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| Thread ID: 55401 | 2005-03-09 22:19:00 | USB Flash Pull Out | Strommer (42) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 332393 | 2005-03-09 22:19:00 | Is it OK to simply pull out a USB Flash Drive when finished using it? Or should it first be closed somehow? The flash drive that I have did not come with any instructions. Data: USB 2.0, 256 Mb, WinXP Home. |
Strommer (42) | ||
| 332394 | 2005-03-09 22:23:00 | Nope, its not a good idea. When the drive is plugged in an icon will apear on the taskbar, before you remove the drive you need to click this icon which will start the "safely remove hardware" process. |
Metla (12) | ||
| 332395 | 2005-03-09 22:26:00 | Technically you are advised to "Stop" the device using the "safe to remove hardware" icon that should be in the Tray. The danger is that the PC still has buffered writes to do, and the files could get corrupted on the flash device. Having said that I admit that I usually do not bother, and have not yet been caught. I am aware of some that have lost the files however, and needed to reformat the device. Your choice, you know the value of the files stored on it I guess. |
godfather (25) | ||
| 332396 | 2005-03-09 22:30:00 | I need to check my eyes, I could swear i just saw GF state he throws caution to the wind and just yanks the drive. muhahahaha. |
Metla (12) | ||
| 332397 | 2005-03-09 23:01:00 | I need to check my eyes, I could swear i just saw GF state he throws caution to the wind and just yanks the drive. muhahahaha. No Mets, I think you need someone else to check your eyes, obviously yours aren't up to the task :D |
Murray P (44) | ||
| 332398 | 2005-03-09 23:14:00 | Having said that I admit that I usually do not bother, and have not yet been caught. I am aware of some that have lost the files however, and needed to reformat the device. Thanks GF, et. al. I too have not bothered to end the device properly, but have wondered what the worst could happen. Thanks for the laugh, Metla. Nice start to the TradeF1 web site/ |
Strommer (42) | ||
| 332399 | 2005-03-09 23:50:00 | The reason you should tell the system you are removing the device is that OSs keep directories of disk in memory. When the contents change, the copy of the directory in memory is updated immediately. The copy on the disk is not. Similarly, writes to disks are buffered in memory, and may not be physically performed immediately. If the "disk" is removed before the directory is written out to it, it will have an out-of-date directory. Not helpful. If you pull the disk while the directory is being written, it will have a corrupted directory. Even less helpful. :( You are less likely to have problems with partly transferred files if you are too hasty, because if you interrupt the process at that stage there won't be a directory entry for the partial file. ;) This is a problem with a history ... it goes back to CP/M (which is what DOS was based on). If you changed floppies without telling the system, it would use the diirectory of the old disk (which it still had in memory) to access the new disk. This was not a Good Thing. That's what Ctrl/C was for in CP/M: it meant "I have changed floppies, read the directory from the new one". It's probably not a major problem (apart from the aggrieved messages from the OS) if you wait a reasonable time after the last operation you have used it in. All modern OSs write out all buffered stuff to disks regularly. (Linux users will see the disk light flicker every five seconds --- Linux has always gos something to tell the disks. Windows probably does the same, at a similar interval. ) Just don't pull a flash disk while its activity light is on. ;) I always tell the system. When I remember to.:) |
Graham L (2) | ||
| 332400 | 2005-03-10 00:07:00 | Thanks for the laugh, Metla. Nice start to the TradeF1 web site/ Looking good isn't it. Have you read the forum rules? Hilarious, even the spelling mistakes which I never noticed and make no comment on whatsoever. |
Murray P (44) | ||
| 332401 | 2005-03-10 02:16:00 | The USB interface standard was created with the hot-swappable feature in mind. Any USB device can be inserted or extracted while the computer is on. This applies to USB flash drives as well. www.usbflashdrive.org There used to be a problem with floppies with the FAT and directories not being written properly if the application/OS hadn't closed the files and flushing the buffers. |
pctek (84) | ||
| 332402 | 2005-03-10 03:59:00 | I have an idea that the "safely remove USB drive" icon is only available in XP. I have win98se on the other box and I am sure that it doesn't appear in that. You can look at the drive and see if the light has gone out, however, the USB socket on the back of the W98 box is installed upside down and it becomes a contortionists act to get down on the floor behind the box and try and see if the light is on. I just give it plenty of time and yank it. Rob |
theother1 (3573) | ||
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