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How to turn off the power to a USB device when I click "eject"

Answered How to turn off the power to a USB device when I click "eject"

  • Friday, August 14, 2009 12:29 PM
     
     
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    Hi all,

    I'd like to know why Windows 7 won't shut down the power of any USB device when I click eject.

    When I eject my USB hard drives (needless to say with no file transfer running), Windows displays "The device can now safely be removed", but the drive stays on. When I did the same using XP or XP SP3, it would stop running once the safety message had been displayed.

    I've tried every possible way to eject my USB drives & devices, but I cannot figure out how to change this behavior.

    Any ideas ?

    Thanks !
     

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  • Friday, August 14, 2009 2:44 PM
     
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    I suppose you mean the light on the drive does not go off?

    This is normal behavior for every OS, including XP.

    When Windows says you can safely remove the drive, it is safe to remove, as all the read/write operations are finished.
    Hello! Please reply back, promptly if possible with the results to solutions to your problem!

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    - JoelbX
     
  • Friday, November 06, 2009 4:07 AM
     
     
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    I suppose you mean the light on the drive does not go off?

    This is normal behavior for every OS, including XP.

    When Windows says you can safely remove the drive, it is safe to remove, as all the read/write operations are finished.
    - JoelbX

    So are you saying that it was normal behaviour in XP for the USB drives to stay on until physically disconnected? My experience with XP is that after an eject the devices would on the whole gracefully power down.

    I have a couple of Seagate FreeAgent Go external USB hard drives and with Windows XP after they are ejected a few seconds later they gracefully power off. When ejecting them on Windows 7 they just stay on and have to be physically disconnected before they lose power.

    Though Windows might say that it is safe to remove the drives they are still physically spinning after ejecting in Windows 7. So the reads/writes might be flushed to disk but surely it can't be "safe" to simply drop the power by unplugging them.

     
  • Friday, November 06, 2009 3:27 PM
     
     
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    With my external hard drive it powers the drive off a few seconds after you safely remove hardware in XP and win7, so you have to leave to external HDDs plugged in to the power for a few extra seconds, but hte USB cable can be disconnected once windows has done its safely remove..

    Me and the OP were talking about flash drives. Please read what we are saying before you go off about external HDDs so we aren't comparing apples to oranges.
    Hey there! Please reply back promptly so we can answer your problem faster!
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  • Friday, November 06, 2009 9:18 PM
     
     
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    With my external hard drive it powers the drive off a few seconds after you safely remove hardware in XP and win7, so you have to leave to external HDDs plugged in to the power for a few extra seconds, but hte USB cable can be disconnected once windows has done its safely remove..

    Me and the OP were talking about flash drives. Please read what we are saying before you go off about external HDDs so we aren't comparing apples to oranges.
    Hey there! Please reply back promptly so we can answer your problem faster!
    - JoelbX
    JoelbX's favorite threads | Skydrive | Cool 'gadget' programs: Visit websites
    I have left the devices plugged in for up to an hour and the result is the same they don't power down.

    I did read the question and though you may be referring to USB flash devices I'm not so sure the OP was:
    I'd like to know why Windows 7 won't shut down the power of any USB device when I click eject.

    When I eject my USB hard drives (needless to say with no file transfer running), Windows displays "The device can now safely be removed", but the drive stays on. When I did the same using XP or XP SP3, it would stop running once the safety message had been displayed.

    I've tried every possible way to eject my USB drives & devices, but I cannot figure out how to change this behavior.

    I have also experienced this happening with USB flash devices as well - which also had a light that indicated activity. My theory is that many of the USB device drivers have not been completely updated for the changed Windows 7/Vista driver model.
     
  • Sunday, December 27, 2009 1:46 PM
     
     
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    Hi all,

    I'd like to know why Windows 7 won't shut down the power of any USB device when I click eject.

    When I eject my USB hard drives (needless to say with no file transfer running), Windows displays "The device can now safely be removed", but the drive stays on. When I did the same using XP or XP SP3, it would stop running once the safety message had been displayed.

    I've tried every possible way to eject my USB drives & devices, but I cannot figure out how to change this behavior.

