Menu
homeBreakdowns

Windows 7 hide the Safely Remove Hardware icon. Safely removing a flash drive: how to properly remove a flash drive, possible problems during removal and ways to solve them

Some users believe that the USB device safe removal feature is somewhat anachronistic and there is no particular need for it. On the one hand, this is true - modern operating systems allow you to remove the drive without the threat of damaging the flash memory, unless, of course, the data on it is used by other applications.

On the other hand, caution is never too much, and in this regard, the safe removal feature is well worth it. The only problem is that many people find it inconvenient to find the desired icon in the notification panel every time.

Actually, there is nothing inconvenient about this, but if you are in a hurry or have poor eyesight, perhaps the two methods described below will be useful for you.

In the first case, we will use undocumented capabilities of Windows itself. So, create an empty shortcut on your desktop, and in the window that opens, enter the following line:

RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll

Click “Next” and enter the desired name in the shortcut name field, for example “Remove USB device”. Then right-click on the shortcut, select Properties → Shortcut and in the “Shortcut” field, specify the hotkey combination to open the dialog box.

It should be noted that this method, which works great in XP and Vista, may fail in later versions. In this case, instead of a message indicating that the removable device was successfully disconnected, you will receive the error “Device |name| is not removable and cannot be removed.”

Thanks to hidden features in Windows, you can do other tricks, such as quickly “connecting and disconnecting” virtual disks. The situation is somewhat more complicated with virtual drives created using emulator programs, for example UltraISO - you can download this useful application and at the same time familiarize yourself with its capabilities.

Another way to quickly remove a portable device is to use, of which USB Disk Eject is the simplest and most convenient. USB Disk Eject is completely free, lightweight, does not require installation, and works correctly on Windows 7 and 8.

Using the utility is extremely simple. The program displays a list of devices connected to the PC; Double-clicking the selected device instantly disables it. Supports work with flash drives, SD cards and other types of portable media. The only drawback of this utility is the lack of Russian language.

How to use USB drives correctly? This question worries almost all owners of such devices.

Some users believe that they can limit themselves to simply removing USB drives and avoid unnecessary manipulations with the mouse, i.e. don't resort to safe removal of flash drives. Is it really?

If you adhere to this opinion, sooner or later you may encounter two unpleasant things:

  • Firstly, there is a possibility of losing valuable information contained on the flash drive.
  • Secondly, the drive itself can be damaged and you don’t have to think about further work with it.

Data can be lost not only when removing the flash drive while copying or moving files, but also just like that. This sometimes comes as a complete surprise to many. It seems that no manipulations were performed, but the files and folders disappeared somewhere.

This situation especially occurs when using USB drives with the NTFS file system. For disks with this system, the OS creates a special area for storing copied data, i.e. Information is not written to the flash drive immediately. To avoid this situation, you must use “Safely Remove Hardware”.

Also, when simply (more precisely, dangerously) removing flash drives, an unexpected increased voltage pulse or simply a short circuit may occur. In this case, there is a high probability of damage to the electronic components of the drive; they simply burn out.

After the above, we come to the conclusion that it is necessary to safely remove the flash drive. It’s not for nothing that the operating system itself offers to carry out this manipulation, which takes a matter of seconds.

Using “Safely Remove Hardware” will help you keep your data and the drive itself safe and sound.

How to safely remove flash drives?

How to properly disconnect any external device for Windows XP, in particular a flash drive, is described in detail, with an analysis of “incomprehensible, strange” situations.

For Windows 10, can be used to safely remove an external device.

Below we will consider in general the safe removal of a flash drive for Windows 7, although there is no fundamental difference with Windows XP and Windows 10 in this matter.

First, close the program with which the flash drive was working. Then click on the small triangle on the right side, when you hover over it with the mouse pointer you can see the inscription “Show hidden icons” (in the screenshot this triangle is indicated by the number 1):

Although it may well be that the “Safely Remove Hardware and Disks” icon (number 2) is located directly on the Taskbar. By the way, if no device is connected to the computer via the USB port, then you will not see this icon (No. 2 in the screenshot) due to the fact that the computer understands that, in fact, you have nothing to extract - “no judgment.”

