[River Horse]

I cannot remove external USB drives using the "Safely remove" icon,

this error message appears:

Saying the device cannot be removed because of an "unknown error". This message declares an (cannot be stopped because of an) "unknown error", it does not state that there are processes accessing the drive.

I never can find processes accessing that drive.

All of my HDDs cannot be safely removed, WD MyBook, WD Elements, CnMemory, etc.

I have tried this without success: ://knowledge.seagate.com/articl...S&key=ka030000000tiGyAAI&kb=n&wwwlocale=en-us:

Step 2 does not seem to work, I have set the bin to "Do not move files to the Recycle Bin", respectively "remove files instantly", but it does not help:

Properties of the recycle bin:


                      

Step 5: In Windows 7/Vista/XP/2000, please follow these directions:

Right-click on (My) Computer.
Select Manage.
Select Device Manager.
Open Disk Drives.
Double-click on the hard drive's model number.
Go to the Policies tab.
Check whether the drive is set to Optimize for Quick Removal.

If so, the hard drive does not need to be Safely Removed manually from the system.
Click to expand...

    
I have left the default settings for all of my drives, "Optimize for Quick Removal" (properties of Seagete Expansion):

Does this also apply to Win 10? And is it really correct? I have learned a drive / hdd must not be removed under any circumstances without the "safely remove" option. The MFT or anything other might get corrupted.

                      

This way there is only a slim chance that the partition will be corrupted by a removal.

    
That does not sound very trustfully, actually I would not have a slim chance of data corruption.

And what does that mean:
                      

Please remember that you would be very unwise to put yourself in a situation where that is a concern for you. If this drive were to experience a sudden mechanical or electronic failure or if it should fall, or if the drive's partition should become corrupted, your data could be lost and data recovery is very expensive. Remember that this is a backup drive, and a backup is defined as "a second copy of data in a second storage media".
Whether on a second external hard drive, a CD or DVD, an internal hard drive, a network hard drive, or tape, make a 2nd copy of your data today and keep it.
If not, please continue.

    
What drive is a back up drive? My drive isn't one.

After the error message - the drive cannot be removed or something like that - occurs I try to find out which process accesses the drive with "Unlocker" but there is no process shown:


I do not use Media Player, Media Center, the indexing is shown to be finished.

So it appears there is no step left. Is there anything else I could do?

                      

1. Download a free utility from a third-party Web site at the following address:

http://www.sysintern...ssExplorer.html

2. Click Find, Find Handle or DLL in the tool menu.

• Type the drive letter of the USB device in the Handle or DLL substring textbox, and press Search Button.
• Find the process and its PID in the following box.
• In system process tree view, find the process according to the Find Handle or DLL dialog box.
• Press Ctrl + H to show Handles in Lower Pane View.
• Find the File according with the drive letter , and right click it, choose Close Handle.
Click to expand...

    
I did that (https://support.micr...en-us/kb/555665), the search obviously stopped at 100.000 lines:


And if a process were found it would be shown underneath C:, I guess, but there is not any line containing R:


What could I do to make it work?

[Advertisements]

Hello River Horse,

 

Can you tell us the brand and model name or number of the computer + if this issue has started since you upgraded to Windows 10.

[phillpower2]

Hello River Horse,

 

Can you tell us the brand and model name or number of the computer + if this issue has started since you upgraded to Windows 10.

[River Horse]

Hello phillpower2,

 

Thank you. Yes, of course, It is a Acer Aspire E 15 (Acer E5-573), This new Notebook was supplied with Win 10, so I did not upgrade to it. Actually I do not know when the issue started, if I remember it right the first times the safely remove function was working, but I am not sure.

[phillpower2]

Hello River Horse,

 

Thanks for the additional information 

 

As the notebook shipped with Windows 10 it is unlikely (but not impossible) to be a driver issue but can I ask you to check the Device Manager for any yellow ! or red Xs against the chipset or USB hub or ports etc.

