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is it possible to make MACBOOK... less terrible?

T

tester_v

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 22, 2025
2
7
Hi everyone,
Not trying to start a fight — just wondering if there’s a group of users focused on making macOS a bit more practical.
For example: is there any way to disconnect an external HD without getting the “not ejected properly” message?
It’s 2025, not 1995.


I’m just looking for people who appreciate that on most systems, the “X” means close, not minimize.
Thanks for understanding — just looking for some realism, not worship.
 
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tester_v said:
For example: is there any way to disconnect an external HD without getting the “not ejected properly” message?
It’s 2025, not 1995.
Click to expand...
Yes. Right-click on the drive icon and select "Eject" before you pull the plug.

Screenshot 2025-10-22 at 4.48.08 PM.png
 
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Something that's still causing problems is when the operating system insists that the USB device is "in use" by something that shouldn't be touching it. Sometimes the operating system acts like the USB device has been disconnected, but then after the plug has been pulled it insists that the USB device wasn't disconnected properly. Some USB devices can refuse to be disconnected, necessitating a reboot. We apparently haven't figured out how to make all USB devices hot-swappable so that we don't have to keep doing the ritual of convincing the operating systems that they should release a USB device immediately.
 
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tester_v said:
Hi everyone,
Not trying to start a fight — just wondering if there’s a group of users focused on making macOS a bit more practical.
For example: is there any way to disconnect an external HD without getting the “not ejected properly” message?
It’s 2025, not 1995.


I’m just looking for people who appreciate that on most systems, the “X” means close, not minimize.
Thanks for understanding — just looking for some realism, not worship.
Click to expand...

Saying "Just make it Windows" is not 'making it a bit more practical'.
 
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Not ejecting properly can and will happen with various drives. Admittedly it hasn't happened with my backup DAS SSD's.

If right clicking the drive isn't your thing then perhaps add the eject icon in the top menu bar and you'll get a choice of mounted drives you'd like to eject.
 
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Alpha Centauri said:
If right clicking the drive isn't your thing
Click to expand...
There's also an eject button/icon next to each external drive on the Finder left sidebar.

Eject before disconnect is necessary to make sure that you don't disconnect the drive while something is actively being written to it. You're "supposed" to do this in Windows too (using the remove media icon in the system tray), it just doesn't complain as much if you don't.
 
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PotentPeas said:
There's also an eject button/icon next to each external drive on the Finder left sidebar.

Eject before disconnect is necessary to make sure that you don't disconnect the drive while something is actively being written to it.
Click to expand...
I know. Much of a muchness but I don't have to open Finder.
 
Last edited:
what I did staring in 2019 was to
make sure nothing was highlighted or moused on the ED external drive.
then eject from the desktop or on the higher level finder.
took 20 years to figure that out.


Im realizing that the early Intels are easier to compute and use than the new MacBooks.
 
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tester_v said:
Hi everyone,
Not trying to start a fight — just wondering if there’s a group of users focused on making macOS a bit more practical.
For example: is there any way to disconnect an external HD without getting the “not ejected properly” message?
It’s 2025, not 1995.


I’m just looking for people who appreciate that on most systems, the “X” means close, not minimize.
Thanks for understanding — just looking for some realism, not worship.
Click to expand...

Clicking on the X does close the window. The app itself does not quit. It's no different from Windows apps minimizing to the system tray instead of closing when clicking on the X in the top right corner. If you're just unplugging the drive without ejecting it first, that's a bad practice on ANY OS, including Windows, which is why there is the "Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media" option in the system tray on Windows systems.
 
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arogge said:
Something that's still causing problems is when the operating system insists that the USB device is "in use" by something that shouldn't be touching it. Sometimes the operating system acts like the USB device has been disconnected, but then after the plug has been pulled it insists that the USB device wasn't disconnected properly. Some USB devices can refuse to be disconnected, necessitating a reboot. We apparently haven't figured out how to make all USB devices hot-swappable so that we don't have to keep doing the ritual of convincing the operating systems that they should release a USB device immediately.
Click to expand...
Jump into Settings & Spotlight & exclude the drive, that's the usual cause for activity when 'you're' not using it.
 
