Windows 10: Problem Ejecting External Disk - This device is currently in use

Hello, After I connect my external disk to my HP Z4 G4 business desktop, I cannot safely remove / eject it anymore. Windows 11 says "Problem Ejecting USB Attached SCSI - This device is currently in use." Also after I click the safely remove button 100 times. It happens even right after I start my PC without doing anything else. The only way to properly disconnect the external disk seems to be to shut down the PC. When I connect the external disk on another PC that runs Windows 10, I don't have the issue. Both PC's have Norton installed, so that doesn't seem to be the cause.

:)

 

Windows10 randomly refuses to safely eject external disks

Hello there,

More than 11 months ago I expose in these forums some problems in Windows10.

One of them is the denial to safely eject external disks.

Here is what happens: I connect one of my external disks to my pc, then I move/copy/delete/edit/view some files, and later, after closing EVERYTHING, Windows10 refuses to safely eject my disk. It replies, "Windows can't stop your 'Volume' device because
a program is still using it".

Windows doesn't tell me what program is employing my drive. And I know for sure there is nothing employing it.

That issue happens randomly. I mean, sometimes I can safely eject the disk, and sometimes I cannot.

Today I downloaded from Microsoft the app named "procexp64.exe" which showed me what is employing my external disk.

And, they are Windows processes only!

Let's say my disk's root ID is "M:\"

The Process Explorer found:

• Four "system" processes with open files in M:\$Extend\$RmMetadata\$Txf.........
• Two "explorer" processes with open directory M:\

Hence, Windows doesn't allow me to safely eject my external disk because Windows forgot it was itself the one using my disk!

Almost 1 year has passed, and the issue still persists.

Annoying!

 

Cannot safely eject external drive. Error: This device is currently in use. Close any programs or windows that might be using the device, and then try again

Hi RishabhPatel9,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

I understand how frustrating the situation can be. This behavior can occur if there are open handles with any files in the USB Mass Storage Device are in use by another program. To resolve
this issue, we need to determine which program is currently running on the device and then close it.

I suggest you to follow the steps mentioned below and check if it works:

Method 1: End the task from Task manager.

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc
   at the same time on the keyboard.
   
2. Under the Process tab, locate the application that is using the USB device.(For ex: Windows Explorer)
   
3. Examine the list of processes, if you find any process belonging to the drive or device, simply end all such processes. Check if you can remove the drive now.
   

Method 2: Sign out and sign in back.

1. Press "Ctrl + Alt + Del" at the same time on the keyboard.
   
2. Select Sign out. (Note: Make sure you save all the opened files on the computer)
   
3. Sign in back to the computer and check if you can eject the drive now.
   

You can also run the built in troubleshooter for ‘Automatically
diagnose and fix Windows USB problems’.

Method 3: Eject the USB from Disk Management.

1. Press Windows and
   R key together on your Keyboard.
2. Type diskmgmt.msc and hit enter.
3. Locate the External drive you want to remove and right click on it, then select Eject. (Note: Sometimes it is located as
   Offline for External drive, the next time you put the drive back to the computer for use, you need to go back to the Disk Management and turn it to ‘Online’ state.

If that doesn’t work, I would also suggest you to refer the article from the manufacturer of Seagate on
Windows will not allow me to safely remove my drive.
If you would like me to provide additional advice, simply respond to this thread. I will get notified and I’ll reply to you as soon as I can and let us know if the above steps worked out for you.

Hope it helps.

Roohi Taj S​

Microsoft Community – Moderator

 

Problem ejecting usb/external harddrive

My name is Jeremy, a Windows Community Member. I'll be happy to help you out today. Let’s see what I can do.

Hi LaurenCox, I understand your frustration there and I apologize for any inconvenience it may cause you. Rest assured that I will do my best to help you

I see that you have tried doing a lot of troubleshooting, however, you may consider using a third-party application the free partition manager PartitionGuru to safely eject USB devices. It is a quick, flexible, and functional tool to manage disk and partitions.
PartitionGuru is able to format the USB drive in batch automatically, during which it eject USB flash drives after formatting is completed. Let's see how to eject USB devices using PartitionGuru.

Step 1 Launch PartitionGuru and you can see the device you want to remove.

Step 2 Select that disk and click menu "Disk" to choose "Safely Eject Disk".

Step 3 Unplug the disk after PartitionGuru ejects it.

Please let me know if this works

Regards,

Jeremy