    Any ideas ?

    Thanks !

    Hi all,

                  I also have the same problem, Give the better idea to power off usb port.


                  Thanks.
     
  • Monday, January 18, 2010 11:11 AM
     
     
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    I know you have this nice medallions, but still, what you say is truely stupid.

    In windows XP, when you safely remove an external hdd, it is actully powering down the hub where the hdd is connected, and you dont have to remove it phisically (unplug it).
    In windows 7 (and as i read, in Vista) Microsoft made some fucked up improvements, so when you safely remove hdd it just stops any possibility for data transferre, but it will never power down.

    there are 2 pissibilities:
    -may i have to do something with the energy usage part in WIN 7??
    -or can someone tell what is the execution .dll (or .exe or. something) in windows xp for powering off hdds after remove
      so i can overwrite the same file somewhere in Win 7
     
  • Tuesday, January 19, 2010 3:56 PM
     
     
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     hai,


                  eventhough i agree with your answer in case of laptop user the HDD will consume the power and ultimatelly it drains the power of laptop battery.

                        So It needs effective solution in order to save the power!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
     
  • Thursday, February 18, 2010 4:23 AM
     
     
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    I'm having the same problem.  In XP, disconnecting my Western Digital Passport would cause the disk to stop spinning.  In 7, the disk still spins after disconnect.  I've yet to find a solution for this... just lots of complaints.
     
  • Sunday, February 21, 2010 4:13 PM
     
     
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    I am also having the same issue: with WD passport and most USB flash drives. In XP when you click safely remove, power goes off. Whereas in Vista and Windows 7, the power stays on. Why won't microsoft admit it is a problem and issue a fix? Its been a problem since the early days of vista.
     
  • Monday, February 22, 2010 7:31 AM
     
     
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    Hi, I agree with Soupeurfaive, Sim and Gaala.  I have the exact same issue.  I have a Seagate Free Agent Go.  In Windows XP, after safely removing it, it would powerdown.  But with Windows 7, the LED lights remain on and therefore, I assume the drive is still on.

    I respectfully disagree with Joel "I suppose you mean the light on the drive does not go off?  This is normal behavior for every OS, including XP."

    I also read the message by Sim on the Seagate forum and the reply recevied from Seagate....

    http://forums.seagate.com/stx/board/message?board.id=freeagent&message.id=8346

    Please keep me posted on any updates, I would like to see this resolved.

    My only advice is to keep a backup in case of any misfortunes.
     
  • Monday, February 22, 2010 10:10 PM
     
     
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    Unfortunately from what I can gather so far this has been changed by design either in Vista or Windows 7. Why it has been changed I don't know. Time to start lobbying Microsoft.
     
  • Tuesday, February 23, 2010 6:35 AM
     
     
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    Hey Sim,  my guess is that we'll see a solution in Windows 8.  Way to go Microsoft!!!
     
  • Tuesday, February 23, 2010 9:20 AM
     
     
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    Hey Sim,  my guess is that we'll see a solution in Windows 8.  Way to go Microsoft!!!

    Unfortunately I doubt it. To change this will require more than a few forum postings.
     
  • Wednesday, February 24, 2010 8:04 PM
     
     
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    i will add my request in for this to be fixed.  

    clearly if you safely remove an external usb powered drive (like my WD Passport) i dont want it to continue spinning after its been "safely removed" regardless of whether its safe to remove or has stopped writing etc.  And no saying its so that other devices can continue to charge will wash imo.

    Only once have i managed to get it to stop spinning when i "clicked Eject", i think that was from the "devices and printers" page itself.  but i have not managed to repeat that luck since.

    I am using Win7 64 Pro for what its worth.
     
