Windows can't stop your 'Generic volume' device

[tgfyhre]

About 75% of the time when I try to disconnect my USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 external hard drive enclosures using "safely remove hardware" in my tray, I get this:

"Windows can't stop your 'Generic volume' device because a program is still using it. Close any programs that might be using the device, and then try again later."

"Unlocker" shows nothing is locking the drives. "What is locking this file" shows the following:

\Extend\$RmMetadata\TxfLog\TxfLogContainer00000000000000000001
\Extend\$RmMetadata\TxfLog\TxfLogContainer00000000000000000001
\Extend\$RmMetadata\TxfLog\TxfLog.bif

This is driving me nuts. It doesn't always happen but it happens often and I can't figure out why it sometimes does and sometimes doesn't. Every time I want to shut down my external enclosures, I have to go through this, and that means I have to shut off my entire PC so that I can shut off the enclosures safely without causing data loss. Why does Windows do this, even when nothing is using the files? Is there anything I can do to prevent this issue? I never had this issue with esata enclosures.

 

[GokAy]

See http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware-devices/138197-usb-drives-wont-eject.html

- Disable Indexing and System Restore for the externals
- Set Quick Removal in policies
- and a few more

read the thread for details

 

[tgfyhre]

- I disabled indexing per drive properties - that made no difference, still can't eject disks.

- system restore is disabled on those drives.

- quick removal makes the drive perform slower, so that's a poor option.

I cannot believe that in 2015 we're still dealing with this ridiculous issue. Does Windows 10 fix this or do we have to wait until Windows 15 before they realize that people eject external storage drives?

 

[tgfyhre]

I'm trying to force a dismount using fsutil but maybe I'm getting something wrong. It said in the other thread to use "fsutil volume dismount [DRIVE]". Here's what I typed: ("C:\>" is already there when I bring up my command prompt)

C:\> fsutil volume dismount [Z]

because it just gives me an error in the elevated command prompt :

"The system cannot find the path specified"

 

[GokAy]

try the command as:

fsutil volume dismount Z:

 

[Callender]

Try disabling "Distributed Link Tracking Service"

​

Also try setting Write Caching to enabled for that USB drive.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/10392-write-caching-enable-disable.html

Also try registry setting to Disable Tracking of Broken Shortcut Links

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoResolveTrack"=dword:00000001

​

 

[tgfyhre]

try the command as:

fsutil volume dismount Z:

Thanks, but I still can't eject the drives. The command seems to work (A couple drives seemed to disappear briefly then come back, 2 other drives didn't seem to do that), but I still can't eject my drives. They are still locked by the same process according to "what's locking my file".

 

[tgfyhre]

Try disabling "Distributed Link Tracking Service"

View attachment 363927​

Also try setting Write Caching to enabled for that USB drive.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/10392-write-caching-enable-disable.html

Also try registry setting to Disable Tracking of Broken Shortcut Links

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoResolveTrack"=dword:00000001

View attachment 363928​

I disabled "Distributed Link Tracking Service"" - still can't eject.

I don't have the regitry key for ""NoResolveTrack"

But now I'm confused - 3 drives are set to "quick removal - default" and 1 drive is set to "better performance - default) with "enable write caching selected underneath. Isn't write caching risky because I could lose data? Should they all be set to quick removal?

 

[GokAy]

Try HotSwap! - HotSwap!

 

[Callender]

My apologies - set write caching to disabled for that drive. Registry NoRexolveTrack needs to be created manually.

If those or Gokay's suggestions don't work the only safe way to eject the drive without loosing data is - switch off the machine and wait for a minute or two before unplugging the drive.

Another test: Kill Explorer then try ejecting the drive. If safely remove hardware works it means Explorer locked the drive.

Restart Explorer.

 

[tgfyhre]

Hotswap! didn't work either. I already have that on my PC.

 

[Callender]

Another suggestion: Disable System Restore on that drive:

http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware...rives-wont-eject-post3027931.html#post3027931

 

[Callender]

Desktop Recycle Bin - right click and set USB Drive properties like this:

​

 

[tgfyhre]

System restore and recycle bin were already disabled for those drives.

 

[Callender]

Any luck with stop explorer - eject drive - restart explorer?

Other thoughts: Copy files elswhere and format the drive. Copy the files back.

It's just the one drive correct? Will check this thread tomorrow and see if anyone else has ideas.

 

[tgfyhre]

Any luck with stop explorer - eject drive - restart explorer?

Other thoughts: Copy files elswhere and format the drive. Copy the files back.

It's just the one drive correct? Will check this thread tomorrow and see if anyone else has ideas.

This happens with several drives in a couple of my external enclosures, so it's not limited to just 1 drive.

I haven't tried explorer yet because I have already rebooted my PC and turned off my enclosure, so currently it's not on and locked for me to try it. I'll give that a try tomorrow.

 

[GokAy]

I wonder if this happens in Safe Mode.

Also would a clean startup help? http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ation-conflicts-performing-clean-startup.html

If you don't mind losing current Restore Points, turn it off for all drives. Don't forget to create a manual Restore Point after trying this one if you do.

How about your anti-virus? Can it be scanning the partition?

 

[tgfyhre]

I wonder if this happens in Safe Mode.

Also would a clean startup help? http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ation-conflicts-performing-clean-startup.html

If you don't mind losing current Restore Points, turn it off for all drives. Don't forget to create a manual Restore Point after trying this one if you do.

How about your anti-virus? Can it be scanning the partition?

If it was my anti-virus, wouldn't "what's locking my file" tell me it was the antivirus that was locking it? Plus, I'm using Avast now, but last year I was using Avira, and this has been happening for years. It's just getting more annoying now as more of my external enclosures are USB3.

 

[Callender]

My AV doesn't scan files on external drives until they are accessed (navigated to and opened) but I've heard stories of security software locking drives.

Other thoughts: Try disabling Autoplay for external drives. It should be disabled anyway for security reasons (files that attempt to run automatically when a USB is plugged in is undesirable)

AutoPlay - Enable or Disable

 

[Callender]

Okay so on my own machine it seems normal that those files are in use when a USB drive is plugged in.

​

Note: Explorer also locks the drive.

However for me - "Safely Remove Hardware" works and the drive can be ejected.

I still suggest trying the stop explorer trick which leads me to one more thought. Perhaps set folder view options like this if yours are different.

​