hard drive

[jackie08]

Hi
ive just got a new laptop with windows 7 on it. I have plugged in an external hard drive and it is working fine, however when i try to safely remove it, a box comes up and says it cannot remove because it is being used in another program. Can i shut my pc down and just unplug it or will i do damage to the pc or hard drive

[ChuckFickens]

It's probably being indexed by something (possibly windows itself)

Shutting down the PC would be the safest option (and professionally the one I'd have to suggest).... but unplugging it should be fine too...

If it's windows indexing it, then switch off indexing for USB drives (you need to do this with the drive plugged in)

Personally, I turn off all indexing.

[jackie08]

Thankyou for your answer. How do i turn off indexing

[MarkRae]

http://www.google.co....&bih=785&pf=p&pdl=300

[jackie08]

Thankyou for the link Mark :)