Problem Ejecting USB Mass Storage Device

[osu1357]

I am having issues disconnecting / ejecting a Seagate portable expansion drive. I keep getting the following error message (see pic) .. I don't have any open programs.. Why am I getting this message? How do I fix it?

 

[whs]

There is some handle (process) hanging on to it. Once you shut down the system, you can remove it - that is the easiest approach. That happens often.

 

[Sardonicus]

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/10169-safely-remove-hardware-eject-device.html

 

[osu1357]

I just read that Windows 7 by default sets the USB external drive policies so that it is optimized for "Quick Removal", and according to Windows 7 that means that I can just unplug the external drive without having to go through "Safely Remove" .... Can someone please confirm / verify this? I'm referring to Right click on My Computer > Manage > Device Manager > Disk Drives > Properties > Policies ... See attached screen shot

 

[whs]

The "Quick removal" option implies that the write data is not being buffered and the write operation is therefore slower. But that has nothing to do with the handles that are on your device. As I said, when you shut down, all handles are being released.

 

[osu1357]

So how do I know what "handles" are active on my device? Should I disable them? I guess I'm confused... Seems that there's always a handle on that device when I plug in.

 

[whs]

Seems that there's always a handle on that device when I plug in.

The reason is probably because you once removed it when it was still "in use". Now the system remembers that the thing is "in use". Usually that should not happen because when you shut off, all handles should be removed. But who knows what happened here.

I would not worry about it. If you have no data in the buffers that could get lost, there is no danger. And buffer data is written out in no time (within seconds at most).