How do I remove the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon from the system tray in Windows Vista?

Question

I have a USB drive that is always connected (for backup purposes) and I hate that little annoying icon. I like to keep my system tray relatively empty and this one is proving hard to get rid of. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Do you see the little arrow button on your taskbar (close to the safely remove hardware button) it looks like this:

<

When you hover your mouse over it - it says "show hidden icons". Ok, right click on that icon.

Select Customize Notification Icons.

Click on "Safely Remove Hardware" so that it is highlighted.
Press the down arrow and select hide (it should currently be on hide when inactive). This hides it permanently - but you can still access it by pressing the < button on the taskbar whenever you want to use it.

By the way, thanks for the question. I learned a new trick.

Answer 2

Are you easily annoyed?

Try this link. Good explanation with graphics.

http://pcworld.about.com/news/Nov292001id73163.htm