Topic: Safely Remove Hardware

[Gametaku]

Well perhaps a nice feature, I don't plan on removing my harddrives (SATA) from my computer any time soon, and less so with my computer still on.  However I seem to have that ability.

So the question is how to I get rid of teh Safely Remove Hardware icon when it's only for my harddrivess?  (and no I don't want to hide it)

[Steve]

you can do that because they are considered hot-swap drives. you can remove and add them at will while the pc is running. Download this utility and it will allow you to disable it completely.

After setup - open utility menu: Options - System - check "Disable Windows USB Hotplug manager" checkbox.

http://www.safelyremove.com/safelyremovesetup.zip

[ober]

Interesting that it allows you to do that.  I have 2 SATA drives and it never gave me the option, whether I was connected directly to the mobo or through my new controller.

[Hillbillie]

Interesting that it allows you to do that.  I have 2 SATA drives and it never gave me the option, whether I was connected directly to the mobo or through my new controller.

I believe that "hot-swappability" is dependent, just like with PATA, on the controller and not the drive.

Gametaku, if you could, provide us with your SATA controller brand and model (or your motherboard make and model if it's onboard). I'm just curious...

[ober]

By the way HB, I'm still using the controller you suggested in a thread a long time ago... and I'm considering wiping both drives so I can use the full RAID capability.  Do you think it's worth it?  I've already seen performance increases by just using the controller, and the only thing on my secondary drive is music and pictures (my games are in a second partition on my primary drive).

[Hillbillie]

By the way HB, I'm still using the controller you suggested in a thread a long time ago... and I'm considering wiping both drives so I can use the full RAID capability.  Do you think it's worth it?

Let me make sure I understand you correctly...

You currently do not have RAID enabled; you've been using the controller simply as a SATA interface? If that's the case, I would recommend you wipe the drives clean, setup RAID0, and then use that as your boot drive. (You won't notice much performance increase if you use it as a secondary storage device for games, audio, etc. unless you really access it frequently.)

The disadvantage is that you'll have to reinstall your OS, during which you'll need to load "third-party drivers" for the storage controller for the OS setup to install to it.

Oh, and I can't remember the exact controller I recommended. I believe it's the one I use... but to be sure, my recommendation only stands for the SiI3114R chipset.

[Gametaku]

I believe that "hot-swappability" is dependent, just like with PATA, on the controller and not the drive.

Gametaku, if you could, provide us with your SATA controller brand and model (or your motherboard make and model if it's onboard). I'm just curious...

It's on board: ASUS A8N-E

[Steve]

the ability to hotswap is dependent on the controller, that statement is correct.