Still have to reset explorer to get Safely Remove Hardware message

Hi. I posted about this issue some time ago and it was never resolved. It's not a big problem but it never happened in Windows 7. I have 2 HP computers (a Laptop and a Desktop ) both running Windows 10 1909. The problem happened even in the earlier Windows 10 versions. After several days to a week or more, the Safely Remove Hardware message won't show when ejecting a flash drive or other media. To fix it (until the next time it happens) Windows Explorer needs to be reset using the Task Manager. Has anyone else encountered this issue? It happens on both of my pc's. Thanks in advance for any replies.
Mark

See if this works as an alternative.
It was tested on an older version of Windows 10.

Open administrative command prompt and copy and paste:
rundll32 shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll

TV2 said:

I have encountered this on occasion but not chronically.

I wonder if you could be helped by resetting the USB stack.

To do this you open Device Manager > expand the Universal Serial Bus Controllers > and then right click and uninstall each item in the list until empty (you could leave the eXtensible Host Controller alone the first time, particularly if it needs it's own OEM driver, but most just use the generic Windows driver anyway). Then restart the PC.

On startup Windows will reinstall all of the devices.

If you need to reinstall the eXtensible Host Controller (USB 3) afterward then do that. Be sure you have the driver ready before the procedure.


See if that clears up the problem.

Hi, TV2. Thanks for that info. I may try that the next time the issue occurs on either one of my machines.
Mark

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zbook said:

See if this works as an alternative.
It was tested on an older version of Windows 10.

Open administrative command prompt and copy and paste:
rundll32 shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll

Hi, zbook. Thanks for your input. I assume that this isn't a fix but can be used after the issue occurs. I will try this the next time the issue occurs.
Mark

Rkdl said:

Just wanted to jump in here...

Wasn't this feature no longer needed since the oktober update ( 1809)?. Removing the whole necessity of 'safe removal' , and called it quick removal.

This should be the default setting for any new flash drive connected since then. Just don't remove it when you are actively writing to it.

If the question was more about the feature itself, instead of the need for it, just disregard my comment.

Hi, Rkdl. You are correct. With Quick Removal it's safe to remove the device connected to a USB port (when you aren't writing to it) regardless of the Safe To Remove Hardware message. Over the years I became used to seeing the message which never failed to show in Windows 7 which also had Quick Removal as the default option. Your input is appreciated.
Mark

Mcd73165 said:

Hi, Rkdl. You are correct. With Quick Removal it's safe to remove the device connected to a USB port (when you aren't writing to it) regardless of the Safe To Remove Hardware message. Over the years I became used to seeing the message which never failed to show in Windows 7 which also had Quick Removal as the default option. Your input is appreciated.
Mark

Thank you very much Rkdl. I am in the process of setting up my "new" Win10 machine, just checking things out, thought hey, where's the safely eject hardware thing I have religiously used in Win 7 and then spent 3 hrs looking for a way to get back something that Microsoft apparently in their wisdom decided I did not need !!!!!Grrrr. But thanks to you I will stop looking for it now. You would have thought that the (person?) making that change might have stuck some flags in somewhere along the way to say - "if you are looking for this thing you actually don't need it anymore"? Microsoft - doh……..