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-Recklessly- remove hardware (from USB)

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SKesselman:
Hi,
Can someone please tell me what bad things will happen if I just unplug something from the USB, without "Safely remove"ing it?
Simply unplugging external devices/peripherals (a printer, a digital camera & a smartphone) doesn't seem to affect anything.
Does this apply only to certain types of hardware, or what?

Thanks.

mouser:
wait for the experts to chime in, but i believe the real danger in prematurely unplugging a USB device is if it's a USB storage device of some sort that you have written TO (reading from shouldn't pose any risk).

in this case -- what you have worry about is that the operating system may not have actually finished writing to the drive even though it looks for all intents and purposes like it has.

other than that, it's hard to think what harm could really be caused.

lanux128:
i concur with what mouser said. if you have to remove "recklessly", then at least enable the "Optimize for quick removal" option within your removable drive settings. you can read more about this option here.

jgpaiva:
Here's a topic from 2007 about the dangers of not using the "safely remove" option. It's more directed at external disks, however.

hpearce:
I use this now, so much easier http://for-free-on-internet.com/2009/09/usb-safely-remove-free-10-000-licenses-again-hurry-up/

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