How To Remove a USB DiskOnKey Safly

[antonigaribaldi]

in windows xp when i request a safe removal of a usb storage device
it gets powered off (the Led on the DiskOnKey turns off)
in windows 7 the light stays on, is windows 7 broken?

 

[Thrax]

As long as Windows 7 reports that the device may safely be removed, everything is fine. No, Win7 is not broken.

 

[Octagon]

The same happened with Vista. With XP, when a USB HDD is "safely removed" it waits for about 15 seconds and stops rotating. With Vista and 7 this does not happen.

So far nothing bad happened to my HDD and USB HDD manuals I found in the Net normally warn "do not disconnect the USB cable when data is being transferred" and do not mention power down after "safely removed", so it should be safe, but I feel much safer with the XP behavior.

Does anybody know how to put a USB HDD to the lowest power mode in 7?

 

[Veedaz]

Hi Octagon

You can customise power options ... Start Button > Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Power Options > Select a Power Plan.

 

[antonigaribaldi]

The problem is that a usb cable contains power lines in addition to data lines, and a device may not be disconnected while power is on.
For an external HDD this is not a problem because you can switch off
the device before disconnecting.
A DiskOnKey however has no power off switch, and therefor there is a probability of damaging it, so the action taken by windows 7 is WRONG.

 

[clifford_cooley]

The problem is that a usb cable contains power lines in addition to data lines, and a device may not be disconnected while power is on.
For an external HDD this is not a problem because you can switch off
the device before disconnecting.
A DiskOnKey however has no power off switch, and therefor there is a probability of damaging it, so the action taken by windows 7 is WRONG.

You are wrong here
The point behind disconnecting the devices safely is to ensure all your data has been completely written and that all programs have been disconnected from the drive before you choose to remove your device.

The +5V power to the USB connector is continuous and is never switched off. If you find there is no power to a USB port, that port will be faulty.

The purpose behind external hardware having their own power supply is because the USB connectors may not supply enough current to power the device.