Safely Remove Hardware item removal

**ElementalDragon** · January 10th, 2006

hard to tell which topic this would be better under...... Windows Desktop, or Windows Drivers.... but Desktop seemed a tad more appropriate.

Anyone know if there's a way to remove choices from the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon that sits in the system tray? i know that [sarcasm] SOOOOOO many people use a SATA hard drive as a means of mass portable storage [/sarcasm], but i'd rather not have my hard drive listed there..... not that i go to disconnect my GMini, and accidentally click on my hard drive. would probably not end too well......

**VenomXt** · January 10th, 2006

it wont dissconnect that stuff anyways. i tried once hehe.

**ElementalDragon** · January 10th, 2006

heh. still would be nice to be able to remove it from the list though..... would also get rid of the icon in the systray when i don't have the gmini attached...

**Aprox** · January 10th, 2006

Right Click Task Bar > Properties > Customize

From here find the item called "Safely Remove Hardware" and change its Behavior to "Always Hide"

And thats it and thats all

**madmatt** · January 10th, 2006

He doesn't want to remove the icon from the tray, he wants to remove an item from appearing in its list of available items to disconnect.

**ElementalDragon** · January 10th, 2006

yep..... what he said ^^^^

**Johnny** · January 10th, 2006

Isn't there a reg hack for that ???

**madmatt** · January 10th, 2006

I honestly don't think there is a way of doing it. When you unplug a device and then plug it in again it is going to re-add itself regardless if it is a registry change or an INI file.

**mlakrid** · January 10th, 2006

Originally Posted by madmatt

I honestly don't think there is a way of doing it. When you unplug a device and then plug it in again it is going to re-add itself regardless if it is a registry change or an INI file.

but like you already noted, he NEVER wants to disconnect it...

I would agree with johnny, there should be a reg hack to do this...

/goes to investigate...

**madmatt** · January 10th, 2006

When you restart the PC it will reconnect and therefore re-add itself.

**mlakrid** · January 10th, 2006

Originally Posted by madmatt

When you restart the PC it will reconnect and therefore re-add itself.

so a removable item, always removes/adds itself every time you turn your PC on/off??

that seems a bit overkill to me, it seems to make more sense to only make those changes and/or additions if the device is removed?

**madmatt** · January 10th, 2006

I guess it depends on the motherboard. Older motherboards don't see USB devices during boot up.

Regardless, that icon doesn't load until such a device is loaded. And Windows doesn't load that device until it boots (that's what I mean by re-adding itself).

I looked every where, including the registry and I can't find any thing. I believe it's built in and can't be changed.

**Admiral Michael** · January 10th, 2006

Hmm....

http://www.safelyremove.com/

I never safely remove USB sticks and such.

EDIT. Ok, that program isnt free and it also has a process that runs to hide the icon.

**madmatt** · January 10th, 2006

Admiral, it depends on the settings you use for the device.

i.e. optimize for removal or performance. If you have it optimized for performance you should ALWAYS safely remove it.

**Admiral Michael** · January 10th, 2006

Meh, never had any problems.

**Son Goku** · January 11th, 2006

Originally Posted by madmatt

Admiral, it depends on the settings you use for the device.

i.e. optimize for removal or performance. If you have it optimized for performance you should ALWAYS safely remove it.

What he said, except for one slight difference...

The BIOS that comes with my motherboard does include a boot USB item for both USB CD-Roms as well as for USB hard drives. So, theoretically one could install Windows to boot off of the USB drive, in which case being able to remove the system drive from inside Windows would be kind of silly. Never tried installing it there however.

I would suspect a registry change might be possible also, but can't confirm from first hand experience. I can confirm however my BIOS containing the ability to set a USB drive as the boot drive however...

**Electronic Punk** · January 11th, 2006

Thats not the reason they are removable -- its for raid redundancy and hot swapping.

**Son Goku** · January 11th, 2006

Yeah, it could make sense for RAID 1 or RAID 5, (ditto on RAID 0, or stripe sets, which include no reduncdency), but the original poster seems to only have 1 SATA HD, looking back at his original post.

