Ejecting usb drives without warning?

[hwojtek]

Wow, now this whole 20 zyllion years of network administration experience come down to an article giving Windows as an example and "the LED" of an USB stick.
While you are more funny then I expected, you are seriously messing up with data somebody else might just lose because he read this topic and took your revelations for granted. Unfortunately it happens quite often that people believe to the one that shouts the loudest.

That said... thank your Gods you're not a panda. You'd end up as a stuffed trophy on my Shelf of Self-proclaimed BOFHs I've Fired for Incompetency. You wouldn't believe how long this shelf needs to be.

 

[nizmoz]

Wow, now this whole 20 zyllion years of network administration experience come down to an article giving Windows as an example and "the LED" of an USB stick.
While you are more funny then I expected, you are seriously messing up with data somebody else might just lose because he read this topic and took your revelations for granted. Unfortunately it happens quite often that people believe to the one that shouts the loudest.

That said... thank your Gods you're not a panda. You'd end up as a stuffed trophy on my Shelf of Self-proclaimed BOFHs I've Fired for Incompetency. You wouldn't believe how long this shelf needs to be.

I said it was for Windows but it works the same in OS-X. Both use Cache, both work similar. Both will corrupt data if it's in use or being transfered at that moment it's unplugged. What is so hard to comprehend about that?

It actually doesn't happen quite often as you think. I personally have not known anyone to lose any data on their sticks due to it not writing at that time.

Like I said, this site has people with no clue on how computers work reason why they own Apple products that are for the more BASIC user.

 

[Yamcha]

I've yanked it out several times on Mac OSX and even more times on Windows, never encountered any issues at all, but obviously if your transferring files and then yank it out the transfer will fail..

So wether its ok to eject with unmounting the drive I have no idea , either way I usually always eject drives unless I'm in a hurry or something..

 

[Mal]

As long as you are tech savvy, you know when it's done transferring data and can pull it and you WILL NOT have problems.

No tech background, huh? I've worked for three Apple Authorized Service Providers as a Repair Technician, for a total of 10 years of direct, hands-on experience. I fix the stuff ****** like you mess up.

You know what, screw it. You're gone. I'm blocking you, so I don't have to deal with your ignorance, arrogance, and general stupidity anymore.

jW

 

[wpotere]

Funny I am incorrect per you, but I have the facts and you do not. Just an opinion.

You actually crack me up. You post an article about Windows, which I informed you used a service, and then above talk about them using cache, which someone else told you, and all of a sudden you are a pro! WOW!

Hate to hurt your feelings, but the way hardware is handled by each OS is VERY different so quoting an article, that I already told you was the case, and then saying it is the same as Mac is yet another fail on your part and you have the gaul to post that you provided facts?

Like I said, if it works for you then keep on truckin. Maybe you should call Apple and tell them to remove the worthless eject software as it is there for no reason!

Folks, there is a reason the software to eject the drive exists, please use it.

 

[BiggAW]

Again it is FINE to just pull it out. You really have no computer background do you? 20 years here and I am a Network Administrator. So please stop misinforming people. Pulling it out is just fine as long as you know it isn't being accessed any more. Back in the day it was recommended you do that, but not anymore.

Even microsoft says it's fine to just remove it now as long as you know there is no data being transfered to it at that time.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Safely-remove-devices-from-your-computer

Windows is definitely fine to pull. I think I ran into a weird situation where I pulled a flash drive out of a Mac, and it wouldn't mount on a Windows machine until I plugged it into a Mac and ejected it properly. Go figure.

 

[nizmoz]

No tech background, huh? I've worked for three Apple Authorized Service Providers as a Repair Technician, for a total of 10 years of direct, hands-on experience. I fix the stuff ****** like you mess up.

You know what, screw it. You're gone. I'm blocking you, so I don't have to deal with your ignorance, arrogance, and general stupidity anymore.

jW

Wow working on repairing apple hardware!!! Must make you important. Let me know when you work in the corporate world like me with 100s of servers, and many other high end network equipment that someone like you has no experience with. Lol


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[nizmoz]

You actually crack me up. You post an article about Windows, which I informed you used a service, and then above talk about them using cache, which someone else told you, and all of a sudden you are a pro! WOW!

