recently ive been having an issue in regards to ejecting my flash drives. whenever i'd go to remove storage safely i will always get a message telling me that it cant do it and somethings accessing it. is there some freeware that i can use to determine what is accessing my thumb drives so i can stop it and in turn safely remove my thumbdrives from my computer
ejecting USB drive.
| lastelement0 wrote: |
| recently ive been having an issue in regards to ejecting my flash drives. whenever i'd go to remove storage safely i will always get a message telling me that it cant do it and somethings accessing it. is there some freeware that i can use to determine what is accessing my thumb drives so i can stop it and in turn safely remove my thumbdrives from my computer |
Sounds like you are running a program that is using your flash drive, try to close out of that program. You could also try pressing ctrl+alt+del and select task manager then end explorer.exe . Then click file run new task explorer.exe. (restarts the gui) and try to remove it. You could also remove the damn thing anyway. I've never seen it hurt my flash drive... in fact I've never removed "safely".
im sure that my drive is probably being used by a program. but the thing is i don't have anything open that would be needing it anyway. thats why i was wondering if there was some software out there that can show what programs or files or anthign of the sort is being used by something else which would prevent the ejecting.
i know there is something like it b/c i found something years ago that i needed when i had a file that wouldnt delete because another process was still accessing it. i just hadn't needed it in a while so i have no idea anymore
i know there is something like it b/c i found something years ago that i needed when i had a file that wouldnt delete because another process was still accessing it. i just hadn't needed it in a while so i have no idea anymore
| lastelement0 wrote: |
| im sure that my drive is probably being used by a program. but the thing is i don't have anything open that would be needing it anyway. thats why i was wondering if there was some software out there that can show what programs or files or anthign of the sort is being used by something else which would prevent the ejecting.
i know there is something like it b/c i found something years ago that i needed when i had a file that wouldnt delete because another process was still accessing it. i just hadn't needed it in a while so i have no idea anymore |
processexplorer.exe?
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/processexplorer.mspx
Your tumbdrive could have been infected by a trojan/worm. I had my tumbdrive infected recently through a computer and it gave me that message all the time. Can't remember the name of the worm though but it infects every pendrive that is plugged into the infected host. It is also still possible to have the message appear on normal curcumstance but if it's happening all the time... then I suggest u run a thorough scan on your tumbdrive. If you don't have antivirus, run Pandasoft's Free online scanner. It fixed my drive.
I suggest to remove it, and dont waste your time with the "remove safe crap"
that was first added for applications that use the USB as a continuous flow of data, or for items that can get power from the USB, (such as an i-pod or the new psp) as for thumb drives... you are safe to remove it, even if something is reading it, or you are copying a file to it, nothing will happen.
that was first added for applications that use the USB as a continuous flow of data, or for items that can get power from the USB, (such as an i-pod or the new psp) as for thumb drives... you are safe to remove it, even if something is reading it, or you are copying a file to it, nothing will happen.
| m-productions wrote: |
| I suggest to remove it, and dont waste your time with the "remove safe crap"
that was first added for applications that use the USB as a continuous flow of data, or for items that can get power from the USB, (such as an i-pod or the new psp) as for thumb drives... you are safe to remove it, even if something is reading it, or you are copying a file to it, nothing will happen. |
I'll have to agree with m-productions, this is much what I said. Although he said it in a better manner
| m-productions wrote: |
| I suggest to remove it, and dont waste your time with the "remove safe crap"
that was first added for applications that use the USB as a continuous flow of data, or for items that can get power from the USB, (such as an i-pod or the new psp) as for thumb drives... you are safe to remove it, even if something is reading it, or you are copying a file to it, nothing will happen. |
I'm sorry, but I have to say this...
This fellow frihost user haven't told us wich OS is he using... if he is using something that loads the flash drive as a locked partition to work with, when he removes the thumb drive, it might cause paging errors some times...
I had that Issue with previos versions of Linux and one time with MacOSX
if any virus present on the usb drive thenit will always communicate with the system. s we cannot eject that...go to process and stop virus related process and try. or simply logoff your system and login..
| ronald.helpdesk wrote: | ||
I'm sorry, but I have to say this... This fellow frihost user haven't told us wich OS is he using... if he is using something that loads the flash drive as a locked partition to work with, when he removes the thumb drive, it might cause paging errors some times... I had that Issue with previos versions of Linux and one time with MacOSX |
very true sir... It is bad to just assume hes using windows. However, its getting rarer and rarer that OS do this, most new falvours of linux dont do this anymore, however im not sure about Macs, Ive never really used flash drives with them.
