It is very important to properly disconnect external hard drives. An incorrect shutdown may not have any consequences, but it is much more likely that some data will be lost. And if important files become damaged, the disk may need to be formatted.
Instructions
Step 1
In operating systems of the Windows family, to disconnect external hard drives and flash cards, there is a special program called Safely Remove Hardware. As soon as the external storage is connected to the USB port, it will automatically start. The program icon is in the tray. Click on it with the left mouse button.
Step 2
Clicking the mouse will open a menu containing suggestions for removing all external USB devices. Click on the device you want to disconnect.
Step 3
Wait a bit while the system shuts down with the external hard drive. As soon as all read and write operations are completed, a warning will appear stating that the hardware can be removed. Now the USB cable can be pulled out without fear of data damage.
Step 4
It happens that Windows malfunctions, and the Safely Remove Hardware icon from the tray disappears. To get it back, click on "Start" -> "Control Panel", then select "Devices and Printers" or "Device Manager". There, find the hard drive you want to disconnect. Right click on it, open Properties. You can get to the device differently: select the drive in the "My Computer" folder and open "Properties" from there.
Step 5
In the window that opens, in the "Policy" tab, find the item "Safely remove the device" and select it. If you don't always unplug your external hard drive correctly, then it might be worth opting for "Quick Uninstall", which is usually the default. With this option, the data is not cached, so if you are not copying anything, you can simply unmount the disk without using Safely Remove.
