1. Device is not removed when "Safely Remove Hardware" icon is clicked

Q: When I click the icon in the notification area in my Vista Basic machine, the USB device was not removed. How can I fix this problem?

A: This appears to be a timing issue that occurs when allocated memory is released at the same time the system is attempting to remove the device. Microsoft has a Hotfix for this issue. Please refer to Microsoft¨s website for more details.

2. USB device does not appear in "Safely Remove Hardware"

Q: When I click the "Safely Remove Hardware icon in the notification area, the device I am trying to remove does not appear. I'm running Vista Ultimate. Is there anything that I can do to solve this?

A: According to Microsoft the problem occurs when either of the two scenarios apply:

，The USB device contains an embedded USB hub.

，The embedded USB hub detects a device that is connected to the USB hub as being a non-removable device.

The work-a-round for this issue is to shut your system down before you remove the USB device.

3. USB drive is not recognized

Q: When I plug in my USB drive I hear the audible "ding" sound but nothing happens after that. I don't see that the drive is being recognized at all. If I leave the thumb drive plugged in and reboot, Vista will then recognize it. How can I get the system to recognize the thumb drive without rebooting the system?

A: There are two methods that we have seen work for this issue:

Method #1:

，Go to Start

，In the Search field, type in: device manager

，Open device manager and navigate to your USB controller

，Right click the drive and select Properties

，Be sure that the option for "Write Caching" is enabled

Method #2:

，Navigate to Device Manager using the above instructions

，Right click and Delete all of your USB controllers

，Reboot Vista

，Vista will recognize that you have deleted the USB controllers and add the new hardware back to your system. This may fix anything that had been corrupt.