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    Why does Windows 7 show my HDD as a removable device?

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by shinakuma9, Jan 6, 2010.

  1. shinakuma9

    shinakuma9 Notebook Deity

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    I recently installed Windows 7 and now on the taskbar, it shows my hard disk drive as a removable device. (The "safely remove hardware" symbol) and i can remove it. Why is this? This never happened in vista
     
    shinakuma9, Jan 6, 2010
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  2. S.SubZero

    S.SubZero Notebook Deity

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    If your SATA controller for your hard drive is in AHCI mode, the various parts apparently support hot-swap. Of course your C: drive isn't something you should be yanking out of your laptop/desktop, but for some reason Windows 7 would like you to know you can if you were really nuts. My desktop does this too and it irks me a little since why would I want to pull out a single drive while the PC is on?
     
    S.SubZero, Jan 6, 2010
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  3. shinakuma9

    shinakuma9 Notebook Deity

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    is there any way to turn it off or not display it for that one particular device?
    I dont wanna accidentally click it one day when im trying to remove something else
     
    shinakuma9, Jan 6, 2010
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  4. Amnesiac

    Amnesiac 404

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    AHCI mode can be disabled in the BIOS, I think.
     
    Amnesiac, Jan 6, 2010
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  5. crash

    crash NBR Assassin

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    But there are other benefits of AHCI mode that would be lost by turning it off. I too would like to know if there is a way to hide the internal drives from the "Safely Remove Hardware" list while AHCI mode is enabled. I'm always worried about accidentally stopping the wrong drive and, well, I'm not sure what would happen..
     
    crash, Jan 6, 2010
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  6. davepermen

    davepermen Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    maybe there's some hotswap function one can disable in the bios? just a blind guess..
     
    davepermen, Jan 6, 2010
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  7. crash

    crash NBR Assassin

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    Hmm I'll dive in to my desktop's BIOS to see if I can find it. My laptop doesn't support hot-swapping apparently, because there is no option to remove my internal drive (thank goodness) even though it's running in AHCI mode.
     
    crash, Jan 6, 2010
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