Safely Remove hardware ..but how?


Recommended Posts

I have 2 external HDD 250GB (DATA) and 80 Gb (blank) when ever i try to remove the HDD i got error (see PIC) i also formatted 80 GB without checking "Quick Format" but still getting error .......

Installed Avast with full updates so no scope of Virus

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/651148-safely-remove-hardware-but-how/
Share on other sites

Usually a quick log off and log back on then try stopping the device. Most of the time this works. Sometimes I get this when I use one of my Cruizer Mini drivers when working with MS Word Documents on that drive.

Though It may be like Joel said.... It could be System restore checking the drive. Or Windows Defragmenting the drive- Or quite possible Indexing Services. You probably could goto services.msc and stop indexing services then try stopping the device. Don't forget to restart the service if it then lets you remove the device.

Where's your page file? Is System Restore checking that drive?

I have pagefile in C drive .. internal HDD 40 Gb with 3 partition C(XP) D(2003 server) E (daily data)

Z drive 80 Gb (external)

NO,system restore is managing that drive ........

I had checked again and again no process running from that drive ..........

and i try right now also plug the HDD and then remove at same time then also it show error

That is probably why the device is still in use.

Until the index is done the device will remain active and then upon every plug in until the index gets done every time.

You probably should remove the check mark. But if you are still trying to remove the device right now- You can stop the service ... stop the device then restart the service.

I unchecked and then try unplugging it , got same error ...... this service is used mainly for searching files and folder i really don't need it as i know which data i save where ...... for any other purpose it is used which may give error/problem later .......

You don't need that service for that device- But The effect on the device does not take until a Log Off and Log Back on. Then click the safely remove device. Now from that point on it should not turn back on the service- If that does not work then another program is accessing the drive. You could also check this while the device is plugged in... Right click on the drive then click properties... then hardware tab....then find the device select it...choose properties...then the policy tab... select the Quick removal option.

You don't need that service for that device- But The effect on the device does not take until a Log Off and Log Back on. Then click the safely remove device. Now from that point on it should not turn back on the service- If that does not work then another program is accessing the drive. You could also check this while the device is plugged in... Right click on the drive then click properties... then hardware tab....then find the device select it...choose properties...then the policy tab... select the Quick removal option.

It works for 250 Gb now i can unplug easily with out error .......

but still getting problem in 80 Gb which is Blank

Un-check the last option .......

Check to see if AVast is set to auto scan the device. I know that with NAV it can cause USB devices not to be able to be stopped if Real Time Protection is enabled for the device. I ran into that issue with NAV while testing it and the solution was to turn protection off... Then stop device... then turn protection on.

Edited by redvamp128

Run Process Explorer from http://live.sysinternals.com/procexp.exe (Part of Microsoft's Sysinternals Technet site)

Click on Find -> Find Handle or DLL, and enter the drive letter of your USB drive with the colon and backslash into the search box (ex: "G:\"). It should list the programs holding open handles to the drive and preventing removal. From there you may take appropriate action such as closing the programs, killing the process, or even breaking the handle (not recommended if you can avoid it!).

Turn off your computer, unplug the drive, turn on your computer

this is exactly what you need to do

it could be any number of things accessing your USB drive. if you are on windows (32-bit) i highly recommend Unlocker. it's a very small program and only adds one thing to your computer, a "unlock" to your context menu. that means you can right click on anything (file, folder, drive) and free it up so you can delete, move, eject, safely remove, whatever you want to it

Check to see if AVast is set to auto scan the device. I know that with NAV it can cause USB devices not to be able to be stopped if Real Time Protection is enabled for the device. I ran into that issue with NAV while testing it and the solution was to turn protection off... Then stop device... then turn protection on.

where I can find that option .....

^^ will try this ....

Run Process Explorer from http://live.sysinternals.com/procexp.exe (Part of Microsoft's Sysinternals Technet site)

page not found ....

Also, if you have a third party defrag utility (such as O&O Defrag), that runs as a service in order to derfrag in the background, you'll need to stop that service in order to eject externel HDDs. Happens to me w/ my external & O&O.

Right click on your avast options in your Tray (next to the clock) usually they have an option to turn off Antivirus and or disable- You only want to disable it long enough to stop the device to remove it... then you will need to Turn it back on or enable it after you remove the the drive. I don't use Avast but most Antivirus are made with similar features.