One couldn't exactly setup a RAID with just 1 drive, and as such, I could see him wanting to remove this from the list.

BTW, this might take a bit more research... I checked online and found many things but how to do this. I opened up registry editor, searched the word safely, and none of the instances seemed to be part of anything we need. At least not in a plain text readable format as such. Perhaps someone will come accross this.

**ElementalDragon** · January 11th, 2006

yeah..... seems like that's one more of many things MS made a royal pain in the arse to do..... and yes, i have but one SATA hard drive (maybe have 2 soon.... but probably still won't be a RAID array)

**Aprox** · January 13th, 2006

After my initial incorrect post I did some thinking of how it would be possible and I think I came across an idea.

I currently do not have my Raid controller drivers installed and my two sata drives dont show up in the hardware removal thing. This tells me its a driver thing, so if you absolutely need the raid drivers install maybe if you tweak an ini or similar you can make it so it wont show up.

I am going to install my raid drivers right now and test this theory out... hopfully I dont break something

January 10th, 2006	Top \| #1
ElementalDragon The One and Only Joined: August 2002 Location: Lehighton, PA Posts: 3,160 Blog Entries: 3 Reputation: 1095 Power: 161	Safely Remove Hardware item removal hard to tell which topic this would be better under...... Windows Desktop, or Windows Drivers.... but Desktop seemed a tad more appropriate. Anyone know if there's a way to remove choices from the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon that sits in the system tray? i know that [sarcasm] SOOOOOO many people use a SATA hard drive as a means of mass portable storage [/sarcasm], but i'd rather not have my hard drive listed there..... not that i go to disconnect my GMini, and accidentally click on my hard drive. would probably not end too well...... Core 2 Quad Q9450 \| 4GB DDR2 800 \| Abit IP-35 Pro \| eVGA GTX 295+ I Love Windows 7! Has my post been helpful to you? If so, please click the to the left to add to my reputation.

January 10th, 2006	Top \| #2
VenomXt Blame me for the RAZR's Joined: March 2004 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 3,442 Reputation: 1240 Power: 146	Re: Safely Remove Hardware item removal it wont dissconnect that stuff anyways. i tried once hehe. www.venomxt.com

January 10th, 2006	Top \| #3
ElementalDragon The One and Only Joined: August 2002 Location: Lehighton, PA Posts: 3,160 Blog Entries: 3 Reputation: 1095 Power: 161	Re: Safely Remove Hardware item removal heh. still would be nice to be able to remove it from the list though..... would also get rid of the icon in the systray when i don't have the gmini attached... Core 2 Quad Q9450 \| 4GB DDR2 800 \| Abit IP-35 Pro \| eVGA GTX 295+ I Love Windows 7! Has my post been helpful to you? If so, please click the to the left to add to my reputation.

January 10th, 2006	Top \| #4
Aprox OSNN Veteran Addict Joined: August 2004 Location: California, USA Posts: 2,735 Blog Entries: 1 Reputation: 2036 Power: 142	Re: Safely Remove Hardware item removal Right Click Task Bar > Properties > Customize From here find the item called "Safely Remove Hardware" and change its Behavior to "Always Hide" And thats it and thats all

January 10th, 2006	Top \| #5
madmatt Bow Down to the King Joined: April 2002 Location: New York Posts: 13,312 Reputation: 4090 Power: 297	Re: Safely Remove Hardware item removal He doesn't want to remove the icon from the tray, he wants to remove an item from appearing in its list of available items to disconnect.

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January 10th, 2006	Top \| #6
ElementalDragon The One and Only Joined: August 2002 Location: Lehighton, PA Posts: 3,160 Blog Entries: 3 Reputation: 1095 Power: 161	Re: Safely Remove Hardware item removal yep..... what he said ^^^^ Core 2 Quad Q9450 \| 4GB DDR2 800 \| Abit IP-35 Pro \| eVGA GTX 295+ I Love Windows 7! Has my post been helpful to you? If so, please click the to the left to add to my reputation.

