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General discussionRemove a specific device from "Safely Remove Hardware..."(9 posts)solved(9 posts)solved
(9 posts)solved
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Posted January 12, 2018
I got a USB wireless wifi adapter and it's working great. Unfortunately though, it causes the "Safely Remove Hardware..." icon to appear in System Tray. It's only a minor annoyance, but I do dislike unnecessary icons there, plus when I try to unplug another device, I might end up accidentally removing it.

I googled and it seems there is no way of doing it, however on the offchance it is possible, does anyone know a way of preventing, only this device, from appearing under "Safely Remove Hardware...".

NOTE: I know how to make that icon completely disappear. However that will cause it disappear permanently. I still want that to appear when I plug in a USB stick or an external HD.

Using Windows 7. The device in question is a "FayTun USB Wifi Adapter", that seems to be a generic-come-with-a-poorly-translated-manual-Chinese-piece-of-hardware (but it's really excellent otherwise). It appears as "802.11 nc NIC" under devices and as "Realtek 8812BU Wireless LAN" in device manager.
This question / problem has been solved by ariaspiimage
Posted January 12, 2018
Many USB wifi adapter included a small filesystem in it, looks like a pendisk from OS's view.
That is why you see the icon.

I guess you can try to block it. The wifi part should still work.
Posted January 12, 2018
avatar
kbnrylaec: Many USB wifi adapter included a small filesystem in it, looks like a pendisk from OS's view.
That is why you see the icon.
I thought so as well, but it doesn't seem to be the case. No external hd is detected with it.
Posted January 12, 2018
I had a similar issue with sata drives on an Nvidia Nforce4 Motherboard on Windows XP and was a registry fix for that. It may not work for you or on Windows 7, but give it a try. You have to find yourself the device in registry, so instead of nvata you go to what you'll find.

1. Star regedit and navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\nvata

2. Click Edit
3. Select New > DWORD value
4. Name this DWORD: DisableRemovable
5. Double click this new DWORD and set its value to one (1).
6. Close regedit and reboot.
Posted January 12, 2018
avatar
ariaspi: I had a similar issue with sata drives on an Nvidia Nforce4 Motherboard on Windows XP and was a registry fix for that. It may not work for you or on Windows 7, but give it a try. You have to find yourself the device in registry, so instead of nvata you go to what you'll find.

1. Star regedit and navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\nvata

2. Click Edit
3. Select New > DWORD value
4. Name this DWORD: DisableRemovable
5. Double click this new DWORD and set its value to one (1).
6. Close regedit and reboot.
I tried that but it doesn't work for USB devices.
Posted January 13, 2018
OK, found a solution. In case anyone else is interested.

NOTE: Provided as is. Registry editing can be dangerous. Please don't do it if you don't know how.

1. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB\
Find your device's hardware ID. You can do it through device manager, by checking Properties and then Details tab.
Open that key. You should find another subkey made up of hexadecimal numbers. Open that. Find key called Capabilities.
Note the current value. Subtract 4 from it (disable CM_DEVCAP_REMOVABLE) and then add 128 (80 hex) (enable CM_DEVCAP_SURPRISEREMOVALOK)

Source:
https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/76148/real-simple-computer-question

This will remove the device from the "Remove Hardware..." list but won't remove the icon from systray.

2. Go to Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\SysTray\Services
Note the initial value. Change value to 29 (1d hex).
Run systray.exe to refresh systray.

This will remove the "Remove Hardware..." for ALL devices.

Source:
https://www.tenforums.com/customization/25651-hide-windows-remove-usb-safely-tray-icon.html

3. Again go to Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\SysTray\Services
Change the value back to its initial value.
Run systray.exe to refresh systray.

This will re-enable the "Remove Hardware..." to appear again, if you connect another device, like a USB pendrive.

That's it.

Notes:
Value from point 1 will be reset every time you restart Windows (or reconnect the device). Value from point 2 will be reset when you restart Windows. Therefore you have to create a batch file to do all the above on reboot. Ideally a few secs after reboot, to ensure the USB device is connected first.

