Improper dismount of EXT HD?

Hello there,

I've tried looking online for anyone sharing a similar problem, but haven't had much luck (maybe I could've looked harder).

I've occassionally had the problem where I had Windows remove a USB drive (both 2.0 and 3.0) and:

1) There wouldn't be a confirmation balloon,

2) The drive still shows in the Computer window but isn't accessible nor does it show storage information.

To my layman's brain, it looks like the drive hadn't been ejected properly and now exists as a phantom on the system. This usually proceeds with Windows being unable to do a proper restart or shut down (even after waiting for over 5 minutes) and I'd have to do a hard shut down.

I feel like this is a bug on Win 7 cause I don't recall ever seeing this happen on other platforms. Also, I've seen this problem occur in some of the computers at my college computer lab (after they switched from XP to 7). Just thought of throwing this out there and seeing if I'm missing something.

I can't speak for the computers at college, but my specs (if of any help) are as such:

Win 7 Pro x64
Asus X79 Mobo
Intel i7-3820K
Corsair 4x4GB DDR3
EVGA GeForce GT 640
Samsung SSD 830
Seagate Barracuda


Hope someone has an explanation for this! It's kinda worrisome having to perform a hard shut down every so often.

Thanks!
Sean

LittleJay, I know what you're referring to--though that's a different situation. Have my fair share of that issue, and I usually just disconnect the darn thing off if I know nothing is running off the drive

Essenbe, that's precisely what I do. Then there's no balloon to confirm whether the drive was successfully removed or not and in any case, I no longer have the option to Safely Remove it anymore. But the drive's icon still shows up on the Computer window (albeit without any information available whatsoever when I highlight it or right click it). That's when the problem arises. I think it's safe to say in my case that 100% of the time after that, Windows in never able to properly restart or shut down (it usually just hangs up on the shut down splash page).

Again, this doesn't happen all the time, but occasional enough to be an annoyance and for me to want to know what's really going on.