Hard drive error - snow leopard

When using external hard drive or USB memory stick I occasionally get an error message telling me not to remove an external drive without ejecting it when the drive is still connected and being used. Is this a hardware or software problem?

rob roy said:

When using external hard drive or USB memory stick I occasionally get an error message telling me not to remove an external drive without ejecting it when the drive is still connected and being used. Is this a hardware or software problem?

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It's a user problem. You are supposed to dismount, or "eject" the drive before removing it. Failing to do so risks corruption of the drive contents.

EDIT: DOH! I just realized you said you get that message when it's still in. Hmmm… best guess here is that it's a hardware problem. That USB port may be intermittently losing power to it. Try a different port to see if the problem continues.

rob roy

Thanks for the advice, will try swapping usb ports.