Can't Remove USB Drive

Windows really should tell you what program is using the drive, but it doesn't. You're going to have to do some detective work.

Start by doing what Windows recommends: Wait a bit, then try again. But keep busy while you wait. Make sure you don't have the drive open in Windows Explorer; in fact, you may want to close all of your Windows Explorer windows, just in case. Next, examine the system tray

 

to make sure that a program that used the drive (or was launched from it) isn't still running in the background.
If those tests don't bear fruit, check your running processes: Right-click a blank spot on the taskbar and select Start Task Manager. Click the Processes tab. Examine the list of running processes. If you find a likely culprit, select it, then click the End Process button and confirm your choice.




That didn't work, either? Well, you've waited long enough. Let's see if Windows will declare the drive safe to remove.

Nope. You have three options:
The obvious choice is to shut down Windows (and no, hibernating it won't do), remove the drive, then reboot. This is completely safe, and it will work. But it's time-consuming, and requires you to reload all of your programs and files.

The second choice is the foolhardy one: Take a deep breath, then remove the drive despite the warning. I confess: I've done this on numerous occasions, and it has never led to disaster. But I've heard people say that about driving while texting, so you probably shouldn't follow my example.

The third and best option is to use third-party software that can identify, and even kill, whatever process is still holding on to something on that drive. Here are two possibilities.

  

USB Safely Remove is the easiest of these two programs. When you install it,

  

it replaces Windows' Safely Remove icon with its own. Click it, and if it can't safely remove the device, it will bring up a dialog box giving you the problem processes. A handy Stop Again button lets you retry the removal. The problem: USB Safely Remove costs $20.

Unlocker, on the other hand, is free. And it also helps you delete files that Windows won't let go of. If Windows says the drive can't be safely removed, right-click it and select Unlocker for a list the problem processes.

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Safely Remove USB Drives Just by Unplugging Them

Reader Dane wrote in seeking help with this hassle: "After using Safely Remove Hardware for my SD card, I have to reboot my PC before my PC will recognize another SD card. Is there a way for the PC to accept the card without rebooting?"

This brings to mind the old joke where the guy goes to a doctor and says, "It hurts when I do this," and the doctor says, "So stop doing it."

Dane has the best of intentions: Windows' Safely Remove Hardware (SRH) option stops all read/write activity on a removable drive, thus preventing any data damage when the drive is unplugged.

But note the key word here: drive. When you use SRH on a memory card, you're actually "safely removing" the card reader. That's why Windows refuses to recognize subsequent cards until you reboot (at which point the reader gets re-detected by the system).

The upshot: Stop using SRH for memory cards. Instead, change the settings for the reader so that you can safely remove a card without SRH. Here's how:

1. Right-click the icon for the card reader and choose Properties.
2. Click the Hardware tab.

3. Click the drive name (which may be something like Generic SD/MMC USB Device), and then click the Properties button.

4. Click the Policies tab to reveal your two options: Optimize for quick removal and Optimize for performance. Choose the former, then click OK as needed to exit all the dialogs.

If the two options are grayed out, switch back to the General tab and click the Change settings button to gain administrative rights.





If you don't want to mess with all these settings, just make sure you've closed any program(s) that might be accessing your card, make sure the reader's activity light isn't flashing, and then pull the card. That's how I roll, and in years of card-swapping I've never encountered a problem.

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