How to Create a Safely Remove Hardware Shortcut in Windows 7 and Vista

Information
Safely Remove Hardware allows you to safely shutdown and eject a storage device before just unplugging or disconnecting it to help prevent accidental data loss if data were still being copied or saved to or from the device. For example, if you have write caching enable on the device.

This will show you how to create or download a Safely Remove Hardware shortcut. You can also Pin to Taskbar or Pin to Start Menu this shortcut, or move where you like for easy use.


EXAMPLE: Safely Remove Hardware



OPTION ONE
Download the Shortcut
1. Click on the download button below to download the
Safely_Remove_Hardware.zip file.
2. Click on Save, and save the .zip file to the desktop.

3. Open the .zip file and extract the Safely Remove Hardware shortcut to the desktop.

4. Right click on the Safely Remove Hardware shortcut, and click on Properties, General tab, and on the Unblock button. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: If you do not have a Unblock button under the General tab, then the shortcut is already unblocked and you can continue on to step 5.5. If you would like a better custom 256x256 pixel icon instead of the default smaller icon, then go to step 8 in OPTION TWO below to download and use it instead. :)

6. Move the shortcut to where you like for easy use.

7. When done, you can delete the downloaded .zip file on the desktop if you like, or save it to use again.




OPTION TWO
Manually Create the Shortcut
1. Right click on a empty area on desktop, and click on New and Shortcut.

2. Type the location below into the location area, and click on the Next button. (see screenshot below)

Code:
C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll
3. Type Safely Remove Hardware for the name, and click on the Finish button. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: You can name this anything you would like though. 4. Right click on the new Safely Remove Hardware shortcut on the Desktop and click on Properties.

5. Click on the Shortcut tab, then click on the Change Icon button. (see screenshot below)6. To Use the Default Icon -
A) In the line under "Look for icons in this file", type in the location below and press Enter. (see left screenshot below step 8)

Code:
%SystemRoot%\System32\hotplug.dll
B) Go to step 8.
7. To Download or Use a Custom Icon -
NOTE: You can skip this step and go to step 6 if you do not want or need a better 256x256 pixel icon to use instead of the smaller default one.
A) You can click on the Download button below to download and use this custom 256x256 pixel Safely_Remove_Hardware.ico file in a ZIP file below as this shortcut's icon if you like.
NOTE: The icon will need to remain saved at the same location for the icon to continue to display on the shortcut.B) In the line under "Look for icons in this file", click on Browse and navigate to the location of the saved 256x256 pixel icon you want to use. (see right screenshot below step 8)
8. Select the icon in blue below and click on OK. (see screenshots below)
NOTE: Left sceeenshot for step 4, and right screenshot for step 5.9. Click on OK. (see screenshot below)10. Move the shortcut to where you like for easy use.
That's it,
Shawn



Related Tutorials



Attached Thumbnails


Attached Images
Attached Files Safely Remove Hardware.zip (864 Bytes) Safely_Remove_Hardware_ICON.zip (21.5 KB)