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arogge said:
Something that's still causing problems is when the operating system insists that the USB device is "in use" by something that shouldn't be touching it. Sometimes the operating system acts like the USB device has been disconnected, but then after the plug has been pulled it insists that the USB device wasn't disconnected properly. Some USB devices can refuse to be disconnected, necessitating a reboot. We apparently haven't figured out how to make all USB devices hot-swappable so that we don't have to keep doing the ritual of convincing the operating systems that they should release a USB device immediately.
Click to expand...
It would be amazing if this could be modernized.

I am not asking the computer's permission to unplug the USB drive. I am telling it that it is getting unplugged in 5 seconds no matter what, and it had better be done with what it's doing by then.
 
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  1. Open Terminal
  2. Type in: sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.DiskArbitration.diskarbitrationd.plist DADisableEjectNotification -bool YES && sudo pkill diskarbitrationd
 
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dmccloud said:
Clicking on the X does close the window. The app itself does not quit. It's no different from Windows apps minimizing to the system tray instead of closing when clicking on the X in the top right corner.
Click to expand...
Except in Apple Music where its sometimes does and sometimes doesn't
 
Take a number, I am still complaining OSX can't remember its last open screen location and size, something that Windows did on day 1. Don't tell me to load this and that app, Finder replacement etc.
 
tester_v said:
I’m just looking for people who appreciate that on most systems, the “X” means close, not minimize.
Thanks for understanding — just looking for some realism, not worship.
Click to expand...
Respectfully on Windows and even Linux most of the time the x closes the windows but apps will be running in the background. I think macOS is the only OS that makes it obvious to the user that the app is still running in the background.

Do you think when you are pressing X on chrome or edge on Windows its actually closing the app?
Mrbobb said:
Take a number, I am still complaining OSX can't remember its last open screen location and size, something that Windows did on day 1. Don't tell me to load this and that app, Finder replacement etc.
Click to expand...
This crap grinds my gears. How is this still a problem after so many years.
 
Around two decades ago, Windows introduced a write-caching policy called “Quick Removal,” which ensures that all data is written immediately to external drives instead of being cached. This made it safe to unplug USB drives without using the “Safely Remove Hardware” option. Modern file systems and controllers handle this gracefully — no data corruption, no damage.


macOS, however, still requires manual ejection. That’s not because of genuine hardware risk, but rather Apple’s design choice to maintain tighter control and enforce user-guided dismounting, even when the underlying technology makes it unnecessary.
Is there a group here dedicated to upgrading Apple’s “stone-age innovations”? You know — the ones that make macOS feel like a museum exhibit for outdated design decisions, all in the name of “safety.”
South Park already explained the Apple mindset better than I ever could:
I’m not here to start a war over which system is better. I just want to find fellow users who believe that “it just works” shouldn’t mean “you just suffer.”
 
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tester_v said:
Around two decades ago, Windows introduced a write-caching policy called “Quick Removal,” which ensures that all data is written immediately to external drives instead of being cached. This made it safe to unplug USB drives without using the “Safely Remove Hardware” option. Modern file systems and controllers handle this gracefully — no data corruption, no damage.
Click to expand...
Actually Windows has two options: quick removal or better performance. If you chose better performance, then you have to manually eject.

Windows choses easy as default. Apple choses performance. Kind of like easy or good. I think you see similar decisions from both companies across many of their choices.

www.ghacks.net

Windows 10 1809: Quick Removal new default for external storage devices - gHacks Tech News

Microsoft changed the default removal policy for external storage devices in Windows 10 version 1809 to quick removal.
www.ghacks.net www.ghacks.net
 
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tester_v said:
This made it safe to unplug USB drives without using the “Safely Remove Hardware” option.
Click to expand...
It made it "safer" but it is definitely still possible to unplug the drive while it is actively writing, causing some kind of incomplete write or corruption. (It's just less likely because ideally you'd "know" when you are done writing to it, and you *can* rest assured that the write cache is flushed out if whatever program says that it is done with the write job.)

When I am doing big I/O jobs with USB drives on Windows, though, I always set it to "better performance", because the "quick removal" option does cause a notable loss in performance, especially if you are dealing with lots of tiny files.
 
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tester_v said:
Hi everyone,
Not trying to start a fight — just wondering if there’s a group of users focused on making macOS a bit more practical.
For example: is there any way to disconnect an external HD without getting the “not ejected properly” message?
It’s 2025, not 1995.


I’m just looking for people who appreciate that on most systems, the “X” means close, not minimize.
Thanks for understanding — just looking for some realism, not worship.
Click to expand...
Get a Windows box. You will love it.
 
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