Some new USB devices such as ADSL cable modems, SATA HDD drives, ZIP Drives, External CDROMs are hotplug devices. A hotplug device means that you can remove the device any time without switching off the computer. If you want to remove the device, click the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon in the system tray (a small green arrow near the clock). It's possible that you never unplug this device. So how do you get rid of the icon? Try Icon Remover!
This utility has task switching effect of Vista or Mackintosh in Windows XP/2000/2003 environment, optimized for users wanting much cooler PC environment.
There is no need to use hardware USB switches to share USB devices anymore! Try simply and powerful software solution USB Redirector for such purposes! USB Redirector allows to share and access USB any devices over local network or Internet. Use remote USB devices as if they are directly plugged into your PC!