Method and apparatus for disconnecting an external data storage device from a computer

1 . An external data storage device comprising an activatable component to transmit a request to disconnect the external data storage device from a computer, wherein the activatable component comprises an apparatus capable of being physically or electrically activated.

2 . The external data storage device, as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the external data storage device comprises an external hard disk drive.

3 . The external data storage device, as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the external data storage device comprises a flash memory drive.

4 . The external data storage device, as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the external data storage device comprises one of the following: a camera, a phone, or a memory card reader.

5 . The external data storage device, as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the activatable component comprises a button or a switch on a housing of the external data storage device.

6 . The external data storage device, as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the activatable component comprises a touch or temperature sensitive pad.

7 . The external data storage device, as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the activatable component is electrically activated upon detecting a capacitance change.

8 . A computer system comprising:

a computer; and

an external data storage device configured to send a signal to the computer when a user-activated component located on the data storage device is activated, wherein the signal comprises a request to disconnect the data storage device from the computer.

9 . The computer system, as set forth in claim 8 , wherein the external data storage device sends a request to activate a software routine to safely remove the external data storage device.

10 . The computer system, as set forth in claim 8 , wherein, the computer is configured to copy a file from a memory of the computer system to the external data storage device after the user-activated component is activated, wherein the file was previously copied from the external data storage device to the computer's memory.

11 . The computer system, as set forth in claim 8 , wherein the computer updates a file on the external data storage device if a copy of the file stored in a memory of the computer system does not match the file.

12 . The computer system, as set forth in claim 8 , wherein the computer logically severs a connection between the external data storage device and the computer after the user-activated component is activated.

13 . The computer system, as set forth in claim 12 , wherein the computer copies one or more pre-designated files to the external data storage device before logically severing the connection.

14 . A method of disconnecting an external data storage device from a computer comprising:

detecting activation of an activatable component located on the external data storage device; and

transmitting a disconnection request from the external data storage device to the computer after detecting the activation of the activatable component.

15 . The method, as set forth in claim 14 , comprising automatically executing, upon detection of the disconnection request by the computer, a file update routine to copy a file stored on the external data storage device.

16 . A tangible machine-readable medium, comprising:

code to detect activation of an activatable component located on an external data storage device;

code to determine if any files stored on the external data storage device are still in use by a computer;

code to notify a user if any files located on the external data storage device are still in use by the computer;

code to delay execution of a file update routine until no files stored on the external data storage device are still in use by the computer;

code to run the file update routine; and

code to logically sever the external data storage device from the computer.

17 . The tangible medium, as set forth in claim 16 , comprising:

code to determine if the external data storage device is configured as a backup of an internal disk drive; and

code to synchronize pre-designated files between the external data storage device and the internal disk drive if the external data storage device is configured as a backup of the internal disk drive.

18 . A method comprising:

detecting disconnection of an external data storage device from a computer system;

notifying a user to reconnect the external data storage device;

if the user reconnects the external data storage device, integrating the external data storage device into a file system of the computer system; and

running a file update routine between the computer and the external data storage device.

19 . The method, as set forth in claim 18 , comprising:

determining if a file stored on the external data storage device has a copy stored in a memory of the computer;

determining if the copy stored in the memory matches the file stored on the external data storage device; and

running the file update routine if the copy stored in the memory does not match the copy stored on the external data storage device.

20 . The method, as set forth in claim 19 , comprising:

determining if a file update routine had been executed before the detection of the disconnection; and

running the file update routine if the file update routine was not executed before detecting the disconnection.

21 . A computer system comprising:

an external data storage device; and

a computer removably connected to the external storage device and configured to:

detect disconnection of the external storage device from the computer;

prompt a user to reconnect the external data storage device to the computer; and

execute a file update routine between the computer and the external storage device if the external data storage device is reconnected to the computer.