USB device cannot be safely ejected

G

Guest

I have a brand new computer (dell inspiron 710). i was transferring files and
music from an exernal hard drive via USB connection and when i was done i
went to the icon in the tray and tried to safely eject the device. i was give
the message the usb device cannot be safely removed a this time please try
again later. it doesn't matter how much time i give it i can never safely
eject any device and i end up shutting down my computer each time. i called
dell and they told me it was not a hardware problem. i did many scans with
them and they said it a software problem. i just need to fix this problem.
please help.
 
S

Shenan Stanley

b1 said:
I have a brand new computer (dell inspiron 710). i was transferring
files and music from an exernal hard drive via USB connection and
when i was done i went to the icon in the tray and tried to safely
eject the device. i was give the message the usb device cannot be
safely removed a this time please try again later. it doesn't
matter how much time i give it i can never safely eject any device
and i end up shutting down my computer each time. i called dell and
they told me it was not a hardware problem. i did many scans with
them and they said it a software problem. i just need to fix this
problem. please help.

Could be the drive..
But what I would try first is going to Dell's web site and entering your
serial (service tag) number and download/install their latest drivers -
expecially for the chipset.

Technically - unless you are actually transferring files at the time you
disconnect - the danger is almost non-existent to just disconnect the
device.
 
G

Guest

It could also be that you have a program running that is still using the
file(s) on the drive. For example:

If you open a example.doc file that is on the drive and try to eject the
drive while word is still open it will give you that message.

Let me know if this helps:D
 
G

Guest

thanks but that's not it. as far as i can tell there is nothing using the
drive. i did see on a different post that dowloading listusbdrives and it
told me that the drive was not removable but i think it said fixed.
 
G

Guest

no that didn't work. i downloaded a chipset driver and i still can't eject
it. but thanks
 
U

Uwe Sieber

b1 said:
I have a brand new computer (dell inspiron 710). i was transferring files and
music from an exernal hard drive via USB connection and when i was done i
went to the icon in the tray and tried to safely eject the device. i was give
the message the usb device cannot be safely removed a this time please try
again later. it doesn't matter how much time i give it i can never safely
eject any device and i end up shutting down my computer each time. i called
dell and they told me it was not a hardware problem. i did many scans with
them and they said it a software problem. i just need to fix this problem.
please help.

From archive...

Usually at least one open handle to the drive prevents
the save removal.
Try to discover who has an open handle to your USB drive:

Get Sysinternals ProcessExplorer
http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/ProcessExplorer.html

Ignore the initial message 'No symbols defined'.
Go to 'Find'->'Find Handle' and enter your drive letter like
U: and click 'Search'.

Then it lists all processes that hold open handles to your drive.



Greetings from Germany

Uwe
 
G

Guest

Thanks Uwe. I have another question though. I see that there are 8 handles
that came up in the search. how can i close them so that i can safely eject
the drive? thanks
 
U

Uwe Sieber

b1 said:
Thanks Uwe. I have another question though. I see that there are 8 handles
that came up in the search. how can i close them so that i can safely eject
the drive? thanks

In the search result dialog you see the process name in
the left most column. E.g. if you see there
excel.exe U:\mysheet.xls
then you have opended U:\mysheet.xls in Excel and it
should be closed.
 

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