# Problem ejecting USB Mass Storage Device....



## sy2 (Mar 25, 2005)

Hey everyone, gotta few questions...

I'm trying to turn off my external HDD for the night and when I use "Safely Remove Hardware" I sometimes (like now, for example) get the error "The device 'Generic volume' cannot be stopped right now. Try stopping the device again later."

Nothing is writing to the HDD, the light is on and just solid green (blinks orange when it's being read). When I go into Safely Remove Hardware the device listed is "USB Mass Storage Device." When I click Stop I get three more choices:
(1) USB Mass Storage Device
(2) Generic volume - (H: )
(3) Maxtor 6 Y160P0 USB Device

Trying any of the three produces the same result. Does anyone know if this can be fixed from Windows or do I need to reboot and just try again whenever this happens? Also, how bad is it to just turn off an external HDD without going through Safely Remove Hardware?

Thanks.

Oh yeah, XP Home SP2.


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## EAFiedler (Apr 25, 2000)

Hi *sy2*

See this link for more information on the Safely Remove Hardware application:
Safe Removal of Plug and Play Devices

If available, change your options to: *Optimize for quick removal*


> Caching policy defaults can be changed in Device Manager for high-performance external storage devices. In Device Manager, on the property sheet for the removable storage device click the *Policies* tab to view the default write caching settings for the device. If the Policies tab does not display, this option is not provided for the device. If the write caching settings are enabled, you can change the settings based on your performance and safe removal needs as follows:
> 
> 
> Click *Optimize for quick removal* to disable write caching on the storage device and in Windows. This allows you to remove the device without using the Safely Remove Hardware application, but can have an impact on the performance of the device.
> ...


Have you tried reinstalling the drivers for the USB device?


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## sy2 (Mar 25, 2005)

I'll check that out. No, I haven't reinstalled the drivers.

I never messed around with it too much because (1) I rarely turn the HDD off and (2) it usually turns off fine. It's never really bugged me too much, I just happened to be on here when it happened so I posted away 

What kind of performance hit do you think is expectable as a result of switching to "Optimize for Quick Removal"?

Thanks :up:


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## EAFiedler (Apr 25, 2000)

Sorry, I could not say.  

I used mine for a backup and unplugged it.
Try copying a large file to the USB hard drive with that option selected, then copy the file again to the USB hard drive with that option deselected to get a benchmark.

If it were me, I would use a timer to see if there was a difference.  

Do you download files directly to the USB hard drive?
You might try testing that option too.


Hopefully, someone else may be able to provide some input.


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## sy2 (Mar 25, 2005)

Alright, I may give it a shot tomorrow.

And usually I don't download directly to the HDD, but sometimes I do. And I've got some friends that download from me through AIM sometimes so I may check out the upload difference as well.

I'll probably test it out tomorrow and post the results.


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## dobbelina (Apr 5, 2005)

I usually get the "Try stopping the device again later" message to when trying to disconnect my usb drive.
If i wait for about 10 seconds (with no open windows from that drive) and
choose the actual harddrive (choice 3 in your example),and click stop, it disconnects fine.


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## sy2 (Mar 25, 2005)

Hmm... maybe it was the fact that Windows Explorer was open when I tried to turn it off...

The harddrive wasn't selected, or even expanded for that matter, but it may have made a difference nonetheless...

I'll test it out right now....

.............

Nope.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

If any application is still active that's accessing the drive, you obviously can't eject it. That includes having Explorer logged into a folder, even if you don't have any files open.


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## mathesar (Dec 7, 2005)

I just fixed this on my PC (XP sp2) by process of killing tasks until I found the culprit.

The problem: The first USB drive I plug in could not be ejected even though nothing was using it.

The culprit: Intel® Desktop Utilities

If the Intel(R) Desktop Utilities Service is running, the problem manifests. Since stopping the service effectively disables the utilities, I just uninstalled them.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Thanks for the feedback, one has to wonder why the Intel utilities saw the need to lock that drive!


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