Hello, and welcome…
Rick’s Daily Tech Tips Update for Saturday, June 4, 2022
Topics covered in this issue…
• Q&A: Do we still need to eject USB flash drives with Windows 11?
• Q&A: How do you copy and paste something as plain text?
• Q&A: Can you retrieve a Windows 10 license key from a bad hard drive?
• How to locate a buried cable using a lawnmower and an AM radio
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Today’s quick tech tip….
Q&A: Do we still need to eject USB flash drives with Windows 11?
Question from Rhonda: I have always ejected USB flash drives before unplugging them from my computer to prevent the loss of any data that was waiting to be written to the drive.
Yesterday one of my co-workers saw me do that and she said we don’t need to do it with Windows 11.
Is that true? If it is I’ll be a happy camper because it’s a pain having to eject a drive every time I want to remove it.
Rick’s answer: That’s a great question, Rhonda. And the answer is…maybe.
The reason I said “maybe” is because the need to eject a flash drive (or not) is controlled by a system setting.
Windows 11 has write caching disabled by default, which means you can indeed remove a flash drive from the PC without having to worry about losing unsaved data that’s waiting to be written to the drive (because there won’t be any unsaved data waiting to be written to the drive).
That being said, if someone took it upon themselves to change that default setting at some point then write caching is actually enabled, meaning you’ll need to keep ejecting your flash drives before unplugging them.
Luckily, there’s an easy way to find out for sure (and change the setting if you wish). Just follow the steps below:
1 – Make sure the flash drive you want to check is connected to the PC, then right-click on the Start button and select Device Manager from the menu.
2 – Click on the arrow beside “Disk drives” to expand that branch of the Device Manager tree.
3 – Right-click on the drive you want to check and select Properties from the menu.
4 – Select the Policies tab.
5 – Check to see if “Quick removal” is selected. If “Quick removal” is selected you can safely disconnect this flash drive from this PC without ejecting it first. Just click the Cancel button to return to the main Device Manager window.
(Optional) – If “Quick removal” isn’t selected you can change the setting back to its default state (and thus avoid having to eject the drive every time you unplug it). Just select Quick removal and click the OK button.
6 – Click the X in the top-right corner of the Device Manager window to close it.
That’s all there is to it. You should now be able to safely disconnect this particular flash drive without having to worry about losing unsaved data.
The latest from Rick’s Daily Tips Tech Blog…
• Q&A: How do you copy and paste something as plain text?
A reader wants to know how to copy something and then paste it as plain text (i.e. without any special formatting included). This post has the answer.
• Q&A: Can you retrieve a Windows 10 license key from a bad hard drive?
A reader asks if it’s possible to retrieve a Windows 10 license key from a bad hard drive so he can use it to reactivate Windows 10 on the SSD he installed in the hard drive’s place. This post has my answer.
• Click here to see today’s ‘Picture of the Day’.
Every morning I post a new photo that I find inspiring, intriguing, or just plain beautiful to look at. Jumpstart your day by checking it out.
Pro blogging tip…
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Rick’s Daily Pick…
Logitech MK520 Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Combo (#ad)
Still using a wired keyboard and mouse with your Windows desktop computer?
Or perhaps you’re wanting to make your laptop work a lot more like a desktop?
If the answer to either of those questions is yes, you need this.
Today’s post from ‘My Daily Smile’…
How to locate a buried cable using a lawnmower and an AM radio
Need to locate a cable that’s buried somewhere on your property?
This post explains how to (possibly) locate it yourself and avoid paying a pro to come out and locate it for you.
Tech news that caught my eye…
• T-Mobile Starts Switching Phone Calls to Its 5G Network
• New York state passes first-ever ‘right to repair’ law for electronics
• This is not (just) another roundup of tech layoffs
• FTC says victims of crypto scams have lost more than $1 billion since 2021
• AT&T is launching drones into the sky as mobile 5G hotspots
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Your tech buddy,
Rick Rouse
https://www.RicksDailyTips.com