Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with eject

What is the difference between Eject and Safely Remove Hardware in Vista?

dave99 — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:12:39 -0800

What is the difference between Eject and Safely Remove Hardware in Vista? When I use my Kindle with Windows Vista, and I plug it into the computer through USB, the Kindle shows a message that I should eject the Kindle to continue to use it while it recharges.

I tried doing "Safely Remove Hardware", and the message remains. I then unplugged and reconnected the Kindle, and then tried to "Eject" the Kindle from My Computer, and that worked fine, the message disappeared.

I always thought Safely Remove Hardware and Eject did the same thing. Obviously the Kindle can detect the difference - so what is the difference?

How do I eject the Snow Leopard install DVD on a Mac Mini?

keijo — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 06:42:54 -0800

How do I eject the Snow Leopard install DVD on a Mac Mini? I tried to install Snow Leopard on an older Mac Mini but foolishly did not realise that it required 1GB of memory. The install program informs me of this and then gives options to either "Restore From Backup" or "Restart". There is no time machine backup and if I restart it boots again (and again) from the install disc.

I have tried rebooting with holding down the eject button on the keyboard or the left mouse button to no avail. Thanks for any help in getting the big cat out.

iMac G5 swallowed something it shouldn't have. Heimlich maneuver for CD drive?

UnclePlayground — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:16:26 -0800

How do I manually eject a CD meant for Windows (including XP and Vista) from my iMac G5? Yeah, brain fart. I inserted a CD given to me by my boss without looking at it. It's software meant for Windows. I inserted it into my iMac G5 with the CD slot on the right side. Of course, no icon for the CD shows up. I've tried every method of manual removal suggested on the internet.

Eject button on keyboard.
Restart holding mouse.
Restart holding eject button.
Restart hitting eject button continuously.
Open Firmware (Opt-Cmd-O-F) and typing "eject cd".

And many, many more.

There is no issue with the CD being "stuck", there is no "it seems to want to come out, but then goes back in".
No eject sounds like it's trying to eject.
It's just not recognizing the it's holding a CD, and none of the suggestions so far seem to make the computer spit the disc out.

And no, there is no special paperclip hole that I overlooked.

I need major guru advise here (besides, "take it to an Apple Store").

Saving my PC's Optical Drive

brandman — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 05:50:52 -0800

Is there a way to selectively disable the CD/DVD drive in my computer? We let the kids play the computer occasionally, and from time to time, my (pre-school aged) son will press the button, open the drive and start playing with it. What I'd like to do is find a way to 'turn off' the drive, or at least disable the eject button, while the kids are playing the computer. Is there a way to do that? On Windows XP, Dell Inspiron 1505.

Which USB Mass Storage Device is which?

msbrauer — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:19:26 -0800

How can I change the generic name "USB Mass Storage Device" in my Vista system tray "Safely Remove Hardware" dialog? It's not uncommon for me to have a couple of external harddrives plugged in to my Vista laptop alongside a memory card and an mp3 player. While all of these devices have unique drive letters and unique names in windows explorer (one of the drives is always called 400gig, for instance, another is always called 500gig), they're all called "USB Mass Storage Device" in the system tray's "Safely Remove Hardware" menu. So when I need to unplug one but not all, I find myself taking a stab at which device is which and usually I pick the wrong one. I can solve the confusion easily enough by opening the "my computer" window and figuring out the drive letter from there, but that's an extra step that I'd love to get rid of. Ideally, the dialog would always say something like "Safely remove 400gig - Drive (x:)" and stay the same for each device each time it's plugged in.

So, is it possible to change the menu options from "Safely remove USB Mass Storage Device - Drive (x:)" to something unique for each device?

How to make finder display a previously ejected usb deivce

alitorbati — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:05:57 -0800

How do I make my mac recognize an already plugged in usb device? If I attach a usb device to my mac, it automatically shows up in my finder sidebar and when I am finished using it, I can simply click the eject button next to it.
If I don't disconnect the device, is there any way to make finder refresh the 'Places' heading? Is there any way to make the device show up besides unplugging it and plugging it back in?

