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Can't eject USB Hard drive, drive always in use?

Anonymous
2009-11-13T05:19:19+00:00

I have a 500gb Maxtor OneTouch 4 external usb backup drive that is set to do weekly backups with Windows Backup. This works great except that everything and their grandmother wants to spin the hard drive up whenever possible. This is not an ideal situation: with exception to backup, this drive is not used for anything. So I had a great idea, I'll keep the drive unmounted until I need to backup which then a newly created scheduled task would mount, backup and unmount when done! Well, turns out, Windows doesn't think so. And this makes me a sad panda.

Safely eject hardware, you know that well hidden tray icon that really should be an eject option when you right click on the drive in Computer? Well, it shoots down my plans immediately with our favorite dialog, "This device is currently in use. Close any programs or windows that might be using the device, and then try again." Tried using another application USB Disk Eject, and it fails for the same reason.

Nuts, looks like I'll find what's locking it. Process Explorer pointed out that it is currently in use by only one application, svchost.exe:312.

Which svchost are we talking about? Oh the one that handles Windows Audio Endpoint Builder, Offline Files, HID Access, HomeGroup, Network Connections, Program Compatibility Assistence, Superfect, Tablet PC, Distributed Link Tracking Client, Remote Desktop UserMode, Desktop Window Manager Session Manager, WLAN Config, and Windows Driver Foundation - UDF. So killing this service off certainly isn't a smart idea.

I even had more fun when I saw what it's looking at:

Only two handles pointing at B::

Handle: B:\System Volume Information\tracking.log

Handle: B:$Extend$ObjId

It's looking at NTFS related files. Awesome.

Ok Windows, let's duel! What does the system log say about this?

Information 11/12/2009 11:40:39 PM UserPnp 20011 (7006)

Device action request for device 'USB\VID_0D49&PID_7310\2HA1180Z____' was vetoed by 'STORAGE\Volume{3a73b258-9be7-11de-8ce7-806e6f6e6963}#0000001388100000' with veto type 6.

Warning 11/12/2009 11:49:31 PM Kernel-PnP 225 (223)

The application System with process id 4 stopped the removal or ejection for the device USB\VID_0D49&PID_7310\2HA1180Z____.

Down for the count in one move. Touche windows.

Life according to Device Manager:

Removal policy: [x] Quick removal (default)

Volumes:

(Unnamed volume that is not assigned in Disk Management) 80,000 MB

Backup (B:) 396,937 MB

Unnamed partition currently has a corrupt fat32 partition, I removed its drive letter because it is used for PS3 backups.

Any ideas why I can't eject? I'm certainly out of them...

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2009-11-14T01:09:05+00:00

Hello Xiata,

Welcome to Microsoft Answers Forum!        

To troubleshoot the issue better, please let us know the details mentioned below:

a)    Was it working fine before?

It might occur because of virus or third party software conflicts. Try to perform a clean boot and online virus scan and check whether it helps you to fix the issue.

To find out which startup application is causing the issue, try to perform clean boot.

Clean Boot will help you start your computer by using a minimal set of drivers and startup programs so that you can determine whether a background program or any of the third party service is interfering with your program.

Steps to perform a Clean Boot:

  1. Click Start on your Desktop
  2. Type msconfig in the Start Search box and then press ENTER.

If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click   Continue.

  1. On the General tab, click Selective Startup.
  2. Under Selective Startup, click to clear the Load Startup Items check box.
  3. Click the Services tab, click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box, and then click Disable All.
  4. Click OK.
  5. When you are prompted, click Restart.

If the computer boots fine after clean boot, then there are some non Microsoft applications causing the problem. To find out which application causing the problem refer from step 2 to step 6 in the article this is mentioned in the clean boot article.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/331796

Once you find out the application which is causing the issue, i would suggest you to uninstall and reinstall the application.

To return your computer back to normal boot:

  1. Click Start on your Desktop
  2. Type msconfig in the Start Search box and then press ENTER.

If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click   Continue.

  1. Click the General tab.
  2. Click Normal Startup - load all device drivers and services, and then click OK.
  3. When you are prompted, click Restart to restart the computer.

For information on using “Clean Boot”, see the following Microsoft Article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/331796

To run an online virus scan on the computer, please refer the link mentioned below:

http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm

I hope this information helps. Please get back to us if you have any more questions about this issue.

Thanks and Regards

Mir - Microsoft Answers Support Engineer                                                              

Visit our http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/answersfeedback/threads

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-08-23T00:39:45+00:00

    The CORRECT answer is that the "Distributed Link Tracking Client" has gone nuts and is groveling the entire hard drive for who knows what reason. In my case, the drive hadn't even been used in this session of Windows. After stopping the service, I was able to eject the hard drive. For this sort of problem, you can get more information about which service svchost.exe is hosting is behind the activity by looking at the stack for a relevant item in the Sysinternals Process Monitor list. I found trkwks.dll in the stack, which is "Distributed Link Tracking Client", which maintains the "tracking.log" you mentioned. As you discovered, the Windows Event Log is no help at all, which unfortunately is very typical.

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-12-12T17:29:10+00:00

    This is not the answer to this question. How is it that this response gets ranked as the best answer?  The problem is not the user's fault.  If you do a quick search, you'll see that this has been a problem with Windows for several years.

    I just signed up for this forum, giving away personal information, just to reply to this thread.

    I recently bought a Vista PC and am having this same problem, two years later.  I can't find any answers on the Web at all.  This is such a basic thing.  It's hard to believe nobody has fixed this.

    I followed the advice of the user below to disable the distributed link service, and it did result in the locks being removed. I figured this out much faster by using "USB Safely Remove". However, now I'm finding now that the drive is still locked, according to USB Safely Remove, by Windows itself.

    It blows my mind is that I just installed linux (ubuntu) on another machine, with no problems at all. I am not one of those linux is better guys, honestly, but this sort of thing with the usb drive is the kind of nonsense I'd expect in linux, not Windows.  Can you believe we actually pay for this thing?

    Dear Support Engineer: you need to raise this issue to your superiors and either admit that there's a problem - and that we all have to power down our machines to take out USB drives, or provide a solution. 

    It is *NOT COOL* to blame the consumer, especially when they are taking a lot more time to investigate this and offer you the information you need to identify and reproduce the problem.

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-05-22T02:34:32+00:00

    It means Microsoft hired "Robert" from India to post useless answers while they're busy developing Windows 8 and making the UI look pretty and improving NOTHING.  File Explorer hasn't changed in 10 years.

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  4. Anonymous
    2011-12-06T21:35:41+00:00

    This Windows 7 USB safe-disconnect problem reminds me of the Space Shuttle and its O-rings and tiles. Both problem existed from the very beginning, were widely understood at the lowest levels, and totally ignored at every other level. Why people who paid good money for this product will then go on to spend countless hours looking for a work-around to a problem Microsoft will not spend a few minutes to fix is beyond my comprehension.

    Wake up Microsoft! This is a glaring problem. Fix it before you even think about sending out your next update, much less making us all wait for SP2 to get it fixed.

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