Safely Remove Hard Disk

[panais]

I have four (4) hard disks C:\ D:\ E:\ F:\ all are connected with sata cable and power cable.(of course)
The F:\ is outside from the pc and connected via external SATA and power cable (like usb NOT usb)
I know,with USB external hard disk i can use the safely remove option.

Is there any option to safely remove SATA hard disk without Shut Down the pc???

1)Start-Control Panel-Device Manager-Disk Drives-Right Click on hard disk-Properties-Policies-Untik\Disable the Enable write cashing on the disk??

2)Start-Control Panel-Device Manager-Disk Drives-Right Click on hard disk-Disable??

OR???... Any Idea or Suggestions?
Btw the external sata cable has ESATA logo on it.

 

[Brink]

Hi Panais,

The safest way is to use the Optimize for quick removal option on the F: drive in Device Manager Hard disk properties. This way you will not need to worry about Safely Remove Hardware at all.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[NormCameron]

Hi Panais,

The safest way is to use the Optimize for quick removal option on the F: drive in Device Manager Hard disk properties. This way you will not need to worry about Safely Remove Hardware at all.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Shawn, I always use the "Safely Remove" option on Flash Drives despite having "Optimize for Quick Removal:" selected. Does your advice apply to Flash Drives? Am I being needlessly cautious?

Norm

 

[panais]

Hi Panais,

The safest way is to use the Optimize for quick removal option on the F: drive in Device Manager Hard disk properties. This way you will not need to worry about Safely Remove Hardware at all.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

The Optimize for quick removal is not accessible

 

[Brink]

Hi Norm,

The main purpose for the "Safely Remove Hardware" feature is to protect you from losing any data if the drive (ex: flash drive) is using write caching when removing it. This can be important if you have Vista set to write to this drive in the background. For example, with ReadyBoost, moved the page file or a temp folder to this drive, etc. You gain more performance with this option, but with a slight risk of losing data if you remove the drive and Vista just happens to not be done with it at the time.

With the flash drive set as "Optimize for Quick Removal" there really is no need to use the "Safely Remove Hardware" feature since it disables write caching on the drive. Whenever Vista is through copying the file, you can unplug the drive safely. With this option, the performance suffers a little bit, but you can remove the drive without worry of an accidental data loss from the write cache. USB and SATA drives were designed for hotplugging. It will not hurt anything to use the "Safely Remove Hardware" feature to be extra safe though.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Brink]

Panais,

Will the Enable write cache on the disk option stay unchecked? If so, then you will not need to worry about the "Safely Remove Hardware" feature. Of course, just make sure it is done copying any files before you disconnect it though.

 

[NormCameron]

Hi Norm,

The main purpose for the "Safely Remove Hardware" feature is to protect you from losing any data if the drive (ex: flash drive) is using write caching when removing it. This can be important if you have Vista set to write to this drive in the background. For example, with ReadyBoost, moved the page file or a temp folder to this drive, etc. You gain more performance with this option, but with a slight risk of losing data if you remove the drive and Vista just happens to not be done with it at the time.

With the flash drive set as "Optimize for Quick Removal" there really is no need to use the "Safely Remove Hardware" feature since it disables write caching on the drive. Whenever Vista is through copying the file, you can unplug the drive safely. With this option, the performance suffers a little bit, but you can remove the drive without worry of an accidental data loss from the write cache. USB and SATA drives were designed for hotplugging. It will not hurt anything to use the "Safely Remove Hardware" feature to be extra safe though.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Thanks for the advice Shawn.

Sometimes we think we know all about it, but we don't. Never to late to learn, eh!

Norm

 

[Brink]

Never Norm. I'm always learning something new everyday.

LOL, I just wish I could always remember it.