Windows Vista can't eject any device

Hello,
I have a Windows Vista & a major problem with any USB plugged devices, whether it’s Hard Drives, an SD card or a simple mouse, I can’t eject any device (the mouse isn’t even recognized, to begin with).
When I "safely eject" the SD cards or Hard Drives, nothing happens for a while &/or the "eject" window freezes, then I get the message saying that the device is still in use.
Even if I tried to shut down my PC, the screen keeps on showing "Shutting down…" but the laptop never shuts down, however long I wait.
I had to pull the hard disks without even ejecting them & now I’m wondering if any data was damaged.
Anyhow, how can I solve this?
Thanks

 

When you click the Safely Remove Hardware icon in Windows Vista, the device in question may not be removed as expected

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Aha! Problem identified

On a serious note though, since when has this problem started occuring? If it was recently then you might be able to use System Restore to restore your machine to an earlier time when it was working correctly…