Or open up the Avast program and click on the help for the program and search for temporarily disable antivirus.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • 1. Define "better". 2. It's still more expensive than equivalent PCs so... And there is not one Windows platform. This is the mistake ALL Apple oriented people make. Apple is one OEM. You could reasonably compare them to one PC OEM, say Dell or HP. But you can't compare them to ALL PC OEMs. Case in point, Apple has NO touch screen MacBooks. No tablet Macs. There are no rugged Macs. The variety of PC OEM design is insane. With Apple, you have... Apple. The problem is that you're starting with Apple as the definition of "good" then filtering out anything that isn't close to an existing Apple product, then trying to homogenise all of those left into a fictional product line and then ignore any innovations to create a minimal feature subset so you can say "See! Apple better!" PS: I was an Apple dev for 17 years and helped develop MacInTalk and disability solutions for Apple - and I have several Mac and MacBooks - so tread very carefully.
    • Major Xbox layoffs may claim South of Midnight developer Compulsion entirely by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe Microsoft has been making major changes in its gaming wing Xbox for a few months now, including the appointment of a new CEO, a large number of leadership changes, and strategy shifts. However, the company is seemingly also looking at initiating a major layoffs wave at Xbox and perhaps even a studio closure. The new report lands from Kotaku, Xbox first-party developer Compulsion Games is being shuttered soon by Microsoft. For those unfamiliar with the studio, it's the team behind Contrast (2013), We Happy Few (2018), and South of Midnight (2025). Its latest game was quite well received, even winning a Peabody Award for its writing. It even received a 9/10 in Neowin's own review, highlighting its engaging storyline, gorgeous world, and curious characters. The studio joined Xbox Game Studios in 2018, just as Microsoft announced it is acquiring Playground Games, Undead Labs, and Ninja Theory. Despite recent listings for new staff roles, according to the new report, Compulsion Games is being closed entirely, with over 90 staff being let go. Kotaku also added that the studio's leadership is in negotiations with Microsoft about this decision, but no official details have been revealed yet. The report lands just as two senior managers of Xbox leave their posts at Microsoft Gaming. Head of Xbox Game Studios Craig Duncan and chief of staff Louise O'Connor originally began their journey in Rare and have been a part of Xbox for over two decades. Dunkan has been responsible for games like Kinect Sports and Sea of Thieves, while O'Connor was primarily working on Rare's Everwild project before its cancelation. If this report about the studio shutdown is accurate, this may just be the start of a major new layoffs wave at Xbox Game Studios. There are also rumors of Arkane Studios being heavily affected. As always, take all these reports with a grain of salt until something official materializes from Microsoft or the studios.
    • The flaw with this analysis is that this laptop has a cellphone CPU in it. In the Intel world, that would be an N150 and those are everywhere, even in low end laptops. You can get an N150 based NUC with 16GB RAM and 256GB-512GB SSD... NOT soldered in... for < $500 Canadian (around US$360). The problem is two fold: tech bloggers/writers on most tech site (like this one, ironically) overvalue Apple and apparently aren't in the same earnings class as most regular people. As a result, we get breathless articles about how everyone needs a folding phone when most people just cannot afford one... or really need one. And we get Apple used as the baseline metric regardless of whether that comparison makes any sense. If Dell or HP released a retail laptop with a cellphone motherboard, you'd be all over them for doing that - but Apple does it and it's genius. I see articles suggesting what Samsung - a company that basically started the foldable phone market and has built them for eight years - needs to do to compete with Apple's unreleased, unspecced and unseen folding phone. Sorry, no - if the Neo (really creative name there BTW - still, better than the Go, the other "creative" product name everyone's using) encourages PC makers to make cellphone laptops using lower end ARM processors, we all lose. It's a step backwards and a capitulation to the fact that semiconductor makers and computer OEMs (and tech bloggers) have totally lost the plot.
    • Everyone should install this extension and ignore games that use AI. https://chromewebstore.google....nnigaaeelfkeomjcngmnh?pli=1 https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ai-warning-for-steam/
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Year In
      ThatGuyOnline earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Week One Done
      Jeroen Wilms earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      rolfus earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Leroy Jethro Gibbs earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Conversation Starter
      flexorcist earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      504
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      199
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      127
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      83
    5. 5
      ATLien_0
      74
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!