# wheres my safely remove icon gone



## n133oyu (Jan 23, 2006)

I have a toshiba laptop with Windows XP and SP2.

I have noticed that the icon that comes up when i put a piece of hardware in my usb no longer appears, i have nothing to click on to safely remove any hardware.
I normally use it for a mouse dongle, when i read up on another thread it says to look in my computer and click on the hardware and make some changes to it,however not being a storage device its not there.

I have tried to use system restore to an earlier date but cannot go back further that 30 march (not far enough) even though there are lots of checkpoints.

can anyone help please?

kevin


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## Blackmirror (Dec 5, 2006)

Try this Restore USB Service
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
line 338 left hand side 
click and save to desktop and double click to add to registry


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## n133oyu (Jan 23, 2006)

thank you blackmirror for your reply,

i have followed the link copied the file to my desk top and double clicked and added this to the registry,rebooted but it still does not appear.
ive tried with a camera in the usb but still no luck.
in the mean time how do i safely remove the hardware without this.

many thanks
kevcab41


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## Blackmirror (Dec 5, 2006)

Could you have a look in control panel .. system/ hardware /device manager/ for any yellow exclamation marks please


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## Alex Ethridge (Apr 10, 2000)

I don't mean to sidetrack this thread; but, I've never used the disconnect procedure to disconnect a device unless it was storage media. Is there something about disconnecting a mouse, scanner or printer that I should know?


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## bickster (Apr 4, 2007)

n133oyu said:


> I have a toshiba laptop with Windows XP and SP2.
> 
> I have noticed that the icon that comes up when i put a piece of hardware in my usb no longer appears, i have nothing to click on to safely remove any hardware.
> I normally use it for a mouse dongle, when i read up on another thread it says to look in my computer and click on the hardware and make some changes to it,however not being a storage device its not there.
> ...


Restoring the HotPlug Manager

OK, so know we know that we're supposed to use the Safely Remove Hardware method to disconnect removable devices. But what happens if the Safely Remove Hardware icon goes AWOL on you? Or, what if you click it, but it doesn't do anything? And what if you already have phantom drives on your system? How do you get rid of them?

The Safely Remove Hardware icon is actually a shortcut to Windows' HotPlug Manager. This service normally launches automatically when you connect a recognized USB or Firewire device to your system.

Figure 1. The HotPlug Manager can be accessed via the Safely Remove Hardware icon, which normally appears in the Notification Area by the clock.

But, as with all software, things sometimes go awry. The HotPlug Manager occasionally hangs or fails to launch, meaning that the Safely Remove Hardware icon won't appear, even when you know it should. In this case, the simple fix is to manually launch the HotPlug Manager by opening the Start, Run dialog and typing the following:

RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL HotPlug.dll

Click OK, and the HotPlug Manager's Safely Remove Hardware icon should appear. Its dialog box should open and display any connected devices. That's all it takes!

If only it were so simple. Unfortunately, not all devices cooperate with the HotPlug Manager. If you connect an unrecognized device to your system and the Safely Remove Hardware icon doesn't appear - and manually launching the HotPlug Manager doesn't help - it may be that the device simply won't work with the HotPlug Manager. (It's not very common, but it happens.)

I found this on windows secrets by Fred Langa. I hope it helps.


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## n133oyu (Jan 23, 2006)

yes i tried and a box appeared asking me to select the device i want to remove,however there were no devices listed even though i had my mouse dongle connected.

and still no icon appeared on the quick launch panel.

i have checked in my control panel/system/hardware/system devices no yellow check mark.
the thing is my devices i connect are working ok its just that i dont want to shut down every time i want to disconnect.
if it helps, when i connect anything to the usb i get the ding dong noise,so it is acknowledging the input.
thanks
n133oyu


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## n133oyu (Jan 23, 2006)

further to my last,

it always used to work and i get the same problem with my camcorder and stills camera.


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## bickster (Apr 4, 2007)

Heres more reading material http://ask-leo.com/safely_remove_ha...w_do_i_safely_remove_hardware_without_it.html
I also found a pay version of it http://shareme.com/details/safely-remove.html


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## Flags (Sep 9, 2001)

Alex: Now you know.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Right click on the task bar, go to properties, then customize and see if the icon has been set to 'always hide.'


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## n133oyu (Jan 23, 2006)

i have run the RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL HotPlug.dll thing and get the box up but no devices are listed. ive right clicked on the task bar properties/customise and the safely remove thing is there with a folder icon in past items, ive asked for never hide and its still not visible on tool bar.

also looked at links given and says to do the above anyway

thanks


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## crjdriver (Jan 2, 2001)

Since no device is listed when you run the hotplug mgr, I am wondering do the devices you connect in fact work? Are you having any problem other than the icon not displaying?

FWIW the safely remove icon only flushes the cache; usb devices are designed to be connected and disconnected while the system is running. It does no damage to disconnect without using the safely remove icon [do wait a few seconds for all data to transfer]


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## n133oyu (Jan 23, 2006)

yes all my devices are working ok i even get the bing bong noise when i insert a device into the usb.

thanks


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## crjdriver (Jan 2, 2001)

OK, here you go.
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"
Put a checkmark or click the safely remove hardware. This is from memory since I run vista so it might be called something different than properties and policies [I think that is what it is]


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## Piggycop (May 28, 2006)

I almost never safley remove any hardware, as long as there is no program reading or writing to the device I have never had a problem.


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## n133oyu (Jan 23, 2006)

sorry to sound stupid but i did say i was a begginner:-/ but what do you mean by the folders list,do you mean in my computer.

i guess the safely remove hardware is there for a reason


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## crjdriver (Jan 2, 2001)

Ok, plug in the device in question ie flash drive, camera, whatever. Open windows explorer and right click the device. Follow the instructions in the above post [#15]

Really the safely remove hardware icon only flushes the cache. As long as you do not unplug a drive just as you finish reading / writing, you are fine.


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## n133oyu (Jan 23, 2006)

ok
when i go to win explorer/my computer my mouse is not listed,however when i plug my dig camera i right click but theres no tab for hardware only color managements/general/events.
There is a test button and when pressed it informes mem the camera is working ok


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## crjdriver (Jan 2, 2001)

I just tested it with a usb external drive and it gives the options. As I posted that was from memory for xp since I use vista. Look around for the options; I am sure they are there.


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## n133oyu (Jan 23, 2006)

ok ill keep looking
many thanks for your paitence


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## krnkrs (May 13, 2007)

I'm having the same problem with the disappearing Safely Remove Hardware icon
and none of the solutions listed have worked. Could it be viral?


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