Submission details
Safely Remove Hardware dialog is programmer-oriented, not user-oriented
Overly complex, hostile dialog is painful when your computer comes with one of those 6-in-1 card readers (as does mine), an external hard drive, and a USB thumb drive. Unchecking “display device components” leaves unhelpful, undistinguishable entries. Takes up to 3 clicks to eject a device, so most people just pull out their USB drive when das blinkenlights are off.
I'm aware that left-clicking displays a simpler menu, but many people (including me up until a few days ago) aren't aware of that feature, since third-party system tray icons don't always respond to a left click.
I know I can also go into My Computer, right-click the drive, and hit Eject, but for some reason I always forget that that option is there. Mostly because I don’t think of ejecting a thumb drive or external drive like ejecting a floppy or a CD … the latter involves something physically ejecting/launching out of the computer; for USB devices, a more accurate word or analogy should be used.
Add the drive letters, add the device names, and get rid of all the worthless tree-level stuff; it’s a programmer’s view, not a user’s view.
In 2008, we no longer need to be calling these things a "USB Mass Storage Device."
Low
Medium
Fixed
Discussion (43 comments)
Even though I am a programmer, it is very annoying
But this IS the advanced version of the UI. If you want the simple version, use a left-click instead of a right-click.
@BrandonLive: To counter-argue, most users end up here by accident.
I think a good solution would be to leave the programmer's view as it is (for the programmers) but make the normal left-click way of doing it more discoverable to regular users.
(1) Why is this not a rightclick while using the drive in Explorer? (2) Buy out safelyremove.com and incorporate it.
If I right-click the icon for a USB flash drive or any other USB Mass Storage Device in the Computer window, one of the options available is Safely Remove. However, that option isn't there for removable media inserted in a multi-slot card reader. In fact, the way to safely remove that media is to use the Eject option. Confusing.
This is so needed!
Though I have no problems with the current "Safely Remove Device" (coz I'm an experienced PC user), the USB Device labels need work.
I think the only way MS can solve this is to work with hardware vendors for USB 3.0, so that they have Vendor-Designated Labels, and light up when they are in use.
The Vendor-Designated Labels will be displayed in the "Safely Remove Device" to clearly tell me places where I plugged the device.
http://safelyremove.com/ is one alternative although you have to buy it its much more friendly and has some very neat features including the ability to tell you why a device cant be safely removed.
I love it how sometimes it reports that the device is in use even though you're certain that you've closed your programs so people just yank it out.
Agree about http://safelyremove.com/ - pretty good stuff.
I would also like to see the remove option available by right-clicking the drive.
Also a new entry in the start menu wouldn't go amiss.
Agreed.
There is like two items in that list view that has the same disconnect effect to that device.
Yeah this is so annoying they make us use third-party software for something as simple as this!
I agree 100%
Most programmers I know actually know 'naff all about hardware even though they say they do - could tell a capacitor from a diode if hit by a truckload of them
somewhere else there's a suggestion that USB ports be "name-able" like disk drives etc could be combined with this
The current presentation is a hardware/BIOS oriented view - technician rather than programmers,
I am a "programmer" and don't like that dialog either. That's why I don't right-click the taskbar icon, I left-click and get what you are asking for.
I would like to have in the right-click menu the option it already has and the options on the left-click menu.
Windows is lacking a consistent recommendation for taskbar icon operations. Every application (even Microsoft ones) has its way of doing things.
Simple solution: single-left-click the system tray icon, and wait for the popup to show the list of USB devices. That list includes drive letters and and in some cases, some descriptive text - drive model, etc. I never use the full double-click dialog box. Waste of time.
Why not allow the user simply unplug the USB drive? Much simpler, more logical and extremely user friendly. Why the need to tell system that user want to unplug it?
I recognize that this may not be possible due to the way the USB "standard" is made - but they should have though of that in the first place.
But other than that, there are some good suggestions for fixing in the previous comment. Keep it simple, minimize number of clicks/activations, etc.
Left click isn't entirely intuintive either:
eg.
USB Mass storeage (E:)
USB Mass storeage (H:,J:,I:)
<random> SATA DVD
<random> SATA HDD (C:)
<RANDOM CHINEESE NAME>
not easy scan, and some of theese you wound't want to remove.
Even the "simple" method requires three clicks to remove a device, including the wonderfully pointless "This device can now be safely removed from the computer" confirmation dialog. At least XP uses a pop-up which disappears on its own.
Eh...
Just LEFT CLICK the tray bar icon, and choose a drive to safely remove.
If it's a REAL bother, simply go into right click the Drive, click Properties, click the Hardware tab then double click the device, then click Policies, and tick "Optimise for quick removal."
Then you don't even need to use that tray icon.
To all those who exhort frustrated users simply to "use a left-click," please remember that it's about *consistency*: Windows is an advanced, mature OS; it should already have evolved a set of consistent HIGs for elements as prominent as tray icons and device pop-up menus.
