USB Drive Disconnect - Make it work like Windows?

[crazylegsmurphy]

Hey All,

There is something that has been bothering me something fierce since I made the switch to the Mac.

When I used Windows I could connect and disconnect USB drives whenever I wanted without fear of losing data. The way Windows works, it's designed for this so you don't have to "eject" the disk every time.

OS X however is different. I have a USB hub, which has at any given time at least 4 drives plugged into it. If I want to say, grab my laptop and head out the door, I have to wake it up, eject all the disks/media cards, and then go.

I find this to be extremely annoying, especially when I forget.

Is there a way to make OS X behave like Windows in this regard?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[rhett7660]

To be fair, I think on a windows box you are supposed to click on the little green icon at the bottom right and eject it. You can still loose items from not properly ejecting the drive.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/ar...ly_eject_a_usb_flashdrive_pg2_pg2.html?cat=15

quoted from page two....

Open up the device, (usually through My Computer) and then move the needed files to their folders on the USB drive. Now that you've moved everything you need to the USB flash drive, and you are ready to remove it, you must ensure that it is done correctly. Look into the bottom right hand corner of the screen, where the taskbar icons are located. You should see a small green arrow, if not; click the white and blue arrow to reveal any hidden icons on the taskbar. Right click the small green right click the green arrow, and then click (left click) the 'safely remove hardware' popup. Another box wills popup in the middle of your screen, and from here you can see what is connected to your various USB ports. Normally, only one USB port will show up, but sometimes several will on this box. Click the first one, and then click 'stop' in the bottom of the box (right-hand side). Now, a final and last popup will appear, confirming that you really want to stop this device. Select the appropriate device to stop (if your device is a Sandisk USB drive, find the one labeled Sandisk USB), and click 'Ok.' If you don't see your device listed, and there are multiple USB ports to choose from, hit 'cancel' and check the USB ports listed on the previous screen in the same manner, until you find your device listed, and then hit 'Ok.'

You should now get a confirmation that you 'May now safely remove your device' and you can simply reach over and unplug the USB device. That's it! Always make sure to 'Stop' your USB Flash device before your unplug it, or you risk losing valuable information if the device is still transferring them. I've had it happen to me before, and trust me; it is not a good feeling to discover that you've just lost 4 papers because you forgot to safely remove your USB flash drive.

You can just pull it but I think apple gives you a warning just as a precaution.

 

[crazylegsmurphy]

My understanding is that USB ports on a Windows OS are in a state of "Power Off" or something of the sort.

From what I remember (and I could be wrong) Windows puts USB drives to "sleep" so if they're disconnected they're less likely to lose data. If you pull out a drive in Windows that is reading or something then yes, you can lose data and that is why they allow you to "eject" it.

The Mac OS doesn't seem to work this way. I'm not sure the dialog box is just a reminder as it also says it will check for errors when it is plugged in again (Which actually seems to slow it down a tad in my opinion).

 

[sidewinder]

No, Windows has a policy option for the device that allows the user to turn write caching on or off. The default setting for this policy is write caching off.

With this policy off, you can safely remove the USB device without worry as long as nothing is being actively written to it (e.g., saving a file).

There is no option like this in Mac OS X.

S-

 

[crazylegsmurphy]

Ahhh, right...

I was mistaken on the details.

So no option in OS X huh? That royally blows. Add this to the lack of "cut n' paste" and it's becoming more and more "taxing" to use.

Are there any third party programs that allow this? Is there anything I can tweak? Or am I S.O.L?

 

[sidewinder]

Ahhh, right...

I was mistaken on the details.

So no option in OS X huh? That royally blows. Add this to the lack of "cut n' paste" and it's becoming more and more "taxing" to use.

Are there any third party programs that allow this? Is there anything I can tweak? Or am I S.O.L?

Royally blows? No, what would royally blow and be more taxing would be having to use Windows all the time and deal with The Registry, viruses, trojans, etc.

S-

 

[Gav2k]

Ahhh, right...

I was mistaken on the details.

So no option in OS X huh? That royally blows. Add this to the lack of "cut n' paste" and it's becoming more and more "taxing" to use.

Are there any third party programs that allow this? Is there anything I can tweak? Or am I S.O.L?

