Blue screen in XP SP2 after removal of external USB HD

[Marc_G]

Hi folks-

Twice, but not twice in a row, I've had my system go BSOD after pulling the plug on a USB2 HD.

It happens instantaneously upon yanking the USB cable out.

I will admit, I wasn't a good boy and did not use the "safely remove hardware" tray icon to prepare for the removal, but I thought USB devices didn't require this step.

When I reboot, I get a message from XP that "Windows has recovered from a serious error."

Any thoughts here? Is this unusual, or have I just reaped the rewards of careless user operation?

Marc

[jdhurst]

I know in the case of my PCMCIA Sony Ericsson card, the vendor says the card can be damaged because of voltage (and therefore current) variations. They say use of the Eject (Safely Remove) is mandatory. Could the same be true for your USB? At least in terms of some interference on removal in the Windows hardware layer?

Try using Eject for the next half dozen times to see if the error recurs.
... JD Hurst

[egibbs]

If you have open file handles on the drive I'm not surprised that it BSODs. Note that you don't need to actually have files open - it's enough for Windows to have marked some files as "in use." If the kernel thinks it has something it needs at a physical location that doesn't exist anymore, you're gonna see blue.

Ed Gibbs

[storage_man]

All USB devices that appear in the "Safely Remove Hardware" window, should be removed using this function. Windows builds a lot of control blocks to mange that device (What ever it is). Interupt vectors, buffers, etc all take up memory. By just pulling the plug, leave these all in place. You end up with chunks of memory allocated all over that you will never use again (Unless u ReBoot). This can lead to memory fragmentation and loss of windows resources. Also more and more of the new harddrives use SMART Technology, Windows monitors it. Thats problably why your getting the BSOD in SP2.

Remember to remove these devices safely

Storage_man

[Marc_G]

OK, safe removal from now on! Mea Culpa

[Marc_G]

Hi folks-

I found something really cool when in the Disk Management part of the Administrative Tools... Computer Management tool. Apparently in the Properties of the disk, you can set it to be optimized for quick removal (without using 'safely remove hardware') or optimal performance (requires using 'safely remove hardware').
I haven't checked this for the particular disk that was giving trouble, since I'm traveling, but another disk I've got locally which has NOT caused the blue-screen problem upon unplanned removal is set for quick removal.

Check it out.

Marc