The physical aspect of external storage is also largely the reason such warnings against sudden unplugging exist.

'Even if a drive isn't USB-powered, it's still spinning, and it may be using files in the background,' she says. 'They need to be warned that soon you'll take away their power-and therefore their ability to spin. 'Absolutely, definitely do not remove spinning hard drives without ejecting them first.

Arndt warns that while sudden removal of flash memory devices is quite safe, she warns not to do so with hard drives. Writer with Popular Mechanics magazine Rachel Z. It adds that this comes at a trade-off of slightly lower performance from the external drive, making the transfer of data slower. Microsoft on its forums explains this was due to how it changed the management settings from 'better performance' to 'quick removal,' the latter which enables users to remove the device without using the Safely Remove Hardware process. The same applies to its latest Windows 11 OS too. With the way modern computer operating systems (OS) work, it may actually no longer be an issue.Īs far back as late 2018, Microsoft changed the way Windows 10 handles the disconnection of external storage devices - ranging from USB thumb drives, external hard drives, flash drives, or cable connected smartphones. Years of such scoldings have probably trained most users from the 90’s till the noughties not to play fast and loose with how they treat their external storage.īut does it really matter to eject your USB 'properly?' NO it will not, especially with modern computers and flash-based storage.Įver bumped into the USB drive plugged into your computer and accidentally ejected it, resulting in a warning for 'improperly ejecting a disk?'

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