The reason you have to eject is so the heads park and no data is being written to the drive at the time bu this is the same with windows if the drive isn't spinning you can safely pull the plug as the heads will be parked just ignore the warning. Copy and paste is there just via hot keys (apple key + c or v)

 

[crazylegsmurphy]

Royally blows? No, what would royally blow and be more taxing would be having to use Windows all the time and deal with The Registry, viruses, trojans, etc.

S-

That's so cute that you actually believe that. *scruffs his hair*

The reason you have to eject is so the heads park and no data is being written to the drive at the time bu this is the same with windows if the drive isn't spinning you can safely pull the plug as the heads will be parked just ignore the warning. Copy and paste is there just via hot keys (apple key + c or v)

I hope that is true. I really would hate to have it potentially lose data.

Cut n' Paste files sorry..... You can't cut and paste files, only copy them.

 

[Gav2k]

Ah see what u mean as in copy without leaving a file behind. Personally I like it that way lost many a file on windows due to powercuts when cutting and pasting.

 

[crazylegsmurphy]

To each their own I guess. I lost some really important work when I first got my Mac because it doesn't combine folders, it just overwrites the files, but doesn't put them into the trash....Poof...gone forever!

If someone can tell me a faster, and better way to move files from one folder to another it would be greatly appreciated. I can't stand the 2 minutes it takes to drag it around the folders...I don't want to spend half my life moving files, or having to go back and delete the duplicates.

 

[Winni]

Royally blows? No, what would royally blow and be more taxing would be having to use Windows all the time and deal with The Registry, viruses, trojans, etc.

S-

The 1990s called. They want their bad marketing slogans back.

Seriously, can't you guys cut the crap just for once? I work full time as a network administrator, and neither the registry nor viruses nor trojans are giving me any headaches. None at all.

 

[sidewinder]

Royally blows? No, what would royally blow and be more taxing would be having to use Windows all the time and deal with The Registry, viruses, trojans, etc.

S-

That's so cute that you actually believe that. *scruffs his hair*

I more than believe it. I have to run both Windows Vista systems and a Mac OS X systems at work along with a bunch of Unix systems too. I have far fewer issues with the Mac OS X system than with the Windows system.

Sure there are a few features that the Windows OS has that the Mac OS X does not. But none of those features are that important to me. I don't miss cut and paste on files or the folder merge feature. I don't use them all that often on the Windows system anyway. I certainly don't miss those features enough to have to deal with all the Windows crap.

S-

 

[sidewinder]

The 1990s called. They want their bad marketing slogans back.

Seriously, can't you guys cut the crap just for once? I work full time as a network administrator, and neither the registry nor viruses nor trojans are giving me any headaches. None at all.

I do tech support and have for over 20 years. I have customers that use both Windows and Mac systems. Windows system have an inordinate number of problems, per capita, when compared to Mac OS X systems. On top of that, the problems with the Windows systems are more severe and more difficult to resolve.

I have very few problems with my personal Windows systems because I know what I am doing. But, for every problems I have on my Mac system, I bet I have four on my Windows system.

I have had my Mac Pro system for a year now. I have had zero problems with it. That includes running 10.6. I have a Dell system at the office running Vista that had numerous problems in its first few months of operation. One install failure screwed the Registry up so bad I had to reinstall the OS. Things got a lot better on that system when Vista SP1 came out.

None the less, my experience with Mac OS X systems is that they are more trouble free, and more likely to stay that way, than Windows systems. Both for me and my customers.

S-

 

[mysterytramp]

To each their own I guess. I lost some really important work when I first got my Mac because it doesn't combine folders, it just overwrites the files, but doesn't put them into the trash....Poof...gone forever!

If someone can tell me a faster, and better way to move files from one folder to another it would be greatly appreciated. I can't stand the 2 minutes it takes to drag it around the folders...I don't want to spend half my life moving files, or having to go back and delete the duplicates.

Poof ... well, didn't it warn you and say you'd lose files first? I think the Poof was you hitting the OK button ... At any rate, what you want to do basically is sync two folders, right? There are any number of apps that will do that, some are free. Scour MacUpdate and you'll probably find ones you like.

mt