Safely removing external HDD problem

Four of a kind

I've the common problem that I've read about a lot lately, where my WD passport drive won't eject after I've used it for something.

I've included a snapshot of what a program I installed is saying that's keeping it from removing safely.

I've no idea how to safely remove it other than the usual way.

Any advice?

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TheBoffin

You are seeing this issue because system restore is active on your external storage.

You will need to disable system restore for that drive

danger_mouse_tm

if you're still having problems after you have done that you may need to disable write caching

Four of a kind

TheBoffin wrote: »

You are seeing this issue because system restore is active on your external storage.

You will need to disable system restore for that drive

How would I go about doing that?

Thanks for the info btw

Fysh

Four of a kind wrote: »

How would I go about doing that?

Thanks for the info btw

In Windows 7, connect the drive. Right-click on My Computer, select Properties. In the pane on the left, click on "System Protection". A new window pops up, with a list of drives under "Protection Settings". Highlight your external drive, and click the "Configure" button, then select the "Turn off system protection" radio button. Click Apply, then click OK. You should now see your external drive in the list with "Off" under the Protection column.

Four of a kind

Fysh wrote: »

In Windows 7, connect the drive. Right-click on My Computer, select Properties. In the pane on the left, click on "System Protection". A new window pops up, with a list of drives under "Protection Settings". Highlight your external drive, and click the "Configure" button, then select the "Turn off system protection" radio button. Click Apply, then click OK. You should now see your external drive in the list with "Off" under the Protection column.

I tried this and the system protection was already off.

The problem is still there. Sometimes it will allow me to eject safely and other times it wont'.

Completely fed up with not being able to do this properly as I have to shut down the computer every time.

Any other suggestions?

Fysh

Four of a kind wrote: »

I tried this and the system protection was already off.

The problem is still there. Sometimes it will allow me to eject safely and other times it wont'.

Completely fed up with not being able to do this properly as I have to shut down the computer every time.

Any other suggestions?

I would suggest downloading and using Process Explorer, Process Monitor and Handle to try and figure out what process or processes are using your external hard drive. Once you know what's causing the problem, it should be easy enough to find a solution.