  • Tuesday, March 16, 2010 7:58 PM
     
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    I have actually been doing a lot of hunting around on this issue.  I am using a Core i5 motherboard, and am going to be copying to 20+ Thumb drives at a time using 6 USB Hubs / USB Cards.  Windows XP most definitely turns off power to the device after it is ejected from the System (Either through code or Manager).  I have run into a wall, as i need to know which thumb drive is completed copying after it's ejected from the system.  Both Vista and 7 seem to retain power to the USB Port even after the device is ejected.  The only thing i can come up with is MS wants the USB Hub ports to stay powered for charging purposes (ie. cell phone, ipod, zune, whatever)?  If anyone has any ideas, that would be greatly appreciated.  Otherwise it's back to XP :(

    Josh
    • Edited by SN95Josh Tuesday, March 16, 2010 7:59 PM Tidying wording
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  • Monday, May 31, 2010 8:52 PM
     
     
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    In my experience (it cost me $130 for the software to recover my data), it is not safe to remove a USB flash drive from the computer until it is powered down.  As long as the on the drive is lit, there is a risk of  destroying the FAT by removing it.  After which, the drive cannot be read by Windows.  This really does need to be fixed!

     
  • Wednesday, June 09, 2010 7:34 PM
     
     
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    I agree 100%!

    This annoyed me to no end with Vista and now annoys me about Windows 7. Microsoft should fix this bug/feature. When the USB drive is safely removed, then the OS should power off and turn off the USB drive's light as it once did in XP.

     
  • Wednesday, June 09, 2010 8:04 PM
     
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    At least give us an option in the control panel for this.  That would be much simpler, and would be more friendly for the professionals who NEED the functionality both ways.
    • Proposed As Answer by Casper999 Saturday, June 12, 2010 3:59 PM
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  • Saturday, June 12, 2010 4:04 PM
     
     
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    If you remove the flash drive when the light is on, will the port still indicate activity and cause conflict with other devices you may attach?
     
  • Friday, June 25, 2010 8:32 AM
     
     
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    I have the same problem. My USB hard drive still spin after "The device can now safely be removed". In XP, USB drive will stop spin.

    And I can't use my MP3 in win 7 when the USB is connected, it always display "USB disk access". In XP, I don't have this problem,too.

    I don't know it is becasue the power is turned off or XP only send a message the device.

     

     

     
  • Friday, June 25, 2010 10:13 AM
     
     
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    Apparently, gaala, received the answer on November 18, 2009.

    The usb port and\or connected device will remain powered in Windows 7 by design. ( 2 MS engineers)

    http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7hardware/thread/b7a4317a-88ff-4684-9251-77cdd2898520

    The answer is:  there is no way to power down a connected storage device (or any usb device) without switching it off or disconnecting the usb cable in Windows 7.

    Windows 7 feedback here: http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=mscom#tab5  Ask for this to be changed.

     
  • Friday, June 25, 2010 2:52 PM
     
     
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    And I think what everyone is saying is that this new "by design" feature is not a desired feature. Many people prefer the old way of removing a USB drive where the port is powered down.

    Sometimes a "feature" is a bug, even if the feature is by design.

     
  • Saturday, July 31, 2010 7:18 AM
     
     
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    Completely agree. It is the worst thing about Windows 7. At least for me it is not hours I have to wait, it is about 5-10 minutes but that is too long. My temporary solution (but still not desired) is turning off the computer but like stated elsewhere, you can hear the heads "scratch" the drive. I will be contacting my external hard drive maker (Transcend) to see what they think as it could possibly void warranty (improper use of device/intentional damage).

     

    I think it should be more of an opt-in feature as in, the device driver for the ipod/zune/mp3/whatever should have an option to charge device when disconnected rather than us having to opt-out (if that ever becomes a choice).

     

    I guess, coming from a programming background, that fixing it would be a larger project then we would be hoping/thinking. I don't think it is just the USB Root Hub driver (or similar) but a more in-depth part of Windows 7. Oh well, as long as it gets fixed and soon, I will be happy.

     
  • Wednesday, August 04, 2010 9:41 PM
     
     
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    I've been reading about the USB removal problems and differences between XP and Vista/7. In Windows 7 you can change the safely removal policy of USB devices (Might be in Vista also). On the 3 Windows 7 machines I've checked the policy is set to remove a USB device without going through the safe shutdown procedure so I'm thinking that is the default setting. Win 7, the write cache is stopped but it doesn't state anything about the power issue. With the USB device plugged in you can change this setting back to having to going throught the safely removal process. Try changing the setting and see if that fixes the power issue. Right click the device, properties, hardware,  chose your device if not highlighted click properties, click change settings, click Policies. Then here is were you can change it. Don't know if it will fix things but it won't hurt to try.   Joe Western Kentucky Computers 
     
  • Wednesday, August 18, 2010 1:25 AM
     
     
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    always you can disable USB mass Storage in Device manager. i try this and it works for me the HDD stop spining.
     