So, in order to properly disconnect the flash drive, just after closing the program with which the flash drive was working, click on the “Safely remove devices and disks” icon, after which a window something like this will appear:

By clicking on “Remove Mass Storage Device”, we will see a message that “The equipment can be removed”:

After this, you can remove the flash drive from the USB port.

Everything said above about safely removing a flash drive applies not only to a flash drive, but also to any other device that is connected to a computer via a USB port.

Why is there no eject flash drive icon? windows 7 no icon for safe removal of devices: usb, mobile phone

One fine moment (most likely after manipulation and installation of Kaspersky) unexpectedly The “green arrow” in the tray has disappeared - safely remove devices. Before, when inserting a USB flash drive into the computer, the icon appeared, but now it doesn’t and the usb safely remove does not happen. Although it is present in the list of available disks (removable devices). And all manipulations with files on the flash drive are carried out.

1. Correct such a key in the registry


“Services”=dword:0000001b
“HotPlugFlags”=dword:00000002

2. Another option you can try is this (for Vista, for XP - it’s similar)

Start -> Settings -> Taskbar and Start Menu -> or

Right-click on the taskbar -> Properties -> Notification Area tab -> Icons | Tune

Find "Safely Remove Hardware" and in "Behavior" select "Always Display".

3. And in order not to suffer with the settings you need

through the "Run" command, open the window for safely disconnecting USB devices by executing the command:

rundll32 shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll

and close the device you need. Inconvenient. Yes. But it works.

to menu

How to remove an icon in the system?

Disappeared and does not appear, the usb flash drive icon is not displayed (tray icon) safe removal of devices

Users often complain that The standard Safely Remove Hardware icon is not displayed in the tray, although hotplug devices are connected to the computer. But the amazing USB Safely Remove program is completely free of this problem. It completely replaces native Safely Remove Hardware icon and in return displays its own.

By default, the USB Safely Remove icon is always present in the tray, which gives quick access to the program's functionality and makes working with USB more understandable and predictable.

However, you can change this behavior and the icon will disappear when there is no connected device. To do this, enable the "Hide icon when there are no devices to be stopped" checkbox in the "Look And Feel" settings section.

to menu

What kind of program is this, USB Safely Remove?

This USB device manager, it saves time and expands the user's capabilities when actively working with flash drives, portable hard drives, card readers and other gadgets.

The program does...

  • Convenient, safe removal of devices, free from the shortcomings of the built-in Windows;
  • shows which programs are preventing you from removing the device;
  • removes disks from empty card reader slots;
  • can return disabled devices back;
  • and contains a lot of other functions for comfortable and enjoyable work with hot-plug devices (USB, SATA, FireWire).

The device cannot be stopped right now. Why?

Does a situation often arise that Windows does not allow you to remove the device? USB Safely Remove, unlike Windows, in this case shows programs that prevent you from disconnecting the device, and allows you to either close these programs themselves, or close the files that they opened on the device.

You can download this amazing program at:

http://safelyremove.com/ru/

Note: Remember that when using programs downloaded for free from the network, you assume all risks.


to menu

How to set up safe removal of flash drive in Total Commander 7.50 Final

If the standard tray icon “Safely Remove Hardware” (USB flash drive) disappears, then in Total Commander in version 7.5 there is a wonderful “Extract” command. I use it in Windows 7.0.

It works like this. Whenever you wish remove the flash drive card reader without data loss, then you select your device with a flash drive. Right-click on your device in the list of Total Commander 7.50 drives. There you select the "Extract" command. Click. The device closes. Windows 7 displays the following message: " The USB device can be safely removed". Therefore, it can be safely removed.

Note: Other versions of Windows may not display this message.

When using the safe removal of the flash drive function, I always received a window with a message indicating that it was safe to remove the flash drive. Recently, when you click on the flash drive icon in order to safely remove it, no message is received, and the flash drive icon disappears in the window. Therefore, I don’t know whether it is possible to safely remove the flash drive or not. Tell me what settings need to be made to restore the function of safely removing a flash drive. I prefer to make the appropriate settings in the registry or using the gpedit editor. Thank you in advance..

