How to identify which flash drive to eject?

CluelessInSeatl · 22 Mar 2015

Hi! I've got two flash drives plugged into an old PC running Windows 7 Home.

I want to unplug one of them and move it to my hand-me-down laptop.

When I click "Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media" it shows me two flash drives: L: & K:

So, then, how can I tell which on of the physical flash drives is the one that I want to grab and yank out? Is there a way I can tell Win 7 to flash the LED on the drive I want to remove?

Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Sleepless"

whs · 22 Mar 2015

I would check the content of the flash drives in Computer and then go by the port number. But if you wait for a few seconds after the last write operation, you can pull the drives out without checking.

CluelessInSeatl · 22 Mar 2015

whs said:

I would check the content of the flash drives in Computer and then go by the port number.

Thanks, whs! I'd like to give that a try.

But that means I'm going to have to learn two new things:

1. Where to look in Windows 7 to find out the port number.

2. How to figure out which port number is assigned to which physical USB port on the PC.

Can you (or anyone else reading this) help me with this?

Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"

Phone Man · 22 Mar 2015

If it has an LED you can try accessing the drive with a read or copy a file and see if the LED flashes.

Jim

whs · 22 Mar 2015

Nah, you are complicating the matter. Just look in Computer.

AddRAM · 22 Mar 2015

Right, you should know yourself what content is on each flash drive. As long as you click safely remove hardware on both flash drives you can pull them both.

As long as you are not writing info to a flash drive, you can pull it anytime, nothing will happen to it.

If your flash drives do not have a name, you can always name them in Disk Management (the manufacturers name for example) then you`ll always know :)

bawldiggle · 23 Mar 2015

A couple of times I have yanked USBs out and lost data (in spite of device settings)

For 3 years I have been using "USB Safely Remove" (by Crystal Rich) ... BUT it cost me $20, one off payement
- Crystal Rich also do free "LockHunter" for stubborn drives (and folder/files)

AddRAM · 23 Mar 2015

Yes, it`s always best to eject it properly :)

JDobbsy1987 · 23 Mar 2015