  • Thursday, September 02, 2010 12:57 AM
     
     
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    In this situation somehow, it's advisable using external hard drives that require a seperate power input. Since there are two cables that connect the hard drives, viz. the USB/firewire and the power cable, the hard drive "shuts down" gracefully when we first disconnect the data cable, making it safe to pull out the power source later. Furthermore, all Western Digital drives now come with a piece of embedded software that, apart from being just annoying, uses considerable space. But those who do use this software will know that here is one rare instance where you CAN power off your hard drive from your desktop, by simply right-clicking the WD Smartware icon in the system tray and selecting "Safely power off....". Safe as these methods are, I'd still like to know of a better solution.
     
  • Wednesday, November 03, 2010 9:35 PM
     
     
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    xI'm having the same problem.  In XP, disconnecting my Western Digital Passport would cause the disk to stop spinning.  In 7, the disk still spins after disconnect.  I've yet to find a solution for this... just lots of complaints.

    x2

    Same issue here. Needs to be fixed!

     
  • Saturday, November 13, 2010 9:45 AM
     
     
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    Actually, unlike Vista and 7, XP "tells" USB devices to power down, but keeps sending current over the USB port if needed. I know this because I have a PSP console that keeps charging from USB after ejecting it in XP or disabling the USB connection from the console menu, simply by adding a plug-in to the console called USBslimcharge. It allows me to charge whenever the console is powered on, even when I'm playing (a thing it should do by default anyways).

     

    There's a piece of software for USB management called Zentimo (it evolved from USB Safely Remove) that actually powers off devices after removal since v1.1 beta4 in Vista and 7.

     

    It seems that if I ever buy a new computer, I will have to buy extra software to make Windows 7 do the same things XP already does...

     

     
  • Sunday, December 05, 2010 9:08 AM
     
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    Typically Zentimo would run you $35 per license. However, for a limited time Crystal Rich Ltd (the developer of Zentimo) is running a promotion (starts December 1, 2010 and ends December 7, 2010) allowing everyone to get Zentimo for free! The promotion is of v1.0 of Zentimo and comes with no free upgrades or technical support; but you get to keep and use Zentimo (v1.0) for free for life if you take advantage of this promotion.

    Promo page:

    http://zentimo.com/giveawayd10.htm

    • Proposed As Answer by Jim Lee Sunday, February 13, 2011 7:51 PM
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  • Sunday, February 13, 2011 7:52 PM
     
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    Typically Zentimo would run you $35 per license. However, for a limited time Crystal Rich Ltd (the developer of Zentimo) is running a promotion (starts December 1, 2010 and ends December 7, 2010) allowing everyone to get Zentimo for free! The promotion is of v1.0 of Zentimo and comes with no free upgrades or technical support; but you get to keep and use Zentimo (v1.0) for free for life if you take advantage of this promotion.

    Promo page:

    http://zentimo.com/giveawayd10.htm


    See Following MS Link http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2401954.  Sorry about pressing proposed button in message above.
    • Proposed As Answer by Jim Lee Sunday, February 13, 2011 7:53 PM
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  • Tuesday, December 20, 2011 10:21 PM
     
     
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    you can work around with the issue by editing the registry:

     

    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

     

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\usbhub\HubG]

    "DisableOnSoftRemove"=dword:00000001

     

     

    save this in .reg extension and reboot.

    It will power down the hard disk a bit longer than the usb flash drives.. It works well with Free Agent external drives since I use them.

     
  • Saturday, September 01, 2012 8:51 PM
     
     
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    In Window7 under the Power Saver, settings Change when computer goes to Sleep. There is Advantanced Settings, Go down to and open USB settings. Click USB selective suspend settings. under setting click , Disabled.