Defender and system tray icon

[Guest Minxii]

Today I switched on Windows Defender (for the first time) and ran a quick

scan which was fine, but I've noticed a new icon in the systems tray with a

green circle and a tick in it. When I hover the pointer over it, it says

"Safely Remove Hardware". I've looked everywhere for an explanation but can't

find any info anywhere. Can someone tell me what it means please. Also, do I

need Defender on as I have McAfee Security Centre installed on my pc. Thank

you.

[Guest Charlie42]

"Minxii" <Minxii@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

<span style="color:blue">

> Today I switched on Windows Defender (for the first time) and ran a

> quick scan which was fine, but I've noticed a new icon in the systems tray

> with a green circle and a tick in it.</span>

 

The Defender system tray icon looks like a small grey castle. If ticked and

green, everything is ok. A spinning green wheel shows during scans, and your

attention is called in yellow in case an issue have to be addressed.

<span style="color:blue">

> When I hover the pointer over it, it says "Safely Remove Hardware".</span>

 

Are you sure you do not inadvertently hover over an adjacent icon? I.e. the

one that shows up when a USB device or similar is connected.

<span style="color:blue">

> Also, do I need Defender on as I have McAfee Security Centre installed

> on my pc.</span>

 

Under the assumption you mean McAfee's suite, I would say it is not crucial

to do so. However, as long as you have adequate system resources available,

I would advice you to keep Defender enabled. Having a second anti-spyware

program is recommended, and the chances of any conflicts are small.

 

Charlie42

[Guest Dave M]

Safely remove hardware allows you to stop any USB devices connected to

your system before you unplug them, preventing data loss.

 

As long as you don't detect any conflicts between McAfee and Windows

Defender feel free to run them concurrently. Running multiple

signature based Anti-Spyware applications in real-time does not

normally result in the type of conflict that their Anti-Virus cousins

often exhibit. You may see such conflict in your Task Manager or in

the applications themselves if they do clash.

 

 

--

Dave M

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[Guest Minxii]

Hi Charlie42. The icon that has appeared is a little grey USB connector with

a green circle and a white tick in the circle. If I click on the icon a box

pops up which has two lines. One says "safely remove (loads of

letters/numbers) Disk Device - Drives (D:,C:)" and the other says "safely

remove (loads of letters/numbers) Cd Rom Device - Drive (E:)". As I mentioned

before the icon only appeared after I enabled Windows Defender, which I have

now DISabled but the icon remains in the same place!! I have not plugged

anything into or unplugged anything from any USB ports!

Minxii.

 

"Charlie42" wrote:

<span style="color:blue">

> "Minxii" <Minxii@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> <span style="color:green">

> > Today I switched on Windows Defender (for the first time) and ran a

> > quick scan which was fine, but I've noticed a new icon in the systems tray

> > with a green circle and a tick in it.</span>

>

> The Defender system tray icon looks like a small grey castle. If ticked and

> green, everything is ok. A spinning green wheel shows during scans, and your

> attention is called in yellow in case an issue have to be addressed.

> <span style="color:green">

> > When I hover the pointer over it, it says "Safely Remove Hardware".</span>

>

> Are you sure you do not inadvertently hover over an adjacent icon? I.e. the

> one that shows up when a USB device or similar is connected.

> <span style="color:green">

> > Also, do I need Defender on as I have McAfee Security Centre installed

> > on my pc.</span>

>

> Under the assumption you mean McAfee's suite, I would say it is not crucial

> to do so. However, as long as you have adequate system resources available,

> I would advice you to keep Defender enabled. Having a second anti-spyware

> program is recommended, and the chances of any conflicts are small.

>

> Charlie42

>

> </span>

[Guest Charlie42]

"Minxii" <Minxii@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

<span style="color:blue">

> Hi Charlie42. The icon that has appeared is a little grey USB connector

> with a green circle and a white tick in the circle. If I click on the icon

> a

> box pops up which has two lines. One says "safely remove (loads of

> letters/numbers) Disk Device - Drives (D:,C:)" and the other says "safely

> remove (loads of letters/numbers) Cd Rom Device - Drive (E:)". As I

> mentioned before the icon only appeared after I enabled Windows

> Defender, which I have now DISabled but the icon remains in the same

> place!! I have not plugged anything into or unplugged anything from any

> USB ports!</span>

 

I have seen this behaviour before, and a reboot took care of it. Before you

resort to that, right-click the taskbar and from the context menu select

Properties > System Tray tab > Customize button. Make sure the "Safely eject

hardware..." icon is set to be hidden when inactive.

 

As long as the drives listed (C, D, E...) actually exists on your system,

there is nothing to worry about anyway. I doubt Defender has anything to do

with this, so you might as well reenable it.

 

Charlie42