John, it's an evening for cross purposes, looks like. I know about clicking the "remove equipment safely" icon, and I use it all of the time. But for some reason my Win2000 couldn't always remember the device. Or at least it expected it on the same plug every time and I usually just plugged it in wherever on the jack. And I think you are right--a jack sounds like a more accurate description of the device (plug it into a USB plug and have space for plugging in four devices). The HUB is different, and I haven't used them with my computers at home, though we used them at work when USB plugs were still pretty scarce on computers.

SRS