Unmounting a USB external drive issues

[Guest]

Hey there!

First off, I run Vista Home Premium. I'm having problems unmounting a USB
external hard drive - when I try to use "Safely Remove Hardware" (whether
through system tray icon or through "Computer"), the system ALWAYS tells me
it's still in use, even though I've shut down all programs using it and I'm
not writing to it at the time.

When I go to "Device Properties" -> "Policies", the drive is set on
"optimize for quick removal" option. Does that really mean (as I've read on
another site) that I can just unplug my USB cord after I'm done writing to
the drive, without attempting "Safely Remove Hardware" procedure? Is there a
certainty that it won't damage the structure of my hard drive or lose any
data on it?

If not, please advise me how best to safely unmount/eject my external hard
drive, short of having to shut the computer down. Thank you so much for your
help!

 

[Spirit]

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931619/en-us
When you click the Safely Remove Hardware icon in Windows Vista,
the device in question may not be removed as expected.

 

[Guest]

Spirit,

Thank you very much for your input. I should have mentioned though that my
platform is 32-bit (the hotfixes you linked to are 64-bit and 84-bit).

Regardless, my issue is not that "Safely Remove Hardware" icon not
functioning properly when activated, but that OS grabbing my external hard
drive with some hidden processes so that the drive always appears busy
instead of idle (and therefore ejectable).

And I guess, my main question is, do I absolutely have to go through "Safely
Remove Hardware" procedure, if the device is "optimized for quick removal".

Thank you again!

 

[Spirit]

That article says nothing about 32/64 bit.
Normally it is not a good idea to remove a device
w/o using the SRH,

 

[Guest]

Spirit, so what do you interpret - "Optimize for quick removal - this setting
disables write caching on the disk and in Windows, so you can disconnect this
device without using the Safe Removal icon" - to mean?

 

[Spirit]

That does sound as if you can disconnect it w/o using the
Safe Removal, I have not seen such a device as yet.

 

[Brett I. Holcomb]

What it does is write directly to the device without caching (the
disables caching part). The problem with removing a device is if the
data to be written is cached but not yet written and the device is
removed before the cached data can get written then bad things happen.

 

[Guest]

There is no such thing as 84 bit. The article mentioned x86 which is 32b bit.

 

[Guest]

Brett,

So I'm safe to just unplug the drive after I'm done writing to it?

 

[Guest]

You are absolutely right, I'm sorry I misundestood the article. Still, it
does not address the actual problem I'm having, and it even says specifically
to only use the hotfix if I'm experiencing the particular symptoms mentioned.

Thank you for your input.

 

[Spirit]

I would wait a bit to make sure that all files written to are
complete.