommended to make it a habit. With practice, this will become second nature to you.
Preventing problems is always better to have hours spent trying to find a solution.
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