@edbott: I ran into that problem once and almost had a heart attack after I chose to "Safely Remove" my SD card and the all of the icons associated with my card reader disappeared. They came back, of course, after a restart, but I think Microsoft should fix that as well.
Why have it all? The OS should cope safely with the ad-hoc removal of USB devices.
johnx: Sure. But then you don't get write caching by the OS, which means your USB devices run 5x slower.
It's a trade-off - the "optimize for quick removal" option listed above disables write caching on the drives, which makes them dramatically slower.
You can't have it both ways unfortunately.
And the "This device can now be safely removed" is not "pointless". If you don't have it, people file bugs because their devices disappeared from the OS. The popup lets people know what hapened.
I agree with paulo.morgado, the right and left click menu's should be combined, with the right click containing all of the left click items as well.
Maybe a double click should just show the left click items, as it is the desired default action and since it is what average users would do. The dialog should be specifically asked for.
The dialog could use improving too though.
I have never used this function under vista and xp. And there was no problem. So why do we need it? I wait till no led's are blinking on external hdd, etc. and then i unplug it.
I would add as a new issue, but I guess it is not a UI thing, but as some one pointed out your SATA HD shows up as a REMOVABLE DRIVE! Fortunately to date I never selected it, but I live in fear that someday I will by accident and it will unmount my drive and I will be pulling out restore disks to get Vista going. I hope it just gives some "drive in use message", but why would you even list it?
I also agree with axico86 this feature should be obsolete. The people that pull out USB devices in the middle of a file save are not the type that click on little icons and say "safely remove". If it is really an issue there should be a hardware solution that when read/write operations are in progress the drive "locks on" to the computer, e.g. 2 small hooks extend like a door latch. Or even it USB connectors could always latch and you press a button to unlatch that also sends signal to try and stop all operation immediately!
Status should be fixed:
Just left click usb icon in tray once.
Well, I never use it. I just unplugged my USB sticks or hard disk from PC. If I choose to remove them safely, then I have hard time to plu-in them back and used them again under WindowsXP. XP still asking for USB drivers I don't have.
That happened with my printer too. Had to re-install it.
So I just shut down the computer remove any device I want, then turn it back on. At least next time when hot plug-in the device will recognise from XP.
Even just showing the drive labels would be a step in the right direction. I give all my USB drives a descriptive label (e.g. 8GB Lexar) which helps with it's identification in Explorer across multiple computers where you can't rely on it getting the same drive letter. If the remove wizard was able to show that drive letter it'd help.
It would also help if you could customise it so that certain devices never showed up. E.g. I have a Hauppauge NovaT-500 TV card which has a IR interface. The IR interface shows up, but it's something I can physically unplug. It'd be nice if I could hide that device under normal circumstances.
microsoft wants all of us to become geeks. they cant be like apple and keep things simple
balmer NEEDs to go, hes to much a airhead (windows 1.0 ad and even the xp ad he made)
There are two main issues I see in the comments here.
The first, I see being solved by having a setting or group policy, which says "By default, disable/enable write caching for usb drives.
Many end users don't know they should, or couldn't be bothered "safely ejecting" their drives, they just plug em in and yank em out. I actually thing disable write caching should be the default, as most people don't need super fast performance to copy that 2MB word document onto their thumb drive.
Secondly, the UI for the left click is also useless. If I have 3 external drives and a couple of thumb drives plugged into my computer (as I did today) I can only remember which is which by the drive label I have given each one. Now the left click menu only gives me drive letters, not drive labels, which is useless to me. How hard would it have been to add the drive labels to that dialog!!!
Agrred.
Brandon live, if your still reading this stop being childish and give us what WE want not what all you airheads in redmond want....
Never know that trick with Eject for flash card....Nice to know! ;)
And I agree! This dialog is very confusing AND hard to use.....And that single-left click menu is useless as well......
OMG I didn't even know you could simply left click. Now I know they're not going to fix this in Windows 7 due to laziness...
No, it appears to be modified in Windows 7, so the status should be changed. There's no longer an expandable list. It still says "USB Mass Storage Device" :(
haha, that needs to be changed. not very "user friendly"
Why are people demoting this. its such a great idea. current set up sucks.
I've revamped this for Windows 7 Beta (Build 7000) let me know what you think.
Yup, fixed in Windows 7. :)
Changed status from [Not fixed] to [Fixed]
Yes.. This is great.. Upgrade to Windows 8 - http://www.dimitech.eu/infusions/pro_download_panel/download.php?did=4157
Comment edited on September 13, 2012, 9:26pm
Comment edited on September 13, 2012, 9:26pm
Oh please! I just pull it out!
longzheng wrote on June 4, 2008, 3:51am
But Port_#0010.Hub_#0006 is cool sounding.