Pressing the button on the switch acts identically to abruptly unplugging a storage device from one system and plugging it into another. Because of this, using storage devices with the switch increases the risk of data loss or file system corruption if the drive is being accessed when the switch occurs.
Why the Switch Can Cause Data Corruption
To access data on any storage device, the operating system must first "mount" the file system. If a device is disconnected or loses power—such as when switching control from one computer to another—without going through the proper unmounting or ejection process, data corruption can occur. This is the same reason operating systems prompt users to check a drive for errors after it is removed without being safely ejected.
How to Safely Switch Storage Devices
If you still wish to use a storage device with the switch, you can drastically reduce the risk of data corruption by ejecting the device manually before switching.
Windows: Click the Safely Remove Hardware icon in your taskbar and stop/eject the appropriate device.
Mac: Open Finder, navigate to Devices on the left, and click the eject icon next to the corresponding device.
Linux: Unmount the device by ejecting it through your graphical environment, or by using the umount command.
Windows Only Alternative: Enable the Quick removal setting for your storage device inside your operating system. Windows 7 and later will often implement this setting by default on devices that it detects as portable, but confirming it is enabled can help. Note that this is not as effective as manually ejecting the device.
Applicable To
USB3-SWITCH2 USB2-SWITCH2
