Article ID: 971899 - Last Review: June 19, 2009 - Revision: 2.0

The Safely Remove Hardware feature does not stop power from being provided to a USB device in Windows Vista

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SYMPTOMS

A USB device such as a USB flash drive is connected to your Windows Vista-based computer. After you click the Safely Remove Hardware icon to remove the device, a message is displayed to tell you that you can safely disconnect the device.

However, the USB device is still powered on. The power indicator for the USB device is still on. You would expect the power indicator to show that the USB device is powered off.

Notes
  • You may experience this issue with any USB device that has a power indicator.
  • When you click Safely Remove Hardware in Windows XP, the power indicator turns off and the USB device powers off.

CAUSE

The Safely Remove Hardware feature does not stop power from being provided to a USB device in Windows Vista. By design, the port to which the device is attached is not suspended in Windows Vista when the device is soft removed.
APPLIES TO
  • Windows Vista Enterprise 64-bit Edition
  • Windows Vista Home Basic 64-bit Edition
  • Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition
  • Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit Edition
  • Windows Vista Business
  • Windows Vista Business 64-bit Edition
  • Windows Vista Enterprise
  • Windows Vista Home Basic
  • Windows Vista Home Premium
  • Windows Vista Starter
  • Windows Vista Ultimate
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