Problems ejecting flash drives

alucard10

Baseband Member
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Location
usa
On this one old desktop computer when I try to safely eject a flashdrive It wont let me. It says something like "cant eject.generic volume is not shutdown try latter". or some thing like that. when it does this I have to just pull out the flash drive and that is risky.

my questions are-

Can you just turn off your computer, then pull out the flashdrive? Is this a good solution?

What is the simplest way around this problem?
 
Sounds like the flash drive isn't formatted in a form that the OS understands. Usually when that happens it's best to copy off the data on the drive and format it again. My older thumb drives do that from time to time. Formatting them again makes them work again. But if that gets to be a regular thing, I'd recommend smashing the drive with a hammer, and do a good job of it, and get a new one. They do have a limited life span.
 
what do you mean limited lifespan? Is it how many times you use the flashdrive or is it time alone?

Whats the lifespan of a well used flash drive?

I am planning to buy new sets of flashdrives every year or so, so I can drag and drop all my important files on to the new ones to safeguard the files.

Also can anyone answer my original question?
Can you just turn off your computer, then pull out the flashdrive? Is this a good solution? Is this a way around the problem?

What is the simplest way around this problem?
 
what do you mean limited lifespan? Is it how many times you use the flashdrive or is it time alone?

It tends to be more about how often it's used and how much data is written to the drive! :) I guess age could come into it if you include corrosion, but I've never seen a corroded flash drive so I guess that this isn't normally a "cause of death" for them!

Whats the lifespan of a well used flash drive?

Good question, someone else might be able to advise you a bit better, but I couldn't even try and guess. I've got a memory stick I've had for about 9 years that works fine, and I've had some fail after only a couple of years

I am planning to buy new sets of flashdrives every year or so, so I can drag and drop all my important files on to the new ones to safeguard the files.

Nice idea! :) Always worth having files in more than one location as a backup (or using an online backup service like SkyDrive or Dropbox, they'll run their own backups too!)

Also can anyone answer my original question?
Can you just turn off your computer, then pull out the flashdrive? Is this a good solution? Is this a way around the problem?

You could do this if you don't mind having to shut the PC down, a USB drive is considered "safe to remove" when no data is being read from it, or being written to it. When the PC is off, then both these criteria are true!

The main problem is that you're not able to eject the drive though, please see the below snippet I've just taken from the Microsoft Forums, it might be helpful:

Method 1 a. If you open task manager, click ‘end process' on explorer.exe.
b. Click on file, new task, and enter explorer.exe, you should then be able to safely remove your USB device.
Method 2

You may also follow these steps & check if it helps.
1) Go to my computer
2) Right click on it & open Properties.
3) Go to the hardware section and find your drive and click properties
4) Go to the policies tab of the newly open window.
5) Check the option ‘optimized for quick removal'.
 
Hi! Good advise joe! Those things work! Here's a freeware tool that might help also. Don't know if it's any good.
Here's safe site for down load. No PUP's from Major Geeks! LOL
Gary
Unlocker helps delete locked files with error messages like: Cannot delete file: Access is denied. There has been a sharing violation. The source or destination file may be in use. The file is in use by another program or user. Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use. Read more at: http://tr.im/kGM5b


Download Unlocker - MajorGeeks
 
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Seti has a point there. Suppose the thumb drive is in NTFS format and the old computer is in FAT32 format? That would present a problem.
 
Seti has a point there. Suppose the thumb drive is in NTFS format and the old computer is in FAT32 format? That would present a problem.
If that's the case, I wouldn't expect the OS to be able to access the drive at all which is a completely different issue than being able to safely eject the drive.

Personally, I always try the "Safely eject" method but if it fails, I ensure that there's no applications that have files open on the drive and ensure there's no read/write activity and then yank the drive. I have never had a problem using this method.
 
New strange problem.

New strange problem.

The safely remove hardware icon is missing from the lower screen tray thing.

Two questions.

1-Can you go to "my computer", then select the flashdrive(in this case removeible disc J), then click on the thing that says "eject this disk"?
Is this a proper alternative way to safely remove a flash drive incase I cant get the other icon back?

2-where did it go,how do you get it back?

My concern with using the "eject this disk" option in the "systems task" box in "my computer" is that that the little message that says something like "it is now safe to remove mass storage device" dosnt show up when I do it this way.

To some it up.
Is clicking the "eject this disk" option in the "systems task" box in "my computer" a good way to safely eject a usb flashdrive?
 
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