# Just pulling out a USB pen drive?



## Black Panther (Feb 13, 2009)

Well that's what I normally do. 
Pop it in, use it (put in data or take data from it) and just pull it out...

Now a guy (who's supposed to be tech-savvy) told me that unless I do the 'proper' procedure ie right click icon on task-bar and stop the device, the drive could get damaged.

I told him that I had 'optimised' the drive through its menu for "quick removal" but he kept insisting  So I've started stopping the device but lol it's so tedious!

I've owned like 6 pendrives and I never damaged a drive because I just pull it out I guess.
I've had one drive dying on me, it was a Corsair Flash Voyager 16GB which I rma-d successfully. Now I got this doubt -- had I killed the Corsair myself?


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## Deleted member 3 (Feb 13, 2009)

Physically it won't get damaged. Though you can lose data, filesystem could get screwed up. If you write to the pen it's first written to a buffer (=cache) and then to the pen. Actual writes can occur a bit later. So if you pull it out before the actual write has been performed > data gone. 
It can get as bad as your file system ending up corrupt.

On the brighter side, Windows does know it's an USB stick and does set it for quick removal by default. Disable this and the problem becomes a lot worse. (ie NTFS USB stick)


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## Black Panther (Feb 13, 2009)

DanTheBanjoman said:


> On the brighter side, Windows does know it's an USB stick and does set it for quick removal by default. Disable this and the problem becomes a lot worse. (ie NTFS USB stick)



I have mine at NTFS, and I set it for quick removal too (unless I'm confusing stuff here).
You mean NTFS is 'worse' than FAT for reliability?


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## Deleted member 3 (Feb 13, 2009)

Black Panther said:


> I have mine at NTFS, and I set it for quick removal too (unless I'm confusing stuff here).
> You mean NTFS is 'worse' than FAT for reliability?



Probably confusing things, NTFS is only allowed when set for performance. And no, NTFS is more reliable, though it doesn't like being removed without being warned.


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## oily_17 (Feb 13, 2009)

I have a 2GB Corsair Flash Voyager and I never stop it before removal and so far has worked this 3 years with no hitches ::touch wood::

But as Dan says it is probably best if you want to make sure that the data is not corrupted.


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## newtekie1 (Feb 13, 2009)

Just pulling it out is fine as long as you have it set for quick removal and you make sure nothing is being writen or read from the drive when you pull it out(IE the light isn't blinking).



DanTheBanjoman said:


> Probably confusing things, NTFS is only allowed when set for performance. And no, NTFS is more reliable, though it doesn't like being removed without being warned.



You have to disable the "Optimize for Quick Removal" option to get the drive to format in NTFS.  However, you can re-enable it once the drive is formatted and it works just fine.


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## Deleted member 3 (Feb 13, 2009)

newtekie1 said:


> You have to disable the "Optimize for Quick Removal" option to get the drive to format in NTFS.  However, you can re-enable it once the drive is formatted and it works just fine.



Hax.


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## Black Panther (Feb 13, 2009)

newtekie1 said:


> Just pulling it out is fine as long as you have it set for quick removal and you make sure nothing is being writen or read from the drive when you pull it out(IE the light isn't blinking).
> 
> 
> 
> You have to disable the "Optimize for Quick Removal" option to get the drive to format in NTFS.  However, you can re-enable it once the drive is formatted and it works just fine.



That's what I _think _I did...
Once I did get a corrupted file but I had removed it when it was blinking.

Well... as long as removing the drive without 'stopping the device' isn't the culprit of creating issues like these, I'm fine with it...
Thanks


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## Sasqui (Feb 13, 2009)

I never take the time to "safely eject".  Got to pull out quickly 

As eveyone else has said, the only thing you really need to worry about is data corruption if the disk is being written to when you remove it.


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## kyle2020 (Feb 13, 2009)

I have an 8GB Freecom drive - usually just pull it out but I have had no problems so far.


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## PVTCaboose1337 (Feb 13, 2009)

I usually wait 3 seconds after the dialogue goes away saying it copied things, but I am much to lazy to push the safely eject button.  Corsair 4gb voyager here.


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## BrooksyX (Feb 13, 2009)

I always just pull out flash drives, been doing this for years and never had any problems.

I remember one time this stupid kid who thought he was really smart told me I shouldn't do it one day at school. I asked him why looking, looking forward to see what his answer was. He said, "Because it will encrypt your data."  Man that kid was dumb. LMAO


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## man00 (Feb 15, 2009)

NTFS also wears out the drive a lot sooner or so I been told.


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## Marineborn (Feb 15, 2009)

hmmmmm from my expeirnece jump drivers are extremly tough, tell mr It..whatever to take it and shove it, ive been using a jump drive for about 7 yrs now i think somewhere around there...and ive lost it out my pocket doing 140 down a freeway on my rocket..and it still works pulled it at a distance, yanked it out, pushed it out sideways..things are indestructible..so...psha whatever


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## W1zzard (Feb 15, 2009)

doesnt windows disable the write cache for usb devices by default?


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## FordGT90Concept (Feb 15, 2009)

I've never had a problem with USB flash drives by just pulling them out once all read/write operations are done (ehm, not still trying to copy files for instance).

The only devices I had problems with was a D-Link 802.11g USB wireless adapter.  If you pull it out without going through safely remove hardware, the computer is likely to BSOD/restart.


In short, if you know nothing is read/writing to any kind of USB stoarge device, it is safe to unplug it.  If you are not sure that it isn't reading/writing or it is a device that has drivers which establish and keep a connection going, use safely remove hardware dialog.


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## lemonadesoda (Feb 15, 2009)

> Just pulling out?
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> ...



Just install this and stop worrying about the risks of unprotected ejection http://quick.mixnmojo.com/usb-disk-ejector


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## Deleted member 3 (Feb 15, 2009)

W1zzard said:


> doesnt windows disable the write cache for usb devices by default?



Mostly yes, that's the quick removal option basically. But it still has a buffer, I get the "delayed write failed" thing now and then when pulling out USB sticks.


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## Polarman (Feb 16, 2009)

I always unplug mine using the "stop this device" thingy.


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## Drizzt5 (Feb 17, 2009)

Now I always unplug mine using the "stop this device" because it's a 16gb (really 14 or something) and I got a lot of stuff on it I don't want to die. Always make backups though.

But I've never had it happen to me with older pen drives.


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## v8ornot2v8 (Mar 4, 2009)

It's alway sbetter to be safe then sorry! I always stp first.


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## Steevo (Mar 4, 2009)

I don't and the only USB item I have ever had a issue with is my Sansa. But it is FAT, and the connector is failing. Most USB drives have lights so you know when they are being read or written to.


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## Error 404 (Mar 4, 2009)

I wait for about 5 seconds after its finished doing something, and take it out. Screw ejecting, I only do that for portable hard drives so they have time to spin down and park the read/write head.
I've never killed a USB drive this way. Aah, I remember my trusty 256mb USB.... it went through the wash. Twice!


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