/ Vitaly Vladimirovich 08.28.2016, 11:05

Some strange behavior of the icon: it is still visible, but does not function. I would like to know if this behavior is only with this flash drive or with all? Try checking it for viruses. There are solutions on the Internet when the tray icon is completely missing. I can recommend the USB Safely Remove program. It has similar functionality and even more.

There is also an excellent utility that clears all traces of USB device connections in the registry and after it everything starts working as it should. This is a utility USBOblivion. designed to erase traces of connecting USB drives and CD-ROMs from the registry in Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Wimdows 10, both 32 and 64-bit versions. The utility has a test mode of operation, i.e. . without actually deleting data from the registry, and, just in case, creates a .reg file to cancel all changes. There is also a fully automatic operating mode.

The Windows operating system consists of a large number of mechanisms and components that almost always work without problems. Still, sometimes something will take hold and fall off. It’s especially unpleasant when something that shouldn’t fall off in principle falls off. The “Safely Remove Hardware” icon is one such mechanism. It should always be displayed if removable devices are connected to the computer. But from time to time, a Windows user may encounter the fact that the desired icon has disappeared somewhere. Of course, this will not be a problem for those who go through life at risk and do not use Safely Remove Hardware to disconnect their flash drives. But those who prefer not to risk the health of their carriers and the information on them do not regret two extra mouse clicks for the sake of peace of mind. It is precisely these users who may be upset by a missing icon. This article will tell you how to return the Safely Remove Hardware icon in Windows 10.

How to get back the Safely Remove Hardware icon in Windows

A little theory. Safely removing a device in Windows 10 is a special “switch” that notifies the operating system about the user’s plans to remove a flash drive or any other removable device. When you click on the device to be removed, Windows stops working with it, thus preventing unexpected breaks and possible data loss. Also, this mechanism can stop the power supply to a removable device, which in turn guarantees that very safe shutdown.

If the Safely Remove Hardware icon in Windows 10 has disappeared, you need to start repairs using the simplest methods. First of all, make sure that the display of the treasured icon is enabled in the Taskbar Settings. You can check this as follows:

If the icon display is enabled, but there is no safe removal of devices, proceed to the next method. It consists of using a special utility developed by Microsoft to troubleshoot USB problems on Windows computers. It can fix various USB problems on your computer, including a missing or vice versa - a safe disconnect icon that is constantly displayed even when there are no devices connected.


If this method does not help, try to get to the Safely Remove Hardware section in another way. Like any other system component, Safely Remove Hardware in Windows 10 can be opened with the command Win+ R.


Theoretically, removing the device using this method should return the safe removal icon to its place, but this is not confirmed information by anyone. If the icon in the notification area stubbornly disappears and you can’t get it back, create a shortcut on your desktop so you don’t have to type a long command from memory every time.


Now, when you click on the created shortcut, a menu for safely disconnecting devices will appear.

Not everyone knows, but safely removing the device is also hidden in the context menu of a flash drive or external drive. Open File Explorer, right-click on the flash drive or drive you want to disconnect and select Extract. The system will notify you that the device is safe to remove.

There is another method to get to the safe removal of the device:

  1. Again, open Explorer, right-click on the drive or flash drive and select Properties.
  2. Go to the tab Equipment and click Properties.
  3. On the new window, click open tab Policy and click on the link Safely Removing Your Device.

It is worth noting here that the masonry Policy in the properties of removable devices is not displayed on our computer with Windows 10 1803. Perhaps Microsoft cut it out of the system in new versions of Windows. Even if this is so, the loss is not great, since you can open Safely Remove Devices using much simpler methods, even if the icon is not in its proper place. But if you have a computer running previous versions of Windows 10 or Windows 8.1/7, and you just can’t get to the safe shutdown partition, going through the hardware properties can help you get to the desired system component.

If you know other ways to safely turn off a device that we have not mentioned in this article, please share them in the comments. Also tell us if you use this mechanism at all.