Do You Really Need To Safely Eject A Drive From A USB Port?

I didn't eject a USB stick for years because I thought memory damage was a myth. One day I actually corrupted a USB drive (the damage is irreversible, by the way) when I took it out while it was still trying to write. From that point forward, I always eject the drive.

It takes a bit of time for a computer to write data to a disc. If the disc is removed before the write is finished, there will be loss and/or corruption.

So MANY writers claim they know what they’re talking about (the same with end losers). What happens isn’t mechanical anymore. Windows makes registry links and hardware profiles when removable media is added. Your friend who makes that stupid saying has never gotten burnt when suddenly windows WON’T DETECT OR ACCESS YOUR MEDIA. This will happen when removable media is yanked out one too many times and is ‘remarked’ out in the registry. You end up having a few options: 1) dig through your registry and find where it got remarked out and delete that key (good luck with that) 2) Copy from that media onto a different media (usually USB drives) and use that one or 3) reformat your hard drive. I’m sure his reply will be “Well, that NEVER happened to me!” My reply is the same as it’s been the 20 years I’ve been doing tech support - have it happen to you once (Murphy’s Law being what it is it’ll happen at the WORST possible time) YOU’LL NEVER DO IT AGAIN.

Be smart about your system. That little removal tool is there for a reason. Like many things dealing with computers, there are best practices for a reason. Use them all the time and you seldom have to worry about Mr. Murphy.

This is one of the areas were Windows scores over Linux. If you pull a stick at the wrong time in Windows you'll do the same sort of damage (very rarely hardware, but frequently an upset file system). The difference is that when you plug it back into Windows it offers to fix it - and usually manages without further fuss.
Linux/Android just gets all upset and doesn't offer any solutions. Yes, you can fix it, but no, it ain't user friendly.