Where's the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon?

Anonymous
2012-12-07T21:01:38+00:00

I just upgraded to Win 8 from Win XP. I'm used to seeing a popup or icon in my lower right taskbar to 'safely remove hardware' after plugging in my camera or phone but I don't see one in Windows 8. What happened to it? Will I have a problem if I just unplug my device or do I need to take other steps to make sure it's safe to unplug?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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Anonymous
2012-12-07T21:02:28+00:00

Click on the upward arrow by the clock.  This will show the hidden items and allow you to safely remove the devices.

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Anonymous
2012-12-07T21:14:51+00:00

Hello PuzzledJane,

Follow the instructions supplied by Alex T Jr. This will allow you to see the remove hardware icon.

If you want the icon to appear permanently on display then click on the up arrow in the notification area and then, when the list of icons appears, click the Customize option. A list of all of the icons will now appear. Locate the safely remove hardware icon and click on the arrow in the dialogue box to the right of this option. From the drop down list select 'show icon and notification' and then press the OK button.

The safely remove hardware icon will now permanently be displayed in the notification area.

This forum post is my own opinion and does not necessarily reflect the opinion or view of Microsoft, its employees, or other MVPs.

John Barnett MVP: Windows XP Associate Expert: Windows Expert - Consumer:  www.winuser.co.uk |  vistasupport.mvps.org | xphelpandsupport.mvps.org | www.silversurfer-guide.com

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-11-17T15:43:23+00:00

    I latched onto this thread looking for the answer to this same old question about removing usb devices safely. It did run through my mind that the notification area has *never* worked properly since it first surfaced I think in Win95. Prior to that all Windows versions were  MS-DOS applications. Nothing changes not even in 20+ years!

    I was loath to just unplug my *phone* as that could have the potential for some serious malfunction. So I looked at connected devices in Explorer and was able to stop the connection there. But still no sign of the elusive "remove hardware safely" button. Seems to me that the notification area is *worse* in 8.1!

    There are lots of buried routines like this & Microsoft have been guilty of this hiding tactic before as the growth of pc's has grown in the consumer channel in an attempt to over simplify things.

    I too am not impressed with Windows 8.1 (can't speak for 8 not used it). But then I thought Vista was OK & it's main failing was that 3rd party vendors did not rise to the challenge of producing drivers to that "new" architecture. In fact Vista has been my most reliable Windows with only one BSOD in 6 years. Still think Win2K was the best one, but then I've used MS-DOS since it first appeared before it could even support hard disks. Such a simple operating environment (but not an operating system that would stretch things too far).

    I wonder what Win10 will be like?

    One last thing - why do MS display the most recent posts on this board (forgive my old fashioned turn of phrase) at the end rather than at the start ie order the most recent first. Sometimes I wonder if MS are committing corporate suicide. Whilst in numbers Apple is nothing to worry about but the burgeoning growth of Android must be giving someone sleepless nights?

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-07-31T00:29:56+00:00

    On Wed, 30 Jul 2014 22:03:47 +0000, redbear2 wrote:

    Good luck with your upgrade too. If I had enough RAM in my XP, I would have most likely tried the upgrade too. I use it now to load pics from my camera, which only supports the XP OS & then transfer

    them to a Flash Drive >to my Win7:-) Whatever works!

    Let me point out that you don't need to do that. There's no need to

    connect your camera to your computer. Simply buy a USB reader for your

    camera's card (they are very inexpensive; you can get them for around

    $2 US on Amazon.com) and use that on your Windows 7 machine.

    Interesting. I will certainly check that out. Thanks so much for that info!! I may have to get an adapter

    for the chip in the camera since it's very small. I had a cell phone that took the mini chip and had to buy the adapter in order to use the USB reader. Will let you know.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-07-31T00:15:59+00:00

    On Wed, 30 Jul 2014 22:03:47 +0000, redbear2 wrote:

    Good luck with your upgrade too. If I had enough RAM in my XP, I would have most likely tried the upgrade too. I use it now to load pics from my camera, which only supports the XP OS & then transfer
    them to a Flash Drive >to my Win7:-) Whatever works!

    Let me point out that you don't need to do that. There's no need to
    connect your camera to your computer. Simply buy a USB reader for your
    camera's card (they are very inexpensive; you can get them for around
    $2 US on Amazon.com) and use that on your Windows 7 machine.

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