Removable drive locked although no process accessing it

[david]

Hi,



When disconnecting a USB external hard disk using 'Safely Remove

Hardware', I receive the error:



"The drive generic volume cannot be stopped because a program is still

accessing it. Try stopping the device again later."



There are no programs obviously accessing the drive - it happens

without any tasks visible in the taskbar. I have shut down my

antivirus and all programs in the system tray. I looked around on the

net and it said to try the 'Unlocker' program, but the program reports

that no processes have this drive locked. I also tried 'Process

Explorer' which was recommended by several people, and searched the

open file handles for G: (the drive letter) - but there was no handles

found. I even tried to kill 'explorer.exe' and launch 'safely remove

hardware' from the Task Manager Run dialog. Still no dice.



I have absolutely no idea what's holding this disk, it seems like the

OS itself doesn't know. Do I have any option except to physically

disconnect it? The machine is a server and this happens daily, so

continually restarting is not a practical option.



Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP4, drive is a WD Elements 1TB.



Cheers

David

 

[Roger Fink]

david wrote:

> Hi,

>

> When disconnecting a USB external hard disk using 'Safely Remove

> Hardware', I receive the error:

>

> "The drive generic volume cannot be stopped because a program is still

> accessing it. Try stopping the device again later."

>

> There are no programs obviously accessing the drive - it happens

> without any tasks visible in the taskbar. I have shut down my

> antivirus and all programs in the system tray. I looked around on the

> net and it said to try the 'Unlocker' program, but the program reports

> that no processes have this drive locked. I also tried 'Process

> Explorer' which was recommended by several people, and searched the

> open file handles for G: (the drive letter) - but there was no handles

> found. I even tried to kill 'explorer.exe' and launch 'safely remove

> hardware' from the Task Manager Run dialog. Still no dice.

>

> I have absolutely no idea what's holding this disk, it seems like the

> OS itself doesn't know. Do I have any option except to physically

> disconnect it? The machine is a server and this happens daily, so

> continually restarting is not a practical option.

>

> Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP4, drive is a WD Elements 1TB.

>

> Cheers

> David



In my experience, often times what you describe will occur when Windows

Explorer, or any other file manager, is left open. I resent having to close

it as a precondition for ejecting the drive but, hey, whaddya gonna do?

 

[Mohan...]

On 2/24/2010 7:30 PM, david wrote:

> Hi,

>

> When disconnecting a USB external hard disk using 'Safely Remove

> Hardware', I receive the error:

>

> "The drive generic volume cannot be stopped because a program is still

> accessing it. Try stopping the device again later."

>

> There are no programs obviously accessing the drive - it happens

> without any tasks visible in the taskbar. I have shut down my

> antivirus and all programs in the system tray. I looked around on the

> net and it said to try the 'Unlocker' program, but the program reports

> that no processes have this drive locked. I also tried 'Process

> Explorer' which was recommended by several people, and searched the

> open file handles for G: (the drive letter) - but there was no handles

> found. I even tried to kill 'explorer.exe' and launch 'safely remove

> hardware' from the Task Manager Run dialog. Still no dice.

>

> I have absolutely no idea what's holding this disk, it seems like the

> OS itself doesn't know. Do I have any option except to physically

> disconnect it? The machine is a server and this happens daily, so

> continually restarting is not a practical option.

>

> Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP4, drive is a WD Elements 1TB.

>

> Cheers

> David



I too face the same when the removable disk is already plugged-in during

boot up. If you turn on 'View hidden files' and Uncheck 'Hide protected

operating system files' through Tools/Folder options in the Windows

Explorer, you would see the hidden RECYCLER folder. Files deleted from

this disk go to the Recycle bin as with the Hard disk (unlike Flash

drives that get deleted permanently), and probably due to this Windows

won't permit ejecting this drive.



You can plug-in after Windows loads to safely remove any time, and

remember to remove it before booting up. This may not be the most

technical answer, but works for me on my laptop!



Mohan...

 

[Robbie Hatley]

"david" wrote



> When disconnecting a USB external hard disk using 'Safely

> Remove Hardware', I receive the error:

>

> "The drive generic volume cannot be stopped because a program

> is still accessing it. Try stopping the device again later."



This is caused not only by application programs, but by parts

of the operating system itself, and by services.



Make sure no windows explorer or command console windows

are open.



Also check if the Indexing service is running. Go to

"Administrative Tools" in your Start Menu and click "Services".

Sort by name. Is the "Indexing" service started? If so,

right-click it and select "STOP". Wait a few seconds, then

try again to stop your external drive.



If you've checked all the above and you still get "drive cannot

be stopped", does your external drive have an "activity"

indicator on it? Most do. Is it flickering?

If it's not showing any activity, the "device in use"

warning is probably false, and you can safely disconnect

the drive.



If the activity light *IS* showing activity, it's a bad idea

to turn it off while writing is in progress. If all else fails,

shut down your computer in an orderly fashion, THEN turn the

drive off.



--

Cheers,

Robbie Hatley

lonewolf at well dot com

www dot well dot com slant tilde lonewolf slant

 

[david]

On Feb 25, 2:15 am, "Mohan..." wrote:

> I too face the same when the removable disk is already plugged-in during

> boot up. If you turn on 'View hidden files' and Uncheck 'Hide protected

> operating system files' through Tools/Folder options in the Windows

> Explorer, you would see the hidden RECYCLER folder. Files deleted from

> this disk go to the Recycle bin as with the Hard disk (unlike Flash

> drives that get deleted permanently), and probably due to this Windows

> won't permit ejecting this drive.



Thanks, Mohan, this was the cause. It's now resolved.

 

[Mohan...]

On 2/26/2010 8:40 PM, david wrote:

> On Feb 25, 2:15 am, "Mohan..." wrote:

>> I too face the same when the removable disk is already plugged-in during

>> boot up. If you turn on 'View hidden files' and Uncheck 'Hide protected

>> operating system files' through Tools/Folder options in the Windows

>> Explorer, you would see the hidden RECYCLER folder. Files deleted from

>> this disk go to the Recycle bin as with the Hard disk (unlike Flash

>> drives that get deleted permanently), and probably due to this Windows

>> won't permit ejecting this drive.

>

> Thanks, Mohan, this was the cause. It's now resolved.



Good to know that it got solved.



Mohan...