Problem Ejecting USB Mass Storage Device !! Then how can you remove your USB devices safely ?

Windows can’t stop your ‘Generic volume’ device because it is in use. Close any programs or windows that might be using the device, and  then try again later.

Everyone of us might have come across this situation when we attempted to safely remove USB storage devices. In general this problem arises if there are any open windows ( the usb device is opened in explorer etc) or if any other programs are using it. For example you opened a .doc file from the pendrive then word/open office (what ever application you have used ) is still using the file. There are several other situations that can lead to this message.You may feel like the device is absolutely free after quitting any open applications and/or explorer windows but they device may still under use. Some of the unnoticed situations are :

1. The device may be in use by the OS for “Ready Boosting” , a feature in vista to boost system performance.
2. You may be storing log files of some running applications in the mass storage devices. This generally happens if you have an external hard disk.
3. The mass storage may be in automatic scanning process by your anti virus.
4. There may be on going file transfers to/from the device.

The list seems to be endless. There may be many unknown reasons you might / might not know. You might have tried to figure it out, might have closed many applications, but when you try removing it again safely the message box pops out.  Arrrggghhh!! What to do. How to safely remove the device ?

Before knowing how let’s note that even windows simply recommends you by popping out a dialog box to wait and try after some time. This may or may not work . So I guess windows itself don’t know which programs are using the mass storage device. Just kidding !! But make a serious note this is really the present case may be they will implement this new module to show the current programs that are using the mass storage device in future. For now it’s our headache to tackle with.

So here’s the process

1. First of all, close any identified programs,windows that directly are using the device. These can be easily identified by you. These are directly visible .
2. Secondly if there are any file movement operations (Copying,Pasting etc) then wait for the operations to complete.
3. Still no luck? Then open “Task Manager” ( Use Ctrl+Alt+Del )
4. Once the task manager is launched click the Processes tab.
5. Examine the list of processes, if you find any process belonging to the drive, simply end all such processes.
6. Try removing it know.

If the problem still persists, there are two definite methods which will work.

1. Shut down your computer and remove your device safely. (Every knows this but very few do this since it’s time consuming).
2. Secondly, just feel free and pull out the device ( I  am bit harsh on it….huh!!). This is the common procedure every one of us might have done. A word of caution here “Do not try to pull out your device if it NTFS formatted one or if there is any data/file transfers actively going on.”  This may permanently damage your device. Note: “These stunts are performed by experts who do not care for their devices much. Kids, newbies and device lovers should not try to imitate these stunts “…………. Looks like some scrolling lines in an action packed advertisement.

Finally you can use third party softwares freely available on net to help you removing the devices safely.

So from now I hope you can safely remove your USB devices.