That sometimes happens to me. Just make sure that you are not downloading or uploading files to USB pen and just disconnect it. Usually nothing can go wrong if there is no data transfer.
Safe removal is very important on Windows 2000. Just pulling out your stick can cause massive data loss because the file system of the stick isn't properly updated. Regardless of whether you're transferring data while the stick gets pulled (although that's even worse, of course).
In Windows XP it's less problematic because in that OS the laziness / lack of responsibility of users has been accounted for. You still shouldn't pull the stick while it's transferring data, but that's kind of obvious.
I mean, in Linux you don't pull out your media without first unmounting them either, do you? My Linux systems won't even let me eject the CD-drive when it's mounted.
In Windows XP it's less problematic because in that OS the laziness / lack of responsibility of users has been accounted for. You still shouldn't pull the stick while it's transferring data, but that's kind of obvious.
I mean, in Linux you don't pull out your media without first unmounting them either, do you? My Linux systems won't even let me eject the CD-drive when it's mounted.
well seems like yer drive is infected with some trojan or some kinda worm
it wld be better if u run a scan on the pen/flash drive, i had a problem with mine so then i formatted it and now its working pretty fyn
give it a try
it wld be better if u run a scan on the pen/flash drive, i had a problem with mine so then i formatted it and now its working pretty fyn
give it a try
log off your system and remove.. or shutdown...and remove..
Blaming every computer problem on "some virus" is easy, but not necessarily correct. Of course you can try scanning it but it's probably not a virus.
so true, but i had a personal experience with me usb drive and that is what i mentioned abt, maybe very few people have faced that issue
ya the same problem in my system also i am using windows xp .. some drives or not having problem.. but if i opened the files in the drive the problem arises but even when i closed the files its not removing...............
is the safe removal required
is the safe removal required
If for any reason your computer is infected, please try this out:
http://www.processlibrary.com
This application will show you the current process (resident programs) on your memory and you will easily find there the ones that shouldn't be allowed. It works great!!
http://www.processlibrary.com
This application will show you the current process (resident programs) on your memory and you will easily find there the ones that shouldn't be allowed. It works great!!
If you are not using the drive and it says its been accessed its probably a virus. So use an antivirus first...
I'm using "Unlocker 1.85" from Cedrick Collomb and works fine for me.... it unlocks any file in use and then I'm able to unpulg my thumb drives with no problems
right click in ur drive in my computer and press Eject..never had issues with over 150(one hundred and fifty, no error) different usb flashdrives and not one problem 
I see a lot of you say that on Windows you can take the pen with no damage. Are you sure? I used windows 2000 and xp with a pen and did that fast ejects. Then suddenly my pen started having errors and then stopped working.
Now I try to do always the secure eject. Sometimes it's not possible and the solution is:
1. close software like windows explorer and try again
2. run virus/trojan/worm remover
3. fast eject
Now I try to do always the secure eject. Sometimes it's not possible and the solution is:
1. close software like windows explorer and try again
2. run virus/trojan/worm remover
3. fast eject
| romaop wrote: |
| I see a lot of you say that on Windows you can take the pen with no damage. Are you sure? I used windows 2000 and xp with a pen and did that fast ejects. Then suddenly my pen started having errors and then stopped working.
Now I try to do always the secure eject. Sometimes it's not possible and the solution is: 1. close software like windows explorer and try again 2. run virus/trojan/worm remover 3. fast eject |
run step 2 in safe mode while ur at it too!
Try using unlocker on the drive.
A frequent culprit is antivirus/spyware software with their livescanning.
Other softwares like diskeeper which access the usb drive could be causing the problem.
A frequent culprit is antivirus/spyware software with their livescanning.
Other softwares like diskeeper which access the usb drive could be causing the problem.
| lastelement0 wrote: |
| recently ive been having an issue in regards to ejecting my flash drives. whenever i'd go to remove storage safely i will always get a message telling me that it cant do it and somethings accessing it. is there some freeware that i can use to determine what is accessing my thumb drives so i can stop it and in turn safely remove my thumbdrives from my computer |
I've seen it many times due to several viruses.
Press Alt-Ctrl_Del
And get the task manager.
Open Process tab.