January 10th, 2006	Top \| #7
Johnny Paul Reed Smith Joined: January 2004 Location: Happy Valley Posts: 4,869 Reputation: 2369 Power: 173	Re: Safely Remove Hardware item removal Isn't there a reg hack for that ??? Paul Reed Smith.

January 10th, 2006	Top \| #8
madmatt Bow Down to the King Joined: April 2002 Location: New York Posts: 13,312 Reputation: 4090 Power: 297	Re: Safely Remove Hardware item removal I honestly don't think there is a way of doing it. When you unplug a device and then plug it in again it is going to re-add itself regardless if it is a registry change or an INI file.

January 10th, 2006	Top \| #9
mlakrid OSNN BASSMASTER Joined: February 2005 Location: Land O Lakes, YES, JUST LIKE the CHEESE! Posts: 2,338 Reputation: 1410 Power: 126	Re: Safely Remove Hardware item removal Originally Posted by madmatt I honestly don't think there is a way of doing it. When you unplug a device and then plug it in again it is going to re-add itself regardless if it is a registry change or an INI file. but like you already noted, he NEVER wants to disconnect it... I would agree with johnny, there should be a reg hack to do this... /goes to investigate... Quote: "Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity." R.I.P. the best comedian of our time; GEORGE CARLIN.

January 10th, 2006	Top \| #10
madmatt Bow Down to the King Joined: April 2002 Location: New York Posts: 13,312 Reputation: 4090 Power: 297	Re: Safely Remove Hardware item removal When you restart the PC it will reconnect and therefore re-add itself.

January 10th, 2006	Top \| #11
mlakrid OSNN BASSMASTER Joined: February 2005 Location: Land O Lakes, YES, JUST LIKE the CHEESE! Posts: 2,338 Reputation: 1410 Power: 126	Re: Safely Remove Hardware item removal Originally Posted by madmatt When you restart the PC it will reconnect and therefore re-add itself. so a removable item, always removes/adds itself every time you turn your PC on/off?? that seems a bit overkill to me, it seems to make more sense to only make those changes and/or additions if the device is removed? Quote: "Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity." R.I.P. the best comedian of our time; GEORGE CARLIN.

January 10th, 2006	Top \| #12
madmatt Bow Down to the King Joined: April 2002 Location: New York Posts: 13,312 Reputation: 4090 Power: 297	Re: Safely Remove Hardware item removal I guess it depends on the motherboard. Older motherboards don't see USB devices during boot up. Regardless, that icon doesn't load until such a device is loaded. And Windows doesn't load that device until it boots (that's what I mean by re-adding itself). I looked every where, including the registry and I can't find any thing. I believe it's built in and can't be changed.

January 10th, 2006	Top \| #13
Admiral Michael Michaelsoft Systems CEO Joined: February 2003 Location: Hamilton, Ontario Canada Earth Posts: 3,125 Blog Entries: 8 Reputation: 2216 Power: 166	Re: Safely Remove Hardware item removal Hmm.... http://www.safelyremove.com/ I never safely remove USB sticks and such. EDIT. Ok, that program isnt free and it also has a process that runs to hide the icon. Apple MacBook Pro Intel Quad-Core i7 2GHz \| Corsair 8GB 1333MHz DDR3 Memory \| WD 750GB 7200RPM Black Edition SATA Hard Drive \| Intel HD Graphics 3000/AMD Radeon HD 6490M 256MB GDDR5 \| 15.4" LED backlit glossy screen @ 1440x900 \| Dual Band Airport Wireless/Bluetooth \| Gigabit Ethernet \| Thunderbolt I/O \| Built-in Webcam \| Backlit Keyboard \| Firewire 800 \| DVDRW \| OS X Lion 10.7.1 My Site \| My DVD Collection \| Your Chevrolet Guy

January 10th, 2006	Top \| #14
madmatt Bow Down to the King Joined: April 2002 Location: New York Posts: 13,312 Reputation: 4090 Power: 297	Re: Safely Remove Hardware item removal Admiral, it depends on the settings you use for the device. i.e. optimize for removal or performance. If you have it optimized for performance you should ALWAYS safely remove it.

