'safely remove hardware' problem

  • Thread starter Thread starter kaloochi
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kaloochi

I am unable to 'safely remove' my Freecom usb hard drive. Whenever i try i
get the message it's being used by another program when it's not. I've tried
Device manager> usb controllers>properties>power management and unchecking
'allow comp to turn off this device to save power' which worked once [maybe
coincidence] but now it's back to how it was. I've heard this problem can
lead to drives being completely wiped so i'd really like to sort it. I have
about 30 gig of music among other stuff i'd be gutted to lose so any help
would be much appreciated.
Thanks
 
I've just read another similar post where it was advised to disable the usb
drive via device manager. Would this be the same as 'safely removing' albeit
manually?

"kaloochi" wrote:

> I am unable to 'safely remove' my Freecom usb hard drive. Whenever i try i
> get the message it's being used by another program when it's not. I've tried
> Device manager> usb controllers>properties>power management and unchecking
> 'allow comp to turn off this device to save power' which worked once [maybe
> coincidence] but now it's back to how it was. I've heard this problem can
> lead to drives being completely wiped so i'd really like to sort it. I have
> about 30 gig of music among other stuff i'd be gutted to lose so any help
> would be much appreciated.
> Thanks
 
Try this app and see if it helps to determine what might be locking the
device http://www.safelyremove.com/?ver=3.0.15.459

--

Xandros


"kaloochi" <kaloochi@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:94689839-2F3B-46EB-9418-D46491696F44@microsoft.com...
> I am unable to 'safely remove' my Freecom usb hard drive. Whenever i try
> i
> get the message it's being used by another program when it's not. I've
> tried
> Device manager> usb controllers>properties>power management and unchecking
> 'allow comp to turn off this device to save power' which worked once
> [maybe
> coincidence] but now it's back to how it was. I've heard this problem can
> lead to drives being completely wiped so i'd really like to sort it. I
> have
> about 30 gig of music among other stuff i'd be gutted to lose so any help
> would be much appreciated.
> Thanks
 
"kaloochi" <kaloochi@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:94689839-2F3B-46EB-9418-D46491696F44@microsoft.com...
> I am unable to 'safely remove' my Freecom usb hard drive. Whenever i try
> i
> get the message it's being used by another program when it's not. I've
> tried
> Device manager> usb controllers>properties>power management and unchecking
> 'allow comp to turn off this device to save power' which worked once
> [maybe
> coincidence] but now it's back to how it was. I've heard this problem can
> lead to drives being completely wiped so i'd really like to sort it. I
> have
> about 30 gig of music among other stuff i'd be gutted to lose so any help
> would be much appreciated.
> Thanks

In Device Manager, have you gone to Hard Drives, and for that drive
checked under Policies to make sure 'Optimize for quick removal' is
selected? If it is, there will be no delayed writes to that drive, so you
can physically disconnect it anytime, assuming it's not being defragged,
or copied to, etc.
 
Yes optimise for removal is checked. I've downloaded the trial of that app
and it's telling me the exact process locking the drive. wmpnetwk.exe. It's
to do with networking and media sharing and i have my xbox 360 hooked up to
do just that.
I'm given the option to kill process or force stop. If i did stop or kill
the process would it start again on reboot.
Wouldi t be safe to switch the drive off if i disable the usb drive in
device manager?


"Ian D" wrote:

>
> "kaloochi" <kaloochi@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:94689839-2F3B-46EB-9418-D46491696F44@microsoft.com...
> > I am unable to 'safely remove' my Freecom usb hard drive. Whenever i try
> > i
> > get the message it's being used by another program when it's not. I've
> > tried
> > Device manager> usb controllers>properties>power management and unchecking
> > 'allow comp to turn off this device to save power' which worked once
> > [maybe
> > coincidence] but now it's back to how it was. I've heard this problem can
> > lead to drives being completely wiped so i'd really like to sort it. I
> > have
> > about 30 gig of music among other stuff i'd be gutted to lose so any help
> > would be much appreciated.
> > Thanks
>
> In Device Manager, have you gone to Hard Drives, and for that drive
> checked under Policies to make sure 'Optimize for quick removal' is
> selected? If it is, there will be no delayed writes to that drive, so you
> can physically disconnect it anytime, assuming it's not being defragged,
> or copied to, etc.
>
>
>
 
"kaloochi" <kaloochi@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:94689839-2F3B-46EB-9418-D46491696F44@microsoft.com...
> I am unable to 'safely remove' my Freecom usb hard drive. Whenever i try i
> get the message it's being used by another program when it's not. I've tried
> Device manager> usb controllers>properties>power management and unchecking
> 'allow comp to turn off this device to save power' which worked once [maybe
> coincidence] but now it's back to how it was. I've heard this problem can
> lead to drives being completely wiped so i'd really like to sort it. I have
> about 30 gig of music among other stuff i'd be gutted to lose so any help
> would be much appreciated.
> Thanks

In most instances of this behavior, it is system restore that is causing this delay.
Turn off system restore for this drive. I have a good back up system and do
not use system restore at all.
 
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