Wes Jordan said:Windows does not have a message that comes up when you remove a flash drive from the USB port. I miss that. I hate having to bother ejecting it.
This is because Windows writes to removable disc's in a more sensible way than OS X (ie straight away) with OS X you can get corruption if you don't eject. You can get an eject menu item here which may help...
I never found windows had a message when you ejected disc's improperly (hey maybe it's an option or something...)
The other issues with your computer seem worse, you should contact Apple about them.