I just got one, plugged it in, works great. Question is about removing it from computer. Is there any problems with just pulling out when not in use or should I always click on the Safely remove Icon and stop it.
as long as you're not writing to it or reading from it you should have no problems just pulling it out without hitting that icon, that's more for mechanical things like USB powered hdds and the like so that you make certain it's not in the middle of some operation when you disconnect it.
I've pulled USB memory sticks out without hitting that icon and never suffered any mishaps but like I said, I always made sure that any windows I had open were closed and it was sitting idle. USB is hot swapable so USB items are designed to comply with that meaning you can hook them up and disconnect them safely without issue.
I've got a USB memory stick aswell. I normally disconnect it using the 'safely remove hardware' feature just because of the message that comes up if you don't. Though, I've disconnected it without using the feature many times and like others have said, it shouldn't cause a problem.
Windows 2000 requires you to make it ready for removal via the icon by the system tray, XP doesn't.
If write caching is turned on, it needs to be made safe before removal. This is why 2000 needs it made safe first (because it turns Write caching on by default and XP doesn't).
Comments
I've pulled USB memory sticks out without hitting that icon and never suffered any mishaps but like I said, I always made sure that any windows I had open were closed and it was sitting idle. USB is hot swapable so USB items are designed to comply with that meaning you can hook them up and disconnect them safely without issue.
They are not 100% reliable either, between my boss and I we have gone through 6.
They fail on us (but we also abuse the hell out of them)
all have been warranty replaced but except for one all data on them was lost forever.
If write caching is turned on, it needs to be made safe before removal. This is why 2000 needs it made safe first (because it turns Write caching on by default and XP doesn't).