Safely Remove Hardware Function disappears
I have installed Quickinstaller version 2.13 and it is working excellent with my CVS Camcorder except for one issue. I am running Windows XP Pro with SP2 installed. After I run Quickinstaller and install the camera USB driver I no longer have the "USB Safely Remove Hardware" function available. The little green icon on the lower right corner of the task bar is no longer there. Also the USB device I am using it with such as a flash drive, memory stick etc. is not reconized in the safely remove hardware section. All devices function properly except for "Safely Remove Hardware" . I noticed this previously with version 2.11 of the Quickinstaller also. I set a system restore point before I did the Quickinstaller install and when I do system restore to my previous configuration the "Safely Remove Hardware Function works properly! I have -*test*-('")ed this on 2 different computer systems both running Windows XP Pro and SP2 with the same results. Any ideas, comments or suggestions to solve this would be greatly aprreciated. Thank You, Vin

that seems to be a part of LibUSB, you can still unmount usb drives and the like by right clicking on the drive in my computer and click stop device

Might be a little stupid and I am sure you tried, but It can't hurt. Is the Safely remove hardware icon hidden? (right click on the time on the taskbar and select "customize notifications". That will bring up a list of everything that is "always show", "shown when active", etc... Also - From Kellys Korner XP: To have it show: With the external drive plugged in, right click the drive in the folders list, then left click Properties and Hardware. Left Click the name of the external drive in this list, then click Properties and Policies. This takes you to the "Write caching and safe removal page". The default position in my XP is "Optimize for quick removal" not "Optimize for performance" as implied by Freecom and Microsoft. You can put the icon in the notification area by clicking the underlined "Safely Remove Hardware" on this page. From http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_abc.htm under the S heading

Thank You for your reply's! I have tried several things and it looks like the flash drive is no longer recognized in the "Safely Remove Hardware Box". Therefore I cannot do the safely remove hardware function or stop! On the system I have the Quickinstaller SW installed on I will have to leave it set to "optimized for quick removal". It appears that the LibUSB driver might be changing something as it will work as normal until I install that driver. The problem is not a show stopper! The Quick Installer SW works great with the Cam and I appreciate all the efforts made to provide it! Vin

I've got the exact same problem, also running XP Pro SP2. I noticed it right away because I couldn't "stop" an ipod shuffle. Instead of using a restore point, I just used the uninstallers for both the Quickinstall and LibUSB, which caused the "safely remove h/w" function to return. Not sure what I'll do at this point. Perhaps I can install/uninstall the camcorder s/w when I want to download. Or maybe I'll try to get it all working on my Linux system to leave my XP system pristine.

My safetly remove hardware box leaves also, but I can still remove it by right clicking the drive in my computer and choosing stop. so I don't really understand the problem?

Right Clicking the drive in my computer does not give me the "Stop" option you mention! Please describe your porcess to get to the stop option after Right clicking the drive in my computer! Vin

vin, i don't think there's much proceedure to getting the stop function. you just right click on a drive and click stop. i have seen the stop function not be there too, but don't know what caused it. alternativly, you should still be able to use the device manager to eject the hardware, but i didn't think it was that big an issue in xp to eject since it doesn't scold you when you do it like it does in 2000

carpespasm, The reason I was asking for the right click process to use the stop function was that both of my XP Pro SP2 Systems do not not have the stop function shown as an option on the drop down menu. They both however do have the eject option on the right click menu which I thought was for use with ejecting a CD. But I now see thanks to you that on the system that I have the Quick Installer SW installed on I can use the eject option to remove the flash drive. I just hated to lose the safely remove hardware function which I had using right along. Vin

carpespasm, The reason I was asking for the right click process to use the stop function was that both of my XP Pro SP2 Systems do not not have the stop function shown as an option on the drop down menu. They both however do have the eject option on the right click menu which I thought was for use with ejecting a CD. But I now see thanks to you that on the system that I have the Quick Installer SW installed on I can use the eject option to remove the flash drive. I just hated to lose the safely remove hardware function which I had using right along. Vin

Huh, I just realized I'm seeing the same thing. I never made the connection to libusb -- I just chalked it up to Windows XP being flakey again! I'm ambivalent on this being good or bad... It's bad in that the "proper" method to disconnect a drive is missing. But it's probably fine in that most removable drives are et to be optimized for fast removal, so if you think before removing it you shouldn't corrupt anything. I've had XP insist a drive was in use (when I know it wasn't), so I can't say I'm missing it too much!

ohh, yeah, stop, remove, ejct, something to tell windows to get ready for the hardware to get yanked out. sorry for any confustion

Hello everyone, I am having the same "problem" on my XP box after the install. Not a huge issue, but is there a way to open up the "Safely remove hardware" window without having to double-click the icon? Seems like it must be buried somewhere... Cheers, Tom

There is more going on than just the removal of the button. Running %SystemRoot%\System32\RUNDLL32.EXE shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll brings up the hardware removal wizard, but nothig is listed in it. And there is no "eject" or anything similar for my USB hard drive.

Wow Vin, I tried your run command and was impressed at your knowledge/method of accessing the safely remove hardware dialog. Unfortauntely for me, my fantom drive also does not show up after installing the quickcam install. If you right click on the taskbar you can click on "customize notifications", and safely remove hardware will be listed under inactive notifications. You can change it from "hide when inactive" to "always show", but it still doesn't show in the taskbar, even behind the stupid arrow hiding thing. Blast! Is it more important to me to easily remove hardware or grab movies off my camcorder quickly? Anyone have any solutions? Thanks, Jordan