 

In case this is the result of an update try a system restore point that is before you first noticed the problem, see copy/paste info below courtesy of Microsoft;

 

Restoring from a system restore point

This option takes your PC back to an earlier point in time, called a system restore point. Restore points are generated when you install a new app, driver or Windows update, and when you create a restore point manually. Restoring won’t affect your personal files, but it will remove apps, drivers and updates installed after the restore point was made.

1. Right-click (or press and hold) the Start button, then select Control Panel.

2. Search Control Panel for Recovery.

3. Select Recovery > Open System Restore > Next.

4. Choose the restore point related to the problematic app, driver or update, then select Next > Finish.

Note

• If you can't see any restore points, it might be because system protection isn't turned on. To check, go to theControl Panel, search for Recovery, then select Recovery > Configure System Restore > Configure and make sure that Turn on system protection is selected.

[River Horse]

Hello phillpower2,

 

Many thanks for your help.

 

As the notebook shipped with Windows 10 it is unlikely (but not impossible) to be a driver issue but can I ask you to check the Device Manager for any yellow ! or red Xs against the chipset or USB hub or ports etc.

Yes, I had done a few times, it looks like:

 

And many thanks for the instructions. Hmmm, I assume going back to a restore point means I will lose all of my settings, installations, etc. I did before. And I am not sure if the safely remove option has ever worked. And if the malfunction would be caused by a Win update, how could I avoid that special update since I do not know which update it causes / might have caused it?

 

That a wrong driver / not working driver would cause the issue actually sounds like a good reason.

[phillpower2]

I am not sure if the safely remove option has ever worked.

 

 

Which unfortunately means that you are effectively troubleshooting a problem that may not actually exist as in the cause could be a setting that has never been enabled or drivers that are missing, please forget the system restore point suggestion as it may change nothing but mean you have to reinstall updates etc.

 

 

I assume going back to a restore point means I will lose all of my settings, installations, etc. I did before. 

 

 

Some but not all, can I ask what you have actually installed and what you mean by lose all your settings.

 

This may be software related, missing or out of date drivers for example but can I ask if you actually had any USB HDDs connected to the notebook when you took the screenshot of the Device Manager.

[River Horse]

Some but not all, can I ask what you have actually installed and what you mean by lose all your settings.

I do not mean any special settings but the ones one generally do after having bought a new Notebook, e.g. these settings for the energy options, firewall, anti virus, installing (new) drivers, etc. I didn't do a clean install, but almost left the software like it was with the programs / bloatware supplied with the Notebook.

There is not installed that much, I try to use portable programs, Kodi is installed, respectively the codecs and something one need to run Kodi,..ah, just a screenshot I should give:

 

This may be software related, missing or out of date drivers for example but can I ask if you actually had any USB HDDs connected to the notebook when you took the screenshot of the Device Manager.

No, no HDD was connected, but I had looked at the Device Manager before when different HDDs had been connected with the same result in the Device Manager. And there is no HDD which can be safely removed.

[phillpower2]

Best Answer

I do not mean any special settings but the ones one generally do after having bought a new Notebook, e.g. these settings for the energy options, firewall, anti virus, installing (new) drivers, etc.

 

 

The energy options is the only thing there that is settings related, the others come under installing software and applications and can therefore be put aside, the energy options is the only thing that I need to ask about, what power plan did you choose and can I ask if you changed the USB port power settings in any way, you can check these settings following the steps here

 

Couple of questions, when you connect an external HDD do you get an icon on the desktop or task bar at all, is USB Autoplay enabled or disabled (disabled is recommended to avoid the risk of malware infection).

 

Can you connect your external HDDs and then grab a screenshot of the Disk Manager for us please.

 

[River Horse]

The energy options is the only thing there that is settings related, the others come under installing software and applications and can therefore be put aside, the energy options is the only thing that I need to ask about, what power plan did you choose and can I ask if you changed the USB port power settings in any way, you can check these settings following the steps here

Thank you for the link. Oh yes, I did, a few settings, e.g. this one "Windows 10 – How to Enable USB Selective Suspend" is disabled like I did in Win 7 before (I mean to remember there shall be an advantage to have it deactiveted, but I do not know which one anymore):

So I created my own energy power plan.
 

is USB Autoplay enabled or disabled (disabled is recommended to avoid the risk of malware infection).

