The main reason for the 'Remove Safely' option is to purge the write cache.
This ensures that any files you've saved to the device are actually written
to the device and not still sitting on your computer's hard drive waiting to
be written. Once Windows tells you it's safe to remove the device, it
should be OK. I say "should" because I'd hate you to take just my word for
it; hopefully some MVPs will back me up soon.

If you haven't actually saved anything to the device it's perfectly safe to
just unplug it anyway, the same way you would a USB joystick or any other
non-writeable device. It's always better to be safe than sorry though, so
any storage device (including iPods, phones, PDAs, SatNavs etc) should be
'Safely Removed' to avoid the slight risk of data loss.

Maybe they decided to continue supplying power to disconnected devices
because more and more devices these days can be recharged via the USB port.
That's just supposition, but it would sort of make sense.


"Ashish" <Ashish@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2DEFD570-0322-4AB2-9DAE-DD1ABC6754BC@microsoft.com...[color=blue]
> Hi,
> I recently installed windows vista. I noticed that when I choose 'Remove
> safely' option for USB devices from task bar, the OS reports successful
> disconnection, but the USB device still keeps on charging (It seems to be
> receiving power). But in Windows XP, this was not so. Those LED's use to
> turn
> of once I do the above action.
>
> Is this a change in Windows Vista or there is some other problem with my
> computer. If its by design, is it safe to remove my hardware (card
> readers,
> ipod..) when the power LED is still on !
>
> -Ashish[/color]