USB 2 External Drive Problem

Hi jslow,

I have to agree with most ,if not all you wrote about this in your last post.
It is indeed a huge failing on the part of M$ not to provide you
with a list of programs that have a hold on the USB drive.

That's why I posted the thing about Zentimo. Was hoping you'd respond in time
to pick up the free copy of it.This utility will tell you what's holding things up.
but since you didn't mention it in your post ,it looks like you missed out on it.

BTW ,if you were to shutdown Explorer, your Taskbar will be gone too ,
so you can't even get to the Safely Remove icon any more.

Looking at this problem ,you almost need a script to stop the USB drive being accessed.
Items would include all the ones mentioned before as well as in your post.

Most of the time if or when it doesn't get cleared ,I just log off and then disconnect.
But now I'm using Zentimo and it's doing a great job.

Pete E.

 

Hi DiggerP,

I did download the free version of Zentimo and I'm still trying to figure out how to use it.

Have you used the Forced Stop button?

I've tried it but I get the warning message, so I'm afraid to go any further.

I recently got a Dell laptop with Windows 7 and now, when I create a back up on this computer, I get the same message as I got on my older computer about "try again later ".

 

Hi jslow,

Great.At least you'll be able to see what's accessing the drive.
Just go throuh all the items in the Options menu (r-click Zentimo icon in Systray)
One thing you may also want to consider is using a different file manager for exploring the USB drive, like eg Free Commander.
It would eliminate Windows Explorer's hold on the drive.(Depending on Autorun settings)

Yes ,I have used Forced Stop, but do so prudently.I only use it when I know
that the progam listed has completed it's operations.
IOW, if it was eg backing up and the backup program has completed and I closed that program, but if still in memory it might show up as the one accessing the drive.This is mainly because the monitoring part of the backup program is still active.
In that case I will force it.

Even wthout using Zentimo ,I've been very successful with the following settings:

This is basically a repeat what I wrote before:
1.Set the drive letter for this drive a little ways down the alphabet,like M eg.
This will keep the drive letter from changing if other USB devices are plugged in.
2.Disable Autoruns for the drive for all file types.Set and apply for each or each category.
3.Disable System Restore monitoring for this drive.
4.Exclude this drive for monitoring or automatic scanning in your AV or Anti-malware program.
5.Disable auto monitoring of this drive by your backup program,if there is a setting for it.

Set other programs as required if found to be accessing the drive from info supplied by the Zentimo