January 10th, 2006	Top \| #15
Admiral Michael Michaelsoft Systems CEO Joined: February 2003 Location: Hamilton, Ontario Canada Earth Posts: 3,125 Blog Entries: 8 Reputation: 2216 Power: 166	Re: Safely Remove Hardware item removal Meh, never had any problems. Apple MacBook Pro Intel Quad-Core i7 2GHz \| Corsair 8GB 1333MHz DDR3 Memory \| WD 750GB 7200RPM Black Edition SATA Hard Drive \| Intel HD Graphics 3000/AMD Radeon HD 6490M 256MB GDDR5 \| 15.4" LED backlit glossy screen @ 1440x900 \| Dual Band Airport Wireless/Bluetooth \| Gigabit Ethernet \| Thunderbolt I/O \| Built-in Webcam \| Backlit Keyboard \| Firewire 800 \| DVDRW \| OS X Lion 10.7.1 My Site \| My DVD Collection \| Your Chevrolet Guy

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January 11th, 2006	Top \| #16
Son Goku No lover of dogma Joined: June 2004 Location: 439 East District, Mount Paozu Posts: 1,980 Reputation: 700 Power: 123	Re: Safely Remove Hardware item removal Originally Posted by madmatt Admiral, it depends on the settings you use for the device. i.e. optimize for removal or performance. If you have it optimized for performance you should ALWAYS safely remove it. What he said, except for one slight difference... The BIOS that comes with my motherboard does include a boot USB item for both USB CD-Roms as well as for USB hard drives. So, theoretically one could install Windows to boot off of the USB drive, in which case being able to remove the system drive from inside Windows would be kind of silly. Never tried installing it there however. I would suspect a registry change might be possible also, but can't confirm from first hand experience. I can confirm however my BIOS containing the ability to set a USB drive as the boot drive however...

January 11th, 2006	Top \| #17
Electronic Punk The Last High Joined: December 2001 Location: London Posts: 18,510 Blog Entries: 51 Reputation: 3652 Power: 349	Re: Safely Remove Hardware item removal Thats not the reason they are removable -- its for raid redundancy and hot swapping.

January 11th, 2006	Top \| #18
Son Goku No lover of dogma Joined: June 2004 Location: 439 East District, Mount Paozu Posts: 1,980 Reputation: 700 Power: 123	Re: Safely Remove Hardware item removal Yeah, it could make sense for RAID 1 or RAID 5, (ditto on RAID 0, or stripe sets, which include no reduncdency), but the original poster seems to only have 1 SATA HD, looking back at his original post. One couldn't exactly setup a RAID with just 1 drive, and as such, I could see him wanting to remove this from the list. BTW, this might take a bit more research... I checked online and found many things but how to do this. I opened up registry editor, searched the word safely, and none of the instances seemed to be part of anything we need. At least not in a plain text readable format as such. Perhaps someone will come accross this.

January 11th, 2006	Top \| #19
ElementalDragon The One and Only Joined: August 2002 Location: Lehighton, PA Posts: 3,160 Blog Entries: 3 Reputation: 1095 Power: 161	Re: Safely Remove Hardware item removal yeah..... seems like that's one more of many things MS made a royal pain in the arse to do..... and yes, i have but one SATA hard drive (maybe have 2 soon.... but probably still won't be a RAID array) Core 2 Quad Q9450 \| 4GB DDR2 800 \| Abit IP-35 Pro \| eVGA GTX 295+ I Love Windows 7! Has my post been helpful to you? If so, please click the to the left to add to my reputation.

January 13th, 2006	Top \| #20
Aprox OSNN Veteran Addict Joined: August 2004 Location: California, USA Posts: 2,735 Blog Entries: 1 Reputation: 2036 Power: 142	Re: Safely Remove Hardware item removal After my initial incorrect post I did some thinking of how it would be possible and I think I came across an idea. I currently do not have my Raid controller drivers installed and my two sata drives dont show up in the hardware removal thing. This tells me its a driver thing, so if you absolutely need the raid drivers install maybe if you tweak an ini or similar you can make it so it wont show up. I am going to install my raid drivers right now and test this theory out... hopfully I dont break something