How to Fix Problem Ejecting USB Mass Storage Device

A mass storage device (MSD) is basically any storage device that makes it possible to store and port large amounts of data across computers, servers, and also within an IT environment. Some of the examples of MSD are floppy disk drives, optical drives, hard disk drives, tape drives, external hard drives, RAID as well as USB storage devices. Currently, MSD gives gigabytes to petabytes of data. MSDs are portable storage media that provides a storage interface almost both the ways internally as well as externally. Internal MSDs generally can’t be removed, whereas external MSDs can also be easily removed, ported, and also plugged into another PC. In this article, we are going to talk about How to Fix Problem Ejecting USB Mass Storage Device. Let’s begin!

All of us also use mass storage devices on a daily basis or let’s just say now survival is not really possible without them. Whenever you guys want to move few of your favorite movies from your friend’s laptop to yours. You can share some important files in your office or also want to save data with yourself then use a mass storage device. External hard drives are also transferable, easy-to-use gadgets that can also give moment capacity at whatever point you guys would like to get to it.

However, sometimes you might have faced the problem that you’re trying to eject the device. But it’s showing that it is currently in use actually.

Contents

1 How to Fix Problem Ejecting USB Mass Storage Device

How to Fix Problem Ejecting USB Mass Storage Device

Yes, it is a common problem, and most of the time it’s because you guys are using some data in processing from the storage device. And meanwhile that you try to eject that for eg your whole Steam library is on your external drive and the Steam client running on your system is also reading files from it. That is when it shows you guys an error saying that drive is currently in use. Well, you should always close all the tasks that are using the resources present in the storage devices as well. Your problem should be solved but also even if after trying that you still face the problem. Then you shouldn’t lose your temper and also remove the device anyway as it creates a more serious problem from a small one and you are more likely to face the following problem:

The external USB hard drive cannot open for the second time whenever you put it back on your PC.
It might also show that the external USB hard drive is not accessible, access is denied actually.
The external USB hard drive is not recognized after unplugging without even safely ejecting.

Change Disk Properties using Disk Management

Tap on Windows Key + R and then type Diskmgmt.msc and click on Enter in order to open Disk Management.
Now right-click on the drive and then choose Properties.
Then just switch to the Hardware tab and choose the USB device and then click on the Properties button.
When the Properties window opens, you guys will see that by default Quick Removal policy is selected. Just change it to the Better Performance policy and now restart your system whenever prompted.
So, after the restart, you can perform all the above steps again but set the Removal Policy back to ‘Quick Removal’.
Now again, you need to restart your PC in order to save changes.

Now again try to eject the USB device and you guys may be able to Fix the Problem of Ejecting the USB Mass Storage Device.

Find the Application using USB Data in Task Manager | Ejecting USB Mass Storage

This method is actually one of the simplest ones. You guys have to find the task which is creating a problem and then need to kill the task using the task manager as well.

Just tap on CTRL+ALT+DLT, a Security Screen will display.
Then select the Task Manager option.
Now right-click on the problematic task and then choose End Task.

And when you guys end the process task, it won’t be able to create any issue. Now again try to eject the USB device and you guys may be able to Fix the Problem of Ejecting the USB Mass Storage Device.

Eject the USB from Disk Management

If you can’t really eject the USB device via the traditional methods then you guys can always use Disk Management in order to eject the USB device.

Tap on Windows Key + R and then type Diskmgmt.msc and click onEnter in order to open Disk Management.
Now chose the USB you want to eject.
Right-click on that specific USB and then select Eject.
Now in this way, you can easily eject the USB via the Disk Management.

Use Diskpart

In this method, you guys have to use the Windows Command Prompt. Just execute the following commands one by one on the elevated command prompt as well.

You have to type Diskpart in the Command Prompt, this will basically start the Diskpart utility.
Then, you can type list disk.
Now, you need to type list volume.
You will see a list of all the disks as well as partitions on your hard disk. Now you will also see the screen showing different volumes along with the Ltr.
Then, you have to type Select volume 4 (or any required volume accordingly).
And finally, just type the last command offline disk # as well as offline volume #

Note: You have to replace # with the disk as well as volume number.

When the command executes, this will basically mark the drive offline.

Use Process Explorer | Ejecting USB Mass Storage

Process Explorer is actually an amazing software via Microsoft that can be used to track down problems. Using this software you guys can see a list of resources that are currently being used via the processes. That file or program the process is currently utilizing as well as preventing the use of that specific file or program via another program. You guys can also sort the processes to see which process is actually utilizing the maximum CPU resources and you can also see which thread is used via CPU, as well.

You have to download the Process Explorer from the official site of Microsoft if you guys don’t have one already.
Now run the executable file via double-clicking on the exe file.
Once the Process Explorer opens up, then just tap on the Find option from the menu.
Now just choose Find Handle or DLL under the Find option. It will actually bring up the Process Explorer Search window.
Just type in the drive letter for your USB Storage device and choose Search.
This will also show you all the processes that are currently utilizing the data from the USB as well.
You can Kill all such processes and now again try to eject the USB. This time you guys won’t face any problem ejecting the USB mass storage device actually.

Run an Anti-virus Scan on Your Windows 10 Computer

If your computer is infected via a virus, then the virus may access as well as use some files in your USB device in the background. You guys can use Windows Defender as well as other third-party reliable anti-virus software. In order to perform a virus scan on your Windows 10 PC. After that, click the USB device in the Notification Center in order to see if it can be safely removed.

Turn Off Computer Security Software for Now | Ejecting USB Mass Storage

Some security software that you guys have installed on your Windows 10 PC may also interfere with some processes and access the USB device in the background. In order to cause the “Problem Ejecting USB Mass Storage Device” error. You guys can try to temporarily disable security software on Windows 10, in order to see if you can safely eject the USB storage device.

Eject USB device in Device Manager

You guys can also eject the USB devices via the Device Manager. Device Manager is basically a Control Panel applet in Microsoft Windows operating systems. It permits users to view as well as control the hardware attached to the PC.

You have to right-click on the Start Menu and then tap on Device Manager.
Now, just expand Disk drives and then right-click on the problematic USB device, and then select Uninstall.

Now you guys can safely remove the device without even any problem.

Conclusion

Well, That is all from my side. If you want to know more about this article or have any queries. Then feel free to ask me anything in the comments section below.

Have a Good Day!

Also See: How to Fix Printer Offline Status in Windows 10