Windows 7 - External hard drive won't eject

Hello all,

I've got a Seagate Free Agent Pro external drive (currently connected via eSATA), which solidly refuses to disconnect from the system, using the "safe disconnect" dance.

Whenever I try, after a pause I get the error message: "This device is currently in use. Close any programs or windows that might be using the device, and then try again." I have tried closing just about everything down, but the message still appears.

My question to all the MS gurus out there is as follows:

1) Is there a way to tell if my drive is actually in use? Can I tell which program is using the drive?
2) Can I force-disconnect the drive in such a way that any pending writes are completed? (i.e., not just disconnecting the cable and hoping for the best)

Before you ask, I did look for device-specific drivers on Seagate's web site. No luck. There's some disk management utilities to help manage backups and/or syncs, but no drivers.

Thanks for your help and time,
~ Paul

Hello paulprogrammer. Welcome to the forum.

The 'easy' way is to simply restart or shut down the computer. All proccess and handles will be terminated during shutdown.

The better way is to fix it as described here:
Problem Ejecting USB Mass Storage Device

Hope that helps