Windows 10: USB Flash stick / portable hard drvies , is it only a myth?

For years, from time to time, I have been hearing some people telling me that "If you don't "safely eject" the USB stick or portable hard drives" and you only unplug them, your drive will fail more easily in the future..........i.e. shorter lifespan....which would "hurt" hardware inside the drives

Is it real? or totally wrong? or it could be possible depending on the brand and build quality of your drive?

Anyone can confirm to me? Thanks a lot !

:)

 

Installing windows off of a USB stick

Step By Step from vista:
From admin cmd prompt

1. diskpart
1a. list disk
2. select disk 1 (replace 1 with your usb drive)
3. clean
4. create partition primary
5. select partition 1 (replace 1 with your usb drive)
6. active
7. format fs=fat32
8. assign
9. exit

Copy Windows Vista's DVD ROM content to the Flash Drive

xcopy d:\*.* /s/e/f e:\ (d being your vista cd and e being your usb stick)

And that's it, boot off your usb disk

 

Portable hard drive and windows 10

Hi,

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Community. I understand that you have an issue with connecting
portable hard drive in Windows 10.
I will surely help you to fix this issue.

To understand the issue better, I would need more information from your end.

• 
  Is the hard drive getting detected on the computer?
  
• 
  Do you face any issue while using other USB devices?
  

This issue could have occurred due to these reasons:

1. Missing Windows Update.

2. USB port is damaged.

3. Damaged hardware.

Try the steps listed here:

Method 1:

I suggest you to run hardware troubleshooter and check if it helps.

a) Press Windows Key.

b) Type Troubleshooting in the search box and hit
Enter.

c) Click on Hardware and sound.

d) Click on Hardware and device and follow the on-screen instructions.

Method 2:

If the issue persists, I suggest you to install all the available Windows Updates and also latest chipset driver from the computer manufacturer website. You may also try connecting the hard drive to a different USB port.

Hope this information helps. Reply to the post with an updated status of the issue so that we can assist you further.

 

need to (un)encrypt a usb flash drive

Hi Malcolm,

For clarification regarding formatting your USB flash drive, when you say "I've already ran CMD prompt", did you run it under safe mode? If not, we suggest that you follow the steps below:

• Shutdown your PC.
• Insert your USB Memory Stick into your laptop or Computer.
• Turn on laptop, and then immediately start pressing F8.
• Select Safe Mode with Command Prompt.
• After loading files, if your USB Memory Stick drive letter is G (for example), then write as:
  
  C:\windows\system32>G:, and press Enter.
  
  G:\>format G:, and press Enter.
  
• Press Y, and press Enter.
• Now a full format will start which remove write protection from USB Memory Stick.

We look forward to your response.