Hate to hurt your feelings, but the way hardware is handled by each OS is VERY different so quoting an article, that I already told you was the case, and then saying it is the same as Mac is yet another fail on your part and you have the gaul to post that you provided facts?

Like I said, if it works for you then keep on truckin. Maybe you should call Apple and tell them to remove the worthless eject software as it is there for no reason!

Folks, there is a reason the software to eject the drive exists, please use it.

Putting words in my mouth I see. Never said some of those things you mention.


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[imaketouchtheme]

I just read the tail-end of this discussion, and I found most of the posts very funny.

First off, removing storage without ejecting it is the exact same as removing storage with ejecting it, under certain circumstances.

You can remove a mounted drive all you want, as long as it's not reading or writing data, nothing bad will happen. Unmounting the drive just verifies that nothing is going to be read or written to it so the chances of corruption are insignificant.

 

[nizmoz]

I just read the tail-end of this discussion, and I found most of the posts very funny.

First off, removing storage without ejecting it is the exact same as removing storage with ejecting it, under certain circumstances.

You can remove a mounted drive all you want, as long as it's not reading or writing data, nothing bad will happen. Unmounting the drive just verifies that nothing is going to be read or written to it so the chances of corruption are insignificant.

Wow someone else who know exactly how it works! Unlike others! Good job.


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[iThinkergoiMac]

It's completely safe to remove the usb flash drive or HD without ejecting it first. Just make sure it's done copying any data to or from it before you do that. It's the main reason it's there. It will not harm the machine or the O/S by just pulling it out on either Windows or MAC.

That's amusing. Explain to me how, then, someone corrupted a flash drive of mine by yanking it out before I could eject it. I was not writing/reading data on it at the time.

You're not allowed to come back with "well you must have been reading/writing at the time and didn't know it" as you don't allow those kinds of arguments against what you have to say.

If, as long as the OS isn't reading/writing to the drive, it's OK to pull it out without ejecting it, why did that cause it to become corrupt?

 

[nizmoz]

That's amusing. Explain to me how, then, someone corrupted a flash drive of mine by yanking it out before I could eject it. I was not writing/reading data on it at the time.

You're not allowed to come back with "well you must have been reading/writing at the time and didn't know it" as you don't allow those kinds of arguments against what you have to say.

If, as long as the OS isn't reading/writing to the drive, it's OK to pull it out without ejecting it, why did that cause it to become corrupt?

Lol we answered that above. Corrupt because it wasn't done.


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[hwojtek]

Lol we answered that above. Corrupt because it wasn't done.

So you admit that the usb stick CAN NOT be removed from the computer anytime the user wishes to, because the computer can still do some writes to the stick, although it seems it is done with the writing?

 

[nizmoz]

So you admit that the usb stick CAN NOT be removed from the computer anytime the user wishes to, because the computer can still do some writes to the stick, although it seems it is done with the writing?

No you can as long as you know it's done. That is what I have been saying all along. You don't need to EJECT IT. I have never used that feature and never will. I have never had any USB drive fail yet.

 

[iThinkergoiMac]

Lol we answered that above. Corrupt because it wasn't done.

Just as I expected. Instead of believing what I know happened (I was there and you weren't, right?) you decide that I must not be aware of what was actually happening. I'm always so impressed by people who know more about a situation that they were not in than the people who were in the situation.

I assure you that the drive was not being read/written to at the time. The activity indicator on the drive was off and the menubar indicator was also blank. So unless the computer was busy with the drive and giving no indication whatsoever, it corrupted it because it was removed without ejecting and thus should be ejected first. If the computer suddenly decided to write to it without foreseeable reason and coincided with the abrupt removal, the disk should also be ejected first to avoid this.

The way I see it, if you care at all about your disk and the data on it, it's worth it to take the 1 second it takes to hit cmd-e and unmount it first.

 

[nizmoz]

Just as I expected. Instead of believing what I know happened (I was there and you weren't, right?) you decide that I must not be aware of what was actually happening. I'm always so impressed by people who know more about a situation that they were not in than the people who were in the situation.

