Built-in hardware appearing as ejectable USB devices under Windows 7

I have installed Windows 7 Ultimate 32 Bit on a Code 2 Duo laptop that originally came with Vista Home Premium OEM. Windows Update has successfully configured all hardware. However, now I see three devices appear in the notification tray that allow me to eject them. Of course I haven't tried but would like to know why they are appearing in this fashion.

Also is there a way to prevent others from ejecting? This laptop will not be under my use.

Screen shot attached:

screen shot

EDIT: This may not be relevant but laptop in question is an HP DV5. I do not have the OEM key anymore so using a Windows 7 Ultimate key which I have volume licensing for. I am now looking for drivers at the HP website. I do hope they have a streamlined mechanism unlike that of Dell.

Raheel Khan

Posted 2012-05-04T15:09:39.347

Reputation: 251

– Moab – 2012-05-04T19:49:32.637

Answers

Windows Update has successfully configured all hardware.

I disagree, and your screenshot proves it.

You said nothing about installing the proper Windows 7 drivers that you downloaded from the laptop manufacturer. Did you download the Windows 7 drivers from the manufacturer for all the hardware? Don't say you did not have to, because obviously this copy of Windows 7 Ultimate didn't install properly, if hardware is showing up as eject-able, that normally you should not be able to eject.

Where did you get this copy of Windows 7 Ultimate? A Torrent? I have found that most people who install W7 Ultimate not only didn't need Bitlocker or the ability to switch between 35 different languages, but they almost never paid for it. I'm not criticizing you for that, I'm pointing out that if you didn't go and purchase a retail (or OEM) copy, you have no idea what might be wrong with that install.

You just did this installation, so obviously doing it over again shouldn't be an issue. My advice is to skip the download of Windows 7 ultimate, and download a copy of Vista Home Premium OEM. That way, you can use the product key on the bottom of the laptop and get a valid install... and you can get the laptop working the way it was when it was new. But, if you insist on using Window 7 Ultimate, then do it right, and download all the drivers from the manufacturer, and use them instead of depending on Windows Update.

Bon Gart

Posted 2012-05-04T15:09:39.347

Reputation: 12 574

Not entirely relevant, but the Ultimate versions of Vista and 7 also have SUA. Makes me wish I had Ultimate on every computer.

– Bob – 2012-05-04T15:46:39.220

@Bob Don't get me wrong... I am not knocking W7U, or the legitimacy of installing it... just that a ton of people (not all) feel they need to have the Ultimate Windows install, just because it has the word Ultimate in it. In this particular case, the laptop isn't even for his own use. Downloading a copy of Ultimate that can be installed without legal activation just opens up a host of potential issues, aside from the legal ones. – Bon Gart – 2012-05-04T16:00:50.607

Thanks. I was going to -1 this answer but since this is my first question on superuser, decided not to. You are correct in assuming that I have not downloaded drivers from the manufacturers website. The rest of your answer is completely unnecessary. I have been developing software for 15 years and have volume licensing for Windows 7 Ultimate. Please put in some effort to find out the OP is pirating software before offering advice on the same. – Raheel Khan – 2012-05-05T00:13:33.530

My apologies for insulting you about something I had no details about. What I stated has been MY experience since Windows 7 came out. If you wish me to take you seriously with what you say about your experience, please extend me the same courtesy. I did state that "if you didn't go and purchase" which means there is no need for an intelligent and educated person like yourself to feel slighted about those comments, since you did purchase yours and thus that portion doesn't apply to you. None of this invalidates the last paragraph, however, which can still be considered valid advice. – Bon Gart – 2012-05-05T12:27:52.497

I was not slighted or insulted and was not trying to be harsh myself. I guess that last line could be taken as such. Sorry about that. – Raheel Khan – 2012-05-07T03:50:40.543

Your answer does address my primary question as to the 'why'. I'll hopefully find a way to 'hide' that functionality for the end-user. An icon-hiding software has been suggested but I am against using closed-source freeware within my network. – Raheel Khan – 2012-05-07T03:52:28.483

I had been rather annoyed at general template answers recently on other stack exchange sites. I can see why you would want to include piracy as a cause of issues as I can imagine a majority of Windows installs being such. My apologies and thank you for your answer. – Raheel Khan – 2012-05-07T04:01:46.070

@RaheelKhan The difference between your situation (which is rather unique) and what most people face (having just SATA devices show up as removable) is indeed unusual, and it implies that if everything else is fine (Ram, hard drive, motherboard, etc) then the Operating System is detecting your hardware as something other than what it is. Driver Software is supposed to do exactly that... tell the OS how to detect and use the hardware. That's why I pressed you on the issue of installing the proper drivers. – Bon Gart – 2012-05-07T14:08:04.180

1Thanks. Yes I understood that. Unfortunately HP has listed only Vista compatible drivers for this machine. Would you recommend still giving them a try? – Raheel Khan – 2012-05-08T01:13:16.550

@RaheelKhan As the only drivers available, yes. You should install them. Windows 7 is essentially the same as Vista when it comes to hardware drivers, and most Vista drivers will work fine with Windows 7. – Bon Gart – 2012-05-08T01:24:27.197

You can remove [internal] SATA drives from the "Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media" tray menu. I found detailed answers elsewhere on superuser:

•How can I remove the option to eject SATA drives from the Windows 7 tray icon? (A comment under the original post mentioned this one.)

•Disable possibility to eject internal hardrives

The "TreatAsInternalPort" fix (mentioned in both) worked for me.

My PC does not show "Eject IEEE 1394 Controller" or "Eject SD Host Controller", so I can't test possible solutions to parts 2 and 3 of your question.

My PC shows "Eject 802.11n NIC". (A USB wireless NIC.) It is a removable device, and "ejecting" it behaves as expected. (There might not be any benefit to "ejecting" it before actually removing it, so one could call the Eject option extraneous, but I don't plan to try to remove it.)

A876

Posted 2012-05-04T15:09:39.347

Reputation: 100

This is not an answer to the original question. If you have a new question please ask your own question (referencing this one for context if it helps).

– DavidPostill – 2016-10-15T11:15:12.150

Seeing the firewire and SD controllers in that list is bizarre and unexpected. I suspect it will break stuff if you click on them.

However seeing a SATA HDD in the list is reasonable since with SATAII and up using AHCI SATA drives can be swapped while hot (hot-swap).

BloodyIron

Posted 2012-05-04T15:09:39.347

Reputation: 1 981

The OP asked why they were appearing and if there was a way to prevent others from ejecting those. – slhck – 2012-05-04T15:21:10.673