End all the suspicious run by the current user one by one and see which one is causing the problem
It is probably the one which is the virus
in my case, it might be 2 things happened. first is when you close your files, using some software, it might take few seconds to stop process. so during that ending process time, you might not able to safety remove it. and you can check your thumb drive led, if it blinking. if it blinking, meaning there is something still running. then wait for few second.
second is if your thumb drive infected by trojan or worm. in this case, you can see (mostly) your thumb drive led will blinking all the time, even you didn't run anything at all from your thumb drive. if it did, scan your computer with antivirus.
if you are using windows xp or vista, there is something most of the people don't know about. which is windows xp and vista support or i can say allowed user to straight away pull out their thumb drive from the usb port. it will automatically stop the process when you pull out. you can check it by right click your thumb drive icon> properties> hardware(choose the thumbdrive)> properties> policies.
second is if your thumb drive infected by trojan or worm. in this case, you can see (mostly) your thumb drive led will blinking all the time, even you didn't run anything at all from your thumb drive. if it did, scan your computer with antivirus.
if you are using windows xp or vista, there is something most of the people don't know about. which is windows xp and vista support or i can say allowed user to straight away pull out their thumb drive from the usb port. it will automatically stop the process when you pull out. you can check it by right click your thumb drive icon> properties> hardware(choose the thumbdrive)> properties> policies.
WindowsXP uses the "Optimized for disconnection" mode for USB ports, so it means that it isn't necessary to eject the usb device you are using. If You prefer the "Optimized for speed" mode for USB ports then, after You have made the change to the USB mode configuration, when You want to eject any attached USB device, You MUST wait for the disconnection otherwise data can be lost. This is because to optimize for speed Windows uses to cache files to copy to the device also if it shows to You that datas are already copied.
i think there is some virus or unwanted program in your usb. try to format usb drive without opening it with the help of command prompt. you can also check task manager for all yhe programs running on your computer. alternatively , you can scan your usb. use mcafee anti-virus for it.
When you try to deactivate your usb device, have you any window open?
just shutdown the PC then grab out your flash drive.
hope works...
hope works...
Very useful if you have to connect and disconnect several devices more then once...
I think that it should be better to tryu to understand the cause.
I think that it should be better to tryu to understand the cause.
I have also got the same problem. And i have discovered that it always happens when some file is opened from the Flash drive. For example if you have played a sound file using windows media player and you have stopped the file but it is still in the playlist. or you have an opened pdf or doc file openeed.
The solution which i have used and it works alot of time is that you simply right click on the flash drive in the my computer and then select EJECT .then you can remove that flash drive.I hope that it would have helped you.
The solution which i have used and it works alot of time is that you simply right click on the flash drive in the my computer and then select EJECT .then you can remove that flash drive.I hope that it would have helped you.
if using windows xp or vista, and you are using usb thumb drive (not usb external HDD), you actually can unplug the driver without safety remove. this is because windows xp and vista had safety removal policies for those usb drive which allow user to unplug the drive without click for safety removal. you can check that option by right click the usb drive, then choose properties, then click on hardware tab, and then choose your usb drive and then click properties, then click on policies tab and then you can see there are two options, which is optimize for quick removal and optimize for performance.
by default, most of the usb drives are using optimize for quick removal, which allow user to remove the usb drive without using the safety removal icon. but you have to make sure you did not transfer any file or the file will failed transfer to or from the usb drive. BUT the file will NOT damage.
Normally when the usb drive is accessing by some program or when you doing file transfer, the LED will blinking. and if you did not play any mp3 or any files from your usb drive, the led will not blinking. if it does, meaning your computer has virus that was still active in the computer. and that, when you click on safety remove, it will show " cannot remove the device".
by default, most of the usb drives are using optimize for quick removal, which allow user to remove the usb drive without using the safety removal icon. but you have to make sure you did not transfer any file or the file will failed transfer to or from the usb drive. BUT the file will NOT damage.
Normally when the usb drive is accessing by some program or when you doing file transfer, the LED will blinking. and if you did not play any mp3 or any files from your usb drive, the led will not blinking. if it does, meaning your computer has virus that was still active in the computer. and that, when you click on safety remove, it will show " cannot remove the device".
Like some posters, I think a program or windows is still using the drive. Try to figure out which one also make sure you're not using the usb drive for temp files and/or that windows accelerating or whatever it's called.
| lastelement0 wrote: |
| recently ive been having an issue in regards to ejecting my flash drives. whenever i'd go to remove storage safely i will always get a message telling me that it cant do it and somethings accessing it. is there some freeware that i can use to determine what is accessing my thumb drives so i can stop it and in turn safely remove my thumbdrives from my computer |
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