Safely remove hardware in vista

[DarkManX4lf]

When I try to safely remove my flash drive in vista it says it cant remove the hardware because there is something using it. There are no open windows or anything using the drive that I know of...how can I safely remove this drive?

 

[Mem]

Go to properties of the ReadyBoost flash drive and make sure under policies tab that "optimize for removal" is checked,not" optimize for perfomance".

 

[DarkManX4lf]

When I go to the readyboost tab in properties there isnt an option to optimize for removal.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: DarkManX4lf
When I go to the readyboost tab in properties there isnt an option to optimize for removal.

Open Windows Explorer,select flash drive in question ie D: /E: etc... then right click on it and select properites then hardware tab,then select flash drive again from list ,then properties button near bottom,then policies tab.

 

[DarkManX4lf]

Originally posted by: Mem

Originally posted by: DarkManX4lf
When I go to the readyboost tab in properties there isnt an option to optimize for removal.

Open Windows Explorer,select flash drive in question ie D: /E: etc... then right click on it and select properites then hardware tab,then select flash drive again from list ,then properties button near bottom,then policies tab.

Those options are greyed out.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: DarkManX4lf

Originally posted by: Mem

Originally posted by: DarkManX4lf
When I go to the readyboost tab in properties there isnt an option to optimize for removal.

Open Windows Explorer,select flash drive in question ie D: /E: etc... then right click on it and select properites then hardware tab,then select flash drive again from list ,then properties button near bottom,then policies tab.

Those options are greyed out.

Looks like its not being used as a ReadyBoost device then,try right clicking on safely remove hardware icon in taskbar and select safely remove hardware,if that does not work I would just remove it.

 

[Mem]

Btw you can confirm it's used as a Readyboost Device select it in Windows Explorer,properties again and ReadyBoost tab,check it says "use this device", if so you can select "don't use this device" and then remove it.

 

[Mem]

Also you can go in Device Manager and select flash drive and check if optimize for performance or removal is selected.

 

[andeekaf]

Have you tried coming out of the flash drive menu (say back to Computer) and then trying the Remove Safely procedure by right clicking on the flash drive?

AK

 

[DarkManX4lf]

Originally posted by: andeekaf
Have you tried coming out of the flash drive menu (say back to Computer) and then trying the Remove Safely procedure by right clicking on the flash drive?

AK

Yeah I've tried that. I also tried to do it from the system tray.

Also you can go in Device Manager and select flash drive and check if optimize for performance or removal is selected.

I went to device manager and in there it is selected: optimize for quick removal
Sometimes the drive can be removed safely and when it does the light on the flash drive doesnt turn off like it does in XP. But I notice that when it is plugged in for a long time and used Vista doesnt want to safely remove it for some reason.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: DarkManX4lf

Originally posted by: andeekaf
Have you tried coming out of the flash drive menu (say back to Computer) and then trying the Remove Safely procedure by right clicking on the flash drive?

AK

Yeah I've tried that. I also tried to do it from the system tray.

Also you can go in Device Manager and select flash drive and check if optimize for performance or removal is selected.

I went to device manager and in there it is selected: optimize for quick removal

You can remove it then,if you are worried reboot PC and remove it at bootup screen before Vista reloads.

 

[andeekaf]

No other ideas, I'm afraid other than to say I used to have that problem on my work pc running XP. After I'd made sure everything from the flash drive was closed down, I just used to remove it and never had any problems.

AK

 

[DarkManX4lf]

Thanks for the info guys, I guess I'll just remove it after making sure nothing is reading/writing to it.

 

[BehindEnemyLines]

I find that pretty annoying at times when Windows displays the errors, but won't give a clue as to the solution. It should at least tell which process or program is locking it. If you closed all programs and it's still locked, it's probably explorer.exe or a crashed program that is still "running" in the task manager.

You can download Unlocker v1.8.5 (it says the program works with Vista). Install the program. Once installed, open up "Computer" and right-click on your flash drive and select "Unlocker". Unlocker will display a list of programs or process that's using the drive. You can test it by opening a file from the flash drive.

NOTE: Make sure you're not viewing the content of the flash drive you're removing. Just open up Computer as normal and right-click on the flash drive.

 

[DarkManX4lf]

Thanks I'll try out Unlocker.

Edit: I just installed Unlocker but when I right click on my flash drive, I dont get to choose Unlocker. It actually doesnt show up for any files either.