Windows 10: Windows 10 version 2004: unable to eject external USB disk drives

Prior to version 2004, all my disk drives had become classed as removable, even the fixed ones, but I could at least use the "safely remove" function to eject a USB disk. Now in version 2004, no disk drives appear to be removable and I have to reboot to unplug a backup disk. I've already looked at disk "policies" in device manager. Write cacheing is turned off and Better Performance is turned on. My disks are used for backups so performance is important.

I have tried "RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll", selecting the USB disk and selecting STOP, but the message I get is that the USB disk is fixed and cannot be removed. It appears that the problem only occurs when the disk is known to the computer in that the system knows what drive letter should be assigned to it. It doesn't occur if the disk is "unknown" and it gets assigned the first free drive letter. It's nothing to do with USB2 or USB3 disks or ports. The problem is the same on a laptop and a desktop at version 2004. I don't have any problem ejecting a USB memory stick or SD card. At the current fix level, there appears to be no proper distinction between permanent and removable disks.

:)

 

Eject options inconsistent between USB stick and USB external drive - Windows 10

When I want to eject a USB stick I can do it 2 different ways (a) by clicking on the 'Safely remove hardware and eject media' icon in the notification area of the taskbar and selecting the device (b) in File Explorer by right mouse button on the drive letter
for the USB stick and clicking the Eject option

When I want to eject a USB external drive I only have one option, by clicking on the 'Safely remove hardware and eject media' icon in the notification area of the taskbar and selecting the device. In File Explorer if I right mouse button on the drive letter
for the USB external drive, there is no Eject option in the list of options.

Since I am usually in File Explorer when I have either a USB stick or a USB external drive plugged in, it is most natural to me to want to eject from within File Explorer after I have finished with the USB device.

Is there any way to 'switch on' an 'Eject' option within File Explorer for a USB external drive ?

Ron

PS this is true for both Windows 10 Home 32 bit and Windows 10 Pro 64 bit

 

Ejecting usb drive

After updating to Windows 10 version 2004, when trying to eject an external usb drive, I continuously receive the error message that the drive is in use and to wait and try again later. No matter how long I wait, this message recurs when nothing I can see
is using the drive. I have tried physically disconnecting the usb drive, and restarting the pc, but the error message remains. Does anyone know what the problem is and how to solve it?

 

External USB drive on Windows 10

I am using an external USB Superdrive with Windows 10 on a virtual machine (Fusion) installed on an iMac computer. Windows recognizes the external drive as F:, device manager shows the drive as working properly, however it will not accept a disk. If I
insert a disk part way, it won't go in, but if I click on "eject", the disk is ejected. Strangely, when I installed Windows 10, it was from a disk and the external drive accepted that disk for the installation. The external drive does work when connected to
the Mac.