A basic rule of computers is that when using a USB stick or external hard disk connected to a computer, it is necessary to disconnect it only after having deactivated it, to avoid data loss or errors. To deactivate it, click on the USB device icon in the notification area near the clock and select " Eject device ".
Windows warns of possible problems and the risk of losing the files of the stick if it is not disconnected in the correct way.
This is because in Windows, an optional and default setting provides that, in order to increase the writing speed on the device, some files are stored in a temporary cache that would be lost by detaching the pen without safely removing the hardware.
All this is true, only if a system setting has been changed, choosing to be able to improve the performance of USB sticks and external hard drives.
Instead, you can safely disconnect and disconnect each USB stick without worrying about the safe removal of the hardware and detach the USB stick directly, without having to click. Many tech news sites these days are talking about this possibility as new. In fact, this option has always been present in Windows 7 as in Windows 10, only that while before it had to be set manually, now, in the latest version of Windows 10, it becomes the default option.
On your PC you can check the current configuration of the USB drive removal mode by opening the Start menu and looking for Device Manager (or go to Control Panel -> System -> Advanced Settings -> Hardware ). You can also reach the same option by searching for Disk Management and then pressing the right button on the USB stick disk drive.
The window shows a list of computer hardware devices, including connected external devices.
Then expand the list of disk drives and note the presence of the computer hard disk, connected USB sticks and SD cards.
Both from Disk Management and from Device Manager, you can press the right mouse button on the USB Flash Disk drive to open the Properties . Go to the Criteria tab, verify that quick removal is set as it should be, and not Best Performance . All this means that, by default, on Windows 7 and Windows 10, you can detach and reattach a USB stick at any time, without any risk of losing data or damaging the device. From the disk management section, in the list of Units, you can check that the fast removal option is selected for all connected devices.
Obviously, a device should never be unplugged during a file copy operation or if you are working on a portable program or before saving changes to a document, otherwise there may be problems and a disk scan will be required to solve the problems and go back to using the key.
The other option, " better performance ", activates the write cache and requires you to proceed with the safe removal of the USB stick by deactivating and ejecting with the safe removal of the hardware. This was the default option of Windows 10 to date, while instead starting from the 1809 update (of October 2018), after the installation of the operating system the Quick Removal option will automatically be active.
If you want to understand how much better the performance would be if you chose the " better performance " option, you can use, on the same USB stick, a program to control the speed of a disk, using CrystalDiskInfo, in one case and another, and make the comparison. As you can see, the impact on performance if the option of rapid removal is used is very low and not very influential (never more than 5% as verified on the 7Tutorials site). The only reason to keep the best performance option, which still gives a faster writing speed on the USB stick, is if you use the ReadyBoost function on Windows 7 or Windows 10 and, therefore, a stick that is never detached.
All this to say that, unless the disk drive policy has been changed on Windows, each USB stick can be removed without using the safe hardware removal procedure .
In another article, the solution to remove a USB stick without errors even if it is impossible to disable, which can only happen if the best performance option is chosen.
Windows warns of possible problems and the risk of losing the files of the stick if it is not disconnected in the correct way.
This is because in Windows, an optional and default setting provides that, in order to increase the writing speed on the device, some files are stored in a temporary cache that would be lost by detaching the pen without safely removing the hardware.
All this is true, only if a system setting has been changed, choosing to be able to improve the performance of USB sticks and external hard drives.
Instead, you can safely disconnect and disconnect each USB stick without worrying about the safe removal of the hardware and detach the USB stick directly, without having to click. Many tech news sites these days are talking about this possibility as new. In fact, this option has always been present in Windows 7 as in Windows 10, only that while before it had to be set manually, now, in the latest version of Windows 10, it becomes the default option.
On your PC you can check the current configuration of the USB drive removal mode by opening the Start menu and looking for Device Manager (or go to Control Panel -> System -> Advanced Settings -> Hardware ). You can also reach the same option by searching for Disk Management and then pressing the right button on the USB stick disk drive.
The window shows a list of computer hardware devices, including connected external devices.
Then expand the list of disk drives and note the presence of the computer hard disk, connected USB sticks and SD cards.
Both from Disk Management and from Device Manager, you can press the right mouse button on the USB Flash Disk drive to open the Properties . Go to the Criteria tab, verify that quick removal is set as it should be, and not Best Performance . All this means that, by default, on Windows 7 and Windows 10, you can detach and reattach a USB stick at any time, without any risk of losing data or damaging the device. From the disk management section, in the list of Units, you can check that the fast removal option is selected for all connected devices.
Obviously, a device should never be unplugged during a file copy operation or if you are working on a portable program or before saving changes to a document, otherwise there may be problems and a disk scan will be required to solve the problems and go back to using the key.
The other option, " better performance ", activates the write cache and requires you to proceed with the safe removal of the USB stick by deactivating and ejecting with the safe removal of the hardware. This was the default option of Windows 10 to date, while instead starting from the 1809 update (of October 2018), after the installation of the operating system the Quick Removal option will automatically be active.
If you want to understand how much better the performance would be if you chose the " better performance " option, you can use, on the same USB stick, a program to control the speed of a disk, using CrystalDiskInfo, in one case and another, and make the comparison. As you can see, the impact on performance if the option of rapid removal is used is very low and not very influential (never more than 5% as verified on the 7Tutorials site). The only reason to keep the best performance option, which still gives a faster writing speed on the USB stick, is if you use the ReadyBoost function on Windows 7 or Windows 10 and, therefore, a stick that is never detached.
All this to say that, unless the disk drive policy has been changed on Windows, each USB stick can be removed without using the safe hardware removal procedure .
In another article, the solution to remove a USB stick without errors even if it is impossible to disable, which can only happen if the best performance option is chosen.
