Thank you
Windows has options to disable writing cache on the usb drive. So if you arent actively transferring files you can remove it without ejecting. Older windows didnt have this option.
Older Windows usually didn't use a writing cache by default and USB disks were very slow. Copying one file would require updating the file system in one or a few sectors and small file would take extremely long time and cause wear to the memory. You still should have stopped drive with the "safely remove hardware" button because it could be that some program was currently writing to the drive.
They both do. The "ejecting" is basically just telling the operating system to stop reading/writing on the drive to ensure there's no data corruption, etc. If you're absolutely certain there's nothing going on on the device, you can just rip it out without so much as a "Heads up!" to the OS.
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what?
You can, and should, eject removable devices on Windows too.
If you dont know about "Quick Removal" capabilities then of course always eject. On Windows 11 if you arent actively doing a file transfer you dont have to eject your USB. You can if you want but you dont HAVE to. If you arent sure if there is a file transfer occurring then always eject but has techology has gotten better its become unnecessary, at least for windows
Windows suggests to "eject" the drive, right-clicking on it in a Windows explorer and then select the option "eject". In Mac you need to drag the icon to the trash can that becomes the "eject" button. Different processes that you can bypass by just removing the hardware, but that can damage your files in the drive.
It always makes me weary dragging an entire drive into the trash. Like I get it, I used Macs for 10 years back in the day, but still. Never felt right
Dragging to the trash was always a garbage quirky gimmick, it shouldn't have ever been a thing and should certainly not be a thing now
Good responses, thank you all
Writing to a usb drive is slow. Writing to memory is very very fast. When you copy a file to a USB drive, in order to feel more responsive and fast, the operating system can instead of copying directly to the USB (slow) copy it first into memory (very very fast), and tell you the operation is done. Then, when it’s not doing anything else, complete the slow copy to the USB drive. If an operating system uses this trick, you need to tell it you’re going to remove the USB drive so it can finish copying those files in the background. If you remove it before that’s done, the files still in memory but not yet copied to the USB disk will be lost.
I don’t know if windows uses this trick, but I suspect it does and removing a drive without ejecting it can cause you to lose data if you pull it too soon after copying a file.
This is the best answer here and hopefully gets higher
If you want to prevent file errors then you need to "eject" removable drives in Windows as well. This is the signal to the OS that any cached writes need to be written to the drive so that it can be safely removed.
When you write to a removable drive, the OS may actually make the write, or it may cache the write. That is, it might decide it has more important things to do first and will get around to actually writing the file when it gets a spare moment. Much like a teenager being asked to do something, who knows when it will happen. By ejecting the drive, you are telling the OS okay I need that file written right now. Forget about what you're doing and complete this write immediately.
Windows started to avoid caching and writes files directly to USB devices. That’s why now there is no need for “safe” ejection.
I'm pretty sure write cache is still enabled by default but perhaps can be disabled for removable drives.
AI tends to agree (but I'm not sure how much I believe in AI)
"Windows 11 does cache writes for removable drives to improve performance, you can manage this behavior through the device policies. If data loss is a major concern, you can disable write caching or use the "Safely Remove Hardware" process to ensure data integrity. "
That made me laugh right next to my two teenagers, and I'm still pondering whether I should explain why the sudden outburst.