Although Windows by default optimize for quick removal on Write Caching and Safe Removal policies, there are times I’ve noticed when I tried to stop the plugged in USB flash drive device at Safely Remove Hardware, it says “The device cannot be stopped right now. Try stopping the device again later.” If I forcefully unplug my USB flash drive that time, I risk my files getting corrupted. So never trust the “Optimize for quick removal” setting!
There are times that the Safely Remove Hardware Icon is missing or disappeared from the try bar. In Windows Safe Mode, you can’t find the Safely Remove Hardware icon at all! Is shutting down the computer the only way to safely stop and unplug your USB devices? Fortunately not. Here are some ways you can bring back the Safely Remove Hardware window when the icon is missing.
First of all, make sure that the Safely Remove Hardware icon is not set as “Always Hide“.
The manual way of bringing back the Safely Remove Hardware window is by running a command. Go to Start, Run, type in the following line and click OK. The command below is case sensitive.
rundll32 shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll
