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USB Western Digital External HD Help
This is the most aggravating thing in the world .. I can't eject my USB WD External Drive from my Windows 7 Laptop .. I don't have an issue at all when it's connected to my Windows XP desktop computer. It releases immediately. Also, absolutely NO ISSUE when using Flash Drives, they eject fine.
The drive is a USB Western Digital External Hard Drive that I use to save things I receive from the Groups I'm in to keep the clutter off my Laptop.
Whenever I try to eject via the Safely Remove Icon or go to the Open Devices and Printer and physically find the External Drive and select EJECT I get the same generic message that tells me this drive CAN NOT be closed as another program is using it.
DUH !! I'm sure it's a windows process but I can not locate what could possibly be holding onto the External Drive.
I've tried everything. I've run CC Cleaner to clear out possible offending files > I've shut down my Avast AntiVirus (until reboot) hoping if Avast was monitoring that drive somehow, this would release it.
I've opened TaskManager and NO PROGRAMS open that could be using it. Looked at the Process's Running NO CLUE what most of these are so kind of afraid to close something there.
The External Hard drive is my F:\ drive .. I know it's some kind of a windows process holding the drive because there are times I'll pull a graphic off of the external and use in an email but I never see anything in the Process's list that relate to an email program, which btw are closed because my Firefox browser is closed so that should end my Gmail accounts.
I do use the Windows search feature, not everytime the External is connected, but on occassion looking for something saved on that drive.
I am just baffled, without understanding those Windows process's I don't have a clue what I can shut that will help.
Is there a program that could be installed that would help me understand what is hanging onto that External Drive and if it's safe to end it.
Or is there a program that could stop the running process's without damage to the computer.
What I'm doing right now is shutting down the laptop .. I get a QUICK Screen saying something about a background program running, then about as fast as that disappears, windows shuts down. The LED light on the drive goes out so then I unplug the USB from the laptop and the adapter from the surge protector.
I could go on shutting down like that but I am so afraid I'm going to do something or corrupt the drive and lose all my documents.
Guess you can tell I'm not a techie person. I can move around a computer but with all the terminology I am at a total loss. I know only enough to make me dangerous.
I sincerely hope someone will read this and be able to help me.
I've read all the articles here I could find but although some of the issues were similiar they were not the same.
Thank You in advance for ANY help.
Jenn