Again remember, all this is at your own risk.

Since I don't like leaving question threads unanswered, and I can't mark my own post as solution, someone please quote this, so I can mark that. Thanks.
Posted January 13, 2018
avatar
ZFR: ...snip
Hey, thanks for all the research. This may come handy someday.
Posted January 13, 2018
avatar
ZFR: OK, found a solution. In case anyone else is interested.

NOTE: Provided as is. Registry editing can be dangerous. Please don't do it if you don't know how.

1. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB\
Find your device's hardware ID. You can do it through device manager, by checking Properties and then Details tab.
Open that key. You should find another subkey made up of hexadecimal numbers. Open that. Find key called Capabilities.
Note the current value. Subtract 4 from it (disable CM_DEVCAP_REMOVABLE) and then add 128 (80 hex) (enable CM_DEVCAP_SURPRISEREMOVALOK)

Source:
https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/76148/real-simple-computer-question

This will remove the device from the "Remove Hardware..." list but won't remove the icon from systray.

2. Go to Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\SysTray\Services
Note the initial value. Change value to 29 (1d hex).
Run systray.exe to refresh systray.

This will remove the "Remove Hardware..." for ALL devices.

Source:
https://www.tenforums.com/customization/25651-hide-windows-remove-usb-safely-tray-icon.html

3. Again go to Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\SysTray\Services
Change the value back to its initial value.
Run systray.exe to refresh systray.

This will re-enable the "Remove Hardware..." to appear again, if you connect another device, like a USB pendrive.

That's it.

Notes:
Value from point 1 will be reset every time you restart Windows (or reconnect the device). Value from point 2 will be reset when you restart Windows. Therefore you have to create a batch file to do all the above on reboot. Ideally a few secs after reboot, to ensure the USB device is connected first.

Again remember, all this is at your own risk.

Since I don't like leaving question threads unanswered, and I can't mark my own post as solution, someone please quote this, so I can mark that. Thanks.
Jeez, you go through all that just to remove an icon from the tray, each time you run your computer! Why not just buy an internal wireless card and be done with it!
Posted January 13, 2018
avatar
ZFR: OK, found a solution. In case anyone else is interested.

NOTE: Provided as is. Registry editing can be dangerous. Please don't do it if you don't know how.

1. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB\
Find your device's hardware ID. You can do it through device manager, by checking Properties and then Details tab.
Open that key. You should find another subkey made up of hexadecimal numbers. Open that. Find key called Capabilities.
Note the current value. Subtract 4 from it (disable CM_DEVCAP_REMOVABLE) and then add 128 (80 hex) (enable CM_DEVCAP_SURPRISEREMOVALOK)

Source:
https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/76148/real-simple-computer-question

This will remove the device from the "Remove Hardware..." list but won't remove the icon from systray.

2. Go to Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\SysTray\Services
Note the initial value. Change value to 29 (1d hex).
Run systray.exe to refresh systray.

This will remove the "Remove Hardware..." for ALL devices.

Source:
https://www.tenforums.com/customization/25651-hide-windows-remove-usb-safely-tray-icon.html

3. Again go to Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\SysTray\Services
Change the value back to its initial value.
Run systray.exe to refresh systray.

This will re-enable the "Remove Hardware..." to appear again, if you connect another device, like a USB pendrive.

That's it.

Notes:
Value from point 1 will be reset every time you restart Windows (or reconnect the device). Value from point 2 will be reset when you restart Windows. Therefore you have to create a batch file to do all the above on reboot. Ideally a few secs after reboot, to ensure the USB device is connected first.

Again remember, all this is at your own risk.

Since I don't like leaving question threads unanswered, and I can't mark my own post as solution, someone please quote this, so I can mark that. Thanks.
avatar
nightcraw1er.488: Jeez, you go through all that just to remove an icon from the tray, each time you run your computer! Why not just buy an internal wireless card and be done with it!
Not sure about you, but editing 2 registry entries for me is easier than buying an internal wireless card.
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General discussionRemove a specific device from "Safely Remove Hardware..."(9 posts)solved(9 posts)solved
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