cannot safely remove external HDD ??

hi

i have just tried removing my external HDD.

and got a msg windows cannot stop your generic device it is currently in use?

however i am not transfering or accessing any files or anything and have closed all related windows that were open on that drive?


any help info would be gratly appreciated

thanks

That happens to me sometimes, too. The best way is to shut down the computer and then remove the external.
You can also, try, right click on the bottom task bar, bring up task manager
Go to process, one, by one, and shut them down to try to find the cause of your problem

hi rich

yes i also have had it before however before ive been able to close all open windowson that drive etc and then it will let me safely remove this instance made win explorer (not responding) i had to do like you said shut down but would not shut down was taking a very long time so i switched power switch at back of ex_HDD as soon as i switched ex_HDD off pc shut down?

very strange never done that before? ordinarilly would not be to worried but that ex_hdd has my image from macrium etc on it so dont really want to keep switching of ex-hdd while still connected in case of data loss.

as for using task manager tip. is that ok then to shut down processes from within task manager (process tab) ?

thanks

Try another way, try to log out of your account and see if that works.

ok try log off instead of shutdown

i will give that a try thanks rich

hi

i have just come accross this could it be the cause of the problem?

No, that's not it. But you should "Optimize for performance". Runs faster.

Wait until you shut the system down at night and remove it then. There is some bugger that has a handle on the HDD - nothing unusual.

hi whs so even though OPTIMIZE FOR QUICK REMOVAL is default change to OPTIMIZE FOR PERFORMANCE. but will then need to click safely remove prior to removal to prevent data loss correct? thanks i will give that option a try as it sounds better / faster thanks

Wait until you shut the system down at night and remove it then. There is some bugger that has a handle on the HDD - nothing unusual.

Click to expand...

do i need to remove after shut down if i have set to OPTIMIZE FOR PERFORMANCE. or only if i keep as OPTIMIZE FOR QUICK REMOVAL?

also how do you mean some bugger has handle (virus?)

thanks

If the handles (whoever holds them) are not released, it is safest to remove the disk after shutdown (in both settings). But if you want to take your chances, remove it any time. Nothing bad is probably going to happen.

phew no virus then? i should be ok (no data loss) if i click safely remove before rmoving usb though right?
dont have to remove but dont usually have ex-hdd connected at all times just connect when i need to access a film picure music folder etc
used to be able to use like that with no problems. its a recent thing. thats what makes it so strange?
thanks

There is nothing wrong. Happens all the time.

ok thanks for re-assurance though.
i will set to optimize for performance then thanks for the tip/info

when i tried to remove last night same happened again would not let me remove then when i shut down pc would not shut down so i switched switch on back of hdd and then windows shut down.. so ex-hdd is preventing win from shutting down it never used to do this before? only since i have installed and used macrium to create image and store image on that disk could it be related?

Not sure. It could be related. Some handle may be holding on to the disk. I never saw this particular combination before.

ok is there a way to find out if handle is doing that and if so determine which handle and a way to stop or prevent this

thanks

There is a way to find out with Process Explorer that was written by Mark Russinovich. But I have not done that in a long time and I don't remember the details. But if you want to study it, here it is: Process Explorer