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Is it safe to remove a USB network adapter when my PC is shut down? (Windows 11)

PC Player
By PC Player
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4 minutes ago, PC Player said:

Is it safe to remove a USB network adapter when my PC is shut down on Windows 11? Or could this be harmful to my drive and/or computer? And which one if not both of them would be harmed?

Overall, USB is safe to remove at almost any time. Its really by its nature designed to be an easily pluggable and unpluggable peripheral connection versus connections like PCIe or SATA.

 

So yes, regardless of if its shutdown or online, it's safe to remove a USB network adapter.

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Is it safe to remove a USB network adapter when my PC is shut down on Windows 11? Or could this be harmful to my drive and/or computer? And which one if not both of them would be harmed?

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Just make sure it's actually off and not in sleep. You'll be good to go. I'm not sure how it would react if you just pulled it even while the computer was on, but I can't imagine it would bork anything.

Don't forget to mark posts as the solution if you're satisfied!

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4 minutes ago, PC Player said:

Is it safe to remove a USB network adapter when my PC is shut down on Windows 11? Or could this be harmful to my drive and/or computer? And which one if not both of them would be harmed?

Overall, USB is safe to remove at almost any time. Its really by its nature designed to be an easily pluggable and unpluggable peripheral connection versus connections like PCIe or SATA.

 

So yes, regardless of if its shutdown or online, it's safe to remove a USB network adapter.

Ryzen 7950x3D PBO +200MHz / -15mV curve CPPC in 'prefer cache'

RTX 4090 @133%/+230/+1000

Builder/Enthusiast/Overclocker since 2012  //  Professional since 2017

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You could remove it while the PC is powered on and it's vanishingly unlikely any problem would result. USB is designed to be hot-pluggable/unpluggable. Are you this concerned about all your USB devices or just the network adapter?

Corps aren't your friends. "Bottleneck calculators" are BS. Only suckers buy based on brand. It's your PC, do what makes you happy.  If your build meets your needs, you don't need anyone else to "rate" it for you. And talking about being part of a "master race" is cringe. Watch this space for further truths people need to hear.

 

Ryzen 7 5800X3D | ASRock X570 PG Velocita | PowerColor Red Devil RX 6900 XT | 4x8GB Crucial Ballistix 3600mt/s CL16

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Who remembers having to shut down to plug in a PS/2 Mouse and Keyboard?

 With all the Trolls, Try Hards, Noobs and Weirdos around here you'd think i'd find SOMEWHERE to fit in!

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1 minute ago, ChonkerFox said:

Who remembers having to shut down to plug in a PS/2 Mouse and Keyboard?

I still have machines that I have to do that with, specialty machines apart of equipment with IDE drives and practically no USB support from 2002.

Ryzen 7950x3D PBO +200MHz / -15mV curve CPPC in 'prefer cache'

RTX 4090 @133%/+230/+1000

Builder/Enthusiast/Overclocker since 2012  //  Professional since 2017

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Posted

Do you use an adblock or tracking blockers in google chrome?  Have you changed your DNS from automatic?

I figure, since this ia a basic question, why not go further and learn some new networking skills!

 

: JRE #1914 Siddarth Kara

How bad is e-waste?  Listen to that Joe Rogan episode.

 

"Now you get what you want, but do you want more?
- Bob Marley, Rastaman Vibration album 1976

 

Windows 11 will just force business to "recycle" "obscolete" hardware.  Microsoft definitely isn't bothered by this at all, and seems to want hardware produced just a few years ago to be considered obsolete.  They have also not shown any interest nor has any other company in a similar financial position, to help increase tech recycling whatsoever.  Windows 12 might be cloud-based and be a monthly or yearly fee.

 

Software suggestions


Just get f.lux [Link removed due to forum rules] so your screen isn't bright white at night, a golden orange in place of stark 6500K bluish white.

released in 2008 and still being improved.

 

Dark Reader addon for webpages.  Pick any color you want for both background and text (background and foreground page elements).  Enable the preview mode on desktop for Firefox and Chrome addon, by clicking the dark reader addon settings, Choose dev tools amd click preview mode.

 

NoScript or EFF's privacy badger addons can block many scripts and websites that would load and track you, possibly halving page load time!

 

F-droid is a place to install open-source software for android, Antennapod, RethinkDNS, Fennec which is Firefox with about:config, lots of performance and other changes available, mozilla KB has a huge database of what most of the settings do.  Most software in the repository only requires Android 5 and 6!

 

I recommend firewall apps (blocks apps) and dns filters (redirect all dns requests on android, to your choice of dns, even if overridden).  RethinkDNS is my pick and I set it to use pi-hole, installed inside Ubuntu/Debian, which is inside Virtualbox, until I go to a website, nothing at all connects to any other server.  I also use NextDNS.io to do the same when away from home wi-fi or even cellular!  I can even tether from cellular to any device sharing via wi-fi, and block anything with dns set to NextDNS, regardless if the device allows changing dns.  This style of network filtration is being overridden by software updates on some devices, forcing a backup dns provuder, such as google dns, when built in dns requests are not connecting.  Without a complete firewall setup, dns redirection itself is no longer always effective.

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On 8/16/2023 at 8:23 PM, E-waste said:

Do you use an adblock or tracking blockers in google chrome?  Have you changed your DNS from automatic?