I assure you that the drive was not being read/written to at the time. The activity indicator on the drive was off and the menubar indicator was also blank. So unless the computer was busy with the drive and giving no indication whatsoever, it corrupted it because it was removed without ejecting and thus should be ejected first. If the computer suddenly decided to write to it without foreseeable reason and coincided with the abrupt removal, the disk should also be ejected first to avoid this.

The way I see it, if you care at all about your disk and the data on it, it's worth it to take the 1 second it takes to hit cmd-e and unmount it first.

Funny part is, you don't know that is what actually corrupted it. You assuming it was. LOL

 

[jim4spam]

I've lost data and/or killed a USB memory stick/SC card by unplugging without "safe device removal" in windows.

I'll do it 100% of the time in both Windows and OS X. 1 second to do it, versus minutes/hours cleaning up the mess. My mind is made up on this one.

 

[iThinkergoiMac]

Funny part is, you don't know that is what actually corrupted it. You assuming it was. LOL

Classic. Failing to address any of my actual points, and then throwing up a red herring to divert the conversation away from my points and disguise your lack of addressing them. Besides, you're the one who is assuming. You don't know anything about me, nor how much or little I explored the issue. I could be talking with no backing, or I could have looked at all the logs and systematically narrowed it down. You have no idea what I have or haven't done. So how do you know I'm assuming?

I will admit that it's remotely possible that something in the OS corrupted the data on the drive, or that part of it went bad. But, I never had an issue with data corruption on that drive again, and the data wasn't corrupted before the removal and was after. The chances of that being unrelated are minuscule, and you know this quite well with all your computer experience.

So, actually address what I had to say. If you know so much, you should have an explanation, right?

 

[hwojtek]

No you can as long as you know it's done. That is what I have been saying all along. You don't need to EJECT IT. I have never used that feature and never will. I have never had any USB drive fail yet.

Point is, "ejecting" an USB stick is the only way to 100% guarantee nothing is being written to it. In any other case you can not be sure if the system decides to write to the USB stick or not. The only way to explicitly disable writes to the USB stick is to "eject" the stick. There is no way to scientifically tell whether or not the drive is about to be accessed within next couple of seconds unless you're directly hooked up to the filesystem.

Now I will leave it for everyone to decide, but I believe it is much better to stay on the safe side and eject the stick then keep calling you on your phone and ask if you think it is ok.

 

[maflynn]

Another vote for just pulling it out. I support servers and workstations and most people I know just yank them out when they're done. I too do that as well

If some people want to eject them fine. If others just want to pull them out fine. Why the pissing contest

 

[iThinkergoiMac]

Why the pissing contest

I simply want nizmoz to be able to back up his words, but all I get are snarky remarks even though earlier he/she was bragging about how much he/she knows.

To be clear, I think it's always a good idea to eject, and I will always do so. What you do with your drives is your decision, I couldn't care less.

 

[maflynn]

I simply want nizmoz to be able to back up his words, but all I get are snarky remarks even though earlier he/she was bragging about how much he/she knows.

Arguing on some stuff on the net is futile and pointless

 

[Mal]

Another vote for just pulling it out. I support servers and workstations and most people I know just yank them out when they're done. I too do that as well

If some people want to eject them fine. If others just want to pull them out fine. Why the pissing contest

Some of us prefer to make sure that people who come visit these forums get correct information instead of stuff pulled out of people's... you get it.

It's not a matter of personal preference. There's a correct way, and there's your way. There's a reason Apple warns you that pulling out a drive without ejecting it first can cause data corruption. That's because it can. No pissing going on.

jW

 

[iThinkergoiMac]

Arguing on some stuff on the net is futile and pointless

The funny thing is, I know this full well. Sometimes I feel just like that XKCD comic. Point well made, sir.

 

[nizmoz]

Some of us prefer to make sure that people who come visit these forums get correct information instead of stuff pulled out of people's... you get it.

It's not a matter of personal preference. There's a correct way, and there's your way. There's a reason Apple warns you that pulling out a drive without ejecting it first can cause data corruption. That's because it can. No pissing going on.

jW

Oh, that's true, but you guys spewing wrong info to others is also wrong. It's a two way street.