is it okay to unplug VGA (analog) cable from powered on video card/laptop?

[LOUISSSSS]

i've done this before and it seems to work very well on my laptop. (no short-term problems)

i would unplug it and everything would adjust accordingly and would hear a usb removal sound.
same with inserting the vga cable

so are there any long-term effects to doing this?

what about with DVI/HDMI while devices are powered on?

 

[Painman]

I've never had any problems doing that, just de-static yourself and it should be ok.

 

[Brunnis]

It's perfectly fine for both VGA and DVI/HDMI and you don't need to ground yourself before doing it either.

 

[mindless1]

If they have the same ground voltage level the signals are going to be within tolerance.

In theory you could have two different devices with different ground levels, for example when using a laptop or bad house wiring where there's no grounding for the outlet, or a monitor not plugged into AC or a system yet, and static charges present. In such cases you should touch the outer shell of each connector (it being ground) simultaneously, or better still to touch each (need not be simultaneous then) while wearing a ground strap.

In practice, I swap plugs all the time but it's always between components running from a properly grounded AC outlet (or power strip, UPS, etc) and haven't had any problems.