up vote 8 down vote favorite
4
share [g+] share [fb]

With Windows XP and Windows Vista, I try to remove an external USB hard drive, but usually get the message ""Windows can't stop your 'Generic volume' device because a program is still using it.". I tried closing all programs on the desktop, but it still won't give the "safe to remove" message.

I am generally able to make flash drives safe to remove without a problem.

link|improve this question
75% accept rate
feedback

7 Answers

up vote 9 down vote accepted

Look for RemoveDrive on this page (direct link to the Drive Tools page RemoveDrive tool section).
Those pages also have good related information.

The RemoveDrive tool is useful also when
you Do not get ‘Safely remove’ option in Tray for USB storage devices.

link|improve this answer
Anything that can tell you what is holding the drive is good. I've gotten this after I closed everything, all explorer windows even. So sometimes Windows just doesn't want to let the drive go. – Joshua Nurczyk Sep 6 '09 at 18:21
@Joshua, I have felt that sometimes Windows is Indexing the drive and holds it for that... The "-i" option on RemoveDrive disables the indexing service for a moment to remove the drive. – nik Sep 6 '09 at 18:22
I like Unlocker which is dedicated to the task of displaying and freeing open file/directory handles. – opello Sep 6 '09 at 18:24
This worked for me. Thanks! – Mike Sep 6 '09 at 18:48
feedback
up vote 3 down vote

There are several reasons to USB being undismountable:

  1. It's in use. Please note that if you're looking at the disk in Explorer, then it's in use!
  2. Windows is finishing copying a big file to or from the disk (rarely the reason)
  3. A bug in Windows causes conime.exe to get stuck on the disk (it may safely be killed)
  4. If the USB drive is formatted as NTFS, the journal of all file updates may still be open
  5. If disk indexing is on for the drive, Windows may be furiously indexing all files on it

My advice is to:

  1. Make sure the USB drive is not defined as indexed.
  2. Wait, and then try again. It might work a few seconds later on.
  3. Buy USB Safely Remove that does a good job of trying to remove the disk. Even if it fails, it still tells you which programs are using what files (I paid).
link|improve this answer
feedback
up vote 3 down vote

I found the free USB Disk Eject to be very useful:

A program that allows you to quickly remove drives in Windows. It can eject USB disks, Firewire disks and memory cards. It is a quick, flexible, portable alternative to using Windows’ “Safely Remove Hardware” dialog.

link|improve this answer
Nice. I updated the link to refer to the generic product page, which has a far more recent version. – Arjan May 19 at 9:55
feedback
up vote 1 down vote

This is by no means a good answer, but you can always shut down the computer and remove the USB device.

link|improve this answer
feedback
up vote 1 down vote

Often this will be because the drive is being indexed; right click the drive>properties, and uncheck index. Or the AV is monitoring the drive - turn off AV to test this.

link|improve this answer
feedback
up vote 0 down vote

This is due to the fact that there is at least a process/program that is still accessing your USB drive. It may not be enough if you just close all the programs on dekstop, if you are copying folders from/to the USB hard disk, you will get this message.

Try and find what process is holding the resource and either complete or close the process and you should be able to remove the USB hard disk without any problems.

Do let us know how it goes.

link|improve this answer
feedback
up vote 0 down vote

I think this is because Windows itself is still finalising the writes to the hard drive. I get the same message if I try to disconnect straight after copying some files. If I wait until the drive has stopped spinning then it disconnects without any problem.

I haven't been able to find any information on why this is, so if someone could enlighten us I'd appreciate it.

link|improve this answer
feedback

Your Answer

 
or
required, but never shown
discard

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.