I figure, since this ia a basic question, why not go further and learn some new networking skills!

 

I use ad blockers and tracking blockers, but idk what a DNS is. I use Opera GX

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On 8/16/2023 at 12:34 PM, ChonkerFox said:

Who remembers having to shut down to plug in a PS/2 Mouse and Keyboard?

thanks for that, I always forget how old I am until somebody points something like that out. Now I just need to dust off my AOL disks 

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1 hour ago, voyager_ said:

thanks for that, I always forget how old I am until somebody points something like that out. Now I just need to dust off my AOL disks 

Welcome to the club.  Walking canes go in the bucket by the door and the sterident is given out at 7pm

 With all the Trolls, Try Hards, Noobs and Weirdos around here you'd think i'd find SOMEWHERE to fit in!

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On 8/28/2023 at 7:40 PM, PC Player said:

I use ad blockers and tracking blockers, but idk what a DNS is. I use Opera GX

Don't use Opera, they used to be incredible, but in 2013, some company bought them out.

 

Try using Privacy Badger in Mozilla Firefox, which is an open-source web browser that started development around 1995 or so, and changed their name to Firefox in 1996.  The privacy badger addon shows you all the websites that come along with any website you visit.  Many times, well over 10 extra websites load in the background, usually closer to 20.

 

Firefox blocks tracking domains, but you don't get a list until you addon privacy badger.  It allows you to disable any and all of those extra websites, mostly used for tracking you across other websites.

 

DNS is the phone book of the web.  You don't dial a name into a landline phone, and computers don't really connect to a domain name.

 

So, a DNS (domain name service) keeps a list of IP addresses for domain names, so that when you type in a website, the first thing your pc does is contact your DNS provider, to figure out the IP address to connect to.

 

If you set up NextDNS.io account, you can block any website of your choice, and set your entire network to use that dns.  It would be your own account and you could check on it each morning or night, using the logs page, to block any website you don't want to load.

: JRE #1914 Siddarth Kara

How bad is e-waste?  Listen to that Joe Rogan episode.

 

"Now you get what you want, but do you want more?
- Bob Marley, Rastaman Vibration album 1976

 

Windows 11 will just force business to "recycle" "obscolete" hardware.  Microsoft definitely isn't bothered by this at all, and seems to want hardware produced just a few years ago to be considered obsolete.  They have also not shown any interest nor has any other company in a similar financial position, to help increase tech recycling whatsoever.  Windows 12 might be cloud-based and be a monthly or yearly fee.

 

Software suggestions


Just get f.lux [Link removed due to forum rules] so your screen isn't bright white at night, a golden orange in place of stark 6500K bluish white.

released in 2008 and still being improved.

 

Dark Reader addon for webpages.  Pick any color you want for both background and text (background and foreground page elements).  Enable the preview mode on desktop for Firefox and Chrome addon, by clicking the dark reader addon settings, Choose dev tools amd click preview mode.

 

NoScript or EFF's privacy badger addons can block many scripts and websites that would load and track you, possibly halving page load time!

 

F-droid is a place to install open-source software for android, Antennapod, RethinkDNS, Fennec which is Firefox with about:config, lots of performance and other changes available, mozilla KB has a huge database of what most of the settings do.  Most software in the repository only requires Android 5 and 6!

 

I recommend firewall apps (blocks apps) and dns filters (redirect all dns requests on android, to your choice of dns, even if overridden).  RethinkDNS is my pick and I set it to use pi-hole, installed inside Ubuntu/Debian, which is inside Virtualbox, until I go to a website, nothing at all connects to any other server.  I also use NextDNS.io to do the same when away from home wi-fi or even cellular!  I can even tether from cellular to any device sharing via wi-fi, and block anything with dns set to NextDNS, regardless if the device allows changing dns.  This style of network filtration is being overridden by software updates on some devices, forcing a backup dns provuder, such as google dns, when built in dns requests are not connecting.  Without a complete firewall setup, dns redirection itself is no longer always effective.

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2 minutes ago, E-waste said:

some company bought them out.

some chinese company. Worth saying it.

Some developers from Opera ASA are now working around Vivaldi, another blink-based browser.

Not English-speaking person, sorry, I'll make mistakes. If you're kind, maybe you'll be able to understand.

If you're really kind, you'll nicely point that out so I will learn more about write in good English.  🙂

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10 hours ago, E-waste said:

Don't use Opera, they used to be incredible, but in 2013, some company bought them out.

 

Try using Privacy Badger in Mozilla Firefox, which is an open-source web browser that started development around 1995 or so, and changed their name to Firefox in 1996.  The privacy badger addon shows you all the websites that come along with any website you visit.  Many times, well over 10 extra websites load in the background, usually closer to 20.

 

Firefox blocks tracking domains, but you don't get a list until you addon privacy badger.  It allows you to disable any and all of those extra websites, mostly used for tracking you across other websites.

 

DNS is the phone book of the web.  You don't dial a name into a landline phone, and computers don't really connect to a domain name.

 

So, a DNS (domain name service) keeps a list of IP addresses for domain names, so that when you type in a website, the first thing your pc does is contact your DNS provider, to figure out the IP address to connect to.

 

If you set up NextDNS.io account, you can block any website of your choice, and set your entire network to use that dns.  It would be your own account and you could check on it each morning or night, using the logs page, to block any website you don't want to load.

Thanks for the info!

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