Help me get my drive unplugged!

antifuse — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 00:35:51 -0800

How can I find out what application is locking my external USB drive in Windows XP? Ok, here's the long and the short of it: I've got an external hard drive (a normal 3.5" drive in a Vantec Nexstar 3 enclosure). I've closed all the apps that have files open on said drive. When I try to "eject" it in XP (make it safe for unplugging) it says that an application is still using a file on the drive. How can I find out what application is holding that file open? I know, I can just shut down the PC, but I'd like to be able to disconnect the thing without having to shutdown every time! Are there any apps that tell you what file handles are open for each running process? I tried FileMon from SysInternals, but that tells you more as things are being opened, not after the fact what is being *held* open.

Stuck on you 'till the end of time: getting glue residue out of my optical drive.

chrominance — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 04:52:25 -0800

My DVDs are stuck, part two: I figured out what's wrong with my optical drives, and now I'm wondering if there's an easier way to fix them. Turns out one of my DVDs had a ring of adhesive surrounding the center hole. The glue melted while the DVD was in the player, transferring itself to whatever it is that grabs the DVD from below and spins it. As a result, whenever I stick a CD or DVD in that drive and let it spin for a while, the glue remelts and sticks to the disc. Suddenly ejecting the disc becomes more of a pain than it should be. This completely explains nearly all the symptoms I experienced with my two drives (the only thing I can't figure out is how the second drive fixed itself, though I have theories).

Having figured out the problem a couple of months ago, I had hoped that if I just cleaned every disc after it came out of the drive (some of the glue sticks to the disc), eventually there wouldn't be enough glue left inside the drive to cause any more problems. But I'm not so sure this is going to solve the problem any more.

Are there cleaning products specifically designed for this sort of problem, perhaps ones that don't involve me tearing my DVD burner apart? If disassembly is unavoidable, is there a way to take apart my DVD drive without, say, burning my eyes out with lasers or scratching the lens (and then what would I use as a cleaning agent)? Or should I just resign myself to having a sticky DVD burner and plunk down $30 sometime down the road for a second one to use as my main drive?

I think my optical drives are trying to eat my CDs.

chrominance — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 13:26:24 -0800

I've had two DVD drives exhibit the same odd behavior when ejecting discs, and I can't figure out how to stop it. The first drive, a tray-loader LG CD-R/DVD-ROM drive, worked fine for a year or so before it started to stutter slightly when ejecting. As time went on, the problem got worse, until finally I would hit the eject button and hear the mechanism start, but the tray wouldn't come out. It seemed to act as though it was blocked by something, though every time I'd check the bay there was nothing obvious. By this point I'd have to let the drive attempt to eject the disc, give up, and then press the button again before finally it worked properly. I lived with this for a couple of years before I got a DVD burner and relegated the hobbled combo drive to secondary optical drive status.

Now my DVD burner, a Lite-On tray-loader, has started doing the same thing. The only hint to the problem is that when the tray does eject, occasionally the CD is unseated—sometimes so far that the rear edge of the CD gets stuck on the plastic rim and blocks the tray's operation. My guess is that the violence of the tray opening is causing the CD to fly around and block something, but this doesn't make much sense to me. With this drive, the problem is much worse: repeated attempts to eject the CD fail, and it's only when I try to force the front bezel of the tray down while pressing the button that anything happens.

To add insult to injury, the old combo drive now ejects CDs perfectly fine. I haven't done anything other than let it sit for a while without a disc inside. Conversely, the problems for both drives seemed to start when I left a disc in them for a while8212;no moving or anything I can remember, just that I put a disc in and then didn't use the drives for a while. What's going on?

Can you force an iBook G4 to eject when it thinks it doesn't have a DVD drive and there is no pinhole?

inksyndicate — Wed, 21 Jul 2004 19:45:53 -0800

When your iBook G4 loses faith in the idea that it has DVD drive, complaining of an error [-70012] when you stick a DVD in; when even firmware prompt commands like "eject" won't pop it out; when you realize that for purposes of style you have been deprived of a manual-eject pinhole; in such straits, friends, is there any hope of freeing your Digital Versatile Disc of "Spiderman" from the drive?