It is enabled, I would say:

So I should enable that option?
 

Couple of questions, when you connect an external HDD do you get an icon on the desktop or task bar at all,

It is in the system tray:

And I can open this window (with a link: C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll):

 

Can you connect your external HDDs and then grab a screenshot of the Disk Manager for us please.

Ah, very sorry, it was not true what I was saying, there was a drive connected when I did the last screenshot from  the Device Manager, a Seagaate Expansion HDD, 5TB, USB 3.0, very sorry, it is running all the time at the moment so I wasn't aware of it.

[phillpower2]

A quick reply as I have to get back to work I`m afraid 

 

To see if this is a Windows issue download then run the All in One Repair from here, disregard the malware guidance but follow the other steps to the letter and in particular ensuring that you first create a new restore point and perform a proper Windows clean boot before running the repair, details for the clean boot here.

[River Horse]

Thank you very much for hurrying before going to work, phillpower2,

 

Many thanks for the links. Actually I am always a little scared about using such (tweaking) programs. And I failed by just doing "Step 1", tab 1, the power reset, since I cannot disassemble the battery pack (the usual way), there is no bolt, bar, retainer I can find, actually I didn't know such is available at all, and unscrewing :the screws will cause the loss of the warranty, I guess.

 

http://i.imgur.com/YgMMuu4.jpg

 

 

But, I now have (How to Enable USB Selective Suspend - http://www.howto-con...ective-suspend) the selective suspend enabled and unbelievably it appears to work now, I can safely remove drives (again). I will check some more drives at next occasions and report.

 

Yes, indeed, my drives can be removed safely now. Unbelievable, I had asked in other forums before without success. You are the only one who had the solution. I myself of course would never had have the idea. Thank goodness. Very many thanks.

 

By the way, is it an error I did (to disable the selective suspend like I did in Win 7) or one of Win 10 or else?

Edited by River Horse, 29 February 2016 - 02:20 PM.

[phillpower2]

Glad to hear that all is now well 

 

Not sure what settings you originally changed in the power plan so cannot give a definitive answer but fwiw USB port power suspend is more likely to be activated on notebook computers by default as it is designed to prolong battery charge time and life.

 

Regarding the Windows AIO repair tool, it is not a tweaking tool, that is just the name of the programmers who provide the tool and it is perfectly safe to use, we would not be permitted to use or suggest it use to members otherwise.

 

Final nag from me, please make sure that you have a new system restore point for the present stable settings.

 

You are most welcome btw 

[River Horse]

Not sure what settings you originally changed in the power plan

I had disabled USB "Selective Suspend" before, I enabled it and the safely remove function worked.

 

we would not be permitted to use or suggest it use to members otherwise.

Yes, of course, very sorry, if I had sounded like being sceptical, I wasn't, just wanted to say that I have heard a lot of problems caused by "such" programs, sorry again. I would have used it, respectively I started to.

 

Yes, very good idea, I will make a restore point immediately.

 

Very many thanks, again

[phillpower2]

Yes, of course, very sorry, if I had sounded like being sceptical, I wasn't, just wanted to say that I have heard a lot of problems caused by "such" programs, 

 

 

No need for any apology   the type of programs to which you refer are system or registry tweaking tools and they are definitely to be avoided, the Windows AIO repair tool is not of the same genre as those type of software and it can in fact often be used to repair the damage that such so called tweaking programs have caused.

 

Are you now happy that the issue has been resolved and your question/s answered satisfactorily.

[River Horse]

No need for any apology  the type of programs to which you refer are system or registry tweaking tools and they are definitely to be avoided, the Windows AIO repair tool is not of the same genre as those type of software and it can in fact often be used to repair the damage that such so called tweaking programs have caused.

Ah yes, I thought it is the same kind of those programs...hmmm, may be the name of that great program is not the very best...very good to know for the next time (even when I cannot do a power reset obviously).

 

Are you now happy that the issue has been resolved and your question/s answered satisfactorily.

Yes, yes, of course I am, just because of your great help. Nobody else had have your idea(s), thought(s) to get the solution.

 

Many thanks again