Create a Quick Launch for USB "Safely Remove"
We have all learned that before we pull that USB thumb drive out, it is really a good idea to first find that icon and click on “Safely Remove Hardware” and “stop” the device. Some of us discovered that necessity the hard way – with ruined drives.
Unfortunately, that icon is small, sometimes gets covered up, sort of visually “fades into” the background, and/or gets lost in the clutter of all our other System Tray icons. Out of sight, out of mind.. right?
To make it easier for me to remember to properly stop my USB devices, I create a Desktop icon, and set up a “hotkey” combination. I could also drag-and-drop a shortcut into my Quick Launch area, but I figure if I’m going to look down to the Taskbar, I may as well look by the clock.
Tip of the day: Create a shortcut to Safely Remove Hardware.
1) Right-click on a blank area of your Desktop, and select “New”, then “Shortcut”.
Now a ‘wizard’ will open. You are asked “What do you want to create a shortcut for?” (typing in “fantastic wealth” won’t help you here, sorry.)
2) Copy this string, and paste it into the space:
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL HotPlug.dll
Now click “Next”.
3) Rename the shortcut from “rundll32.exe” to something a little more descriptive. I went with “Safe USB”, but “Safely Remove USB” is a good one too.
Click “Finish”. Now you have a new icon on your Desktop for quickly launching the safely remove tool. You are done.. But, I will also create a keyboard “hotkey” shortcut (optional).
4) [Optional] Create a “hotkey” shortcut.
a: Right-click on your new shortcut icon and select “Properties”.
b: On the “Shortcut” tab (should be open by default) create a “hotkey” by pressing Ctrl+Alt+key. I chose the “U” key for “unplug”, but you might want to choose the “R” (for “remove”) or something else you’ll remember.
c: Click “Apply”. You will note that your choice is now reflected in the “Shortcut key” window.
d: XP users can customize the icon.. and get rid of the plain icon, by clicking the “Change icon” button. (Vista users, read on…)
Now when I’m ready to pull out my thumb drive, I just Ctrl+Alt+U. And no more hunting by the clock.
Today’s free link: If you experience Windows Vista Service Pack 2 installation issues…
Today’s free download: If you would like to download some icons and customize Windows default icon set. VistaIcons.com is a neat source of free icon “packs”.
Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix
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• About Tech Paul
I am a Retired computer & network technician. I used to think the machines were pretty cool. Now I don’t.
They’re anything but.
I regularly posted how-to’s and tricks & tips and general computing advice here starting in 2007. (Use the Search tool to find answers. But be aware, many are rather dated.) Sometimes I answered (your) specific questions in an article if I believed the answer was generally helpful to “everyone”. All the writing you see was my own, typos and all. There always is/was an implied “IMHO” in what you see here.
Note: You are responsible for using this blog and its content. I am in no way liable for any losses caused by user error, viruses and/or other malware, hardware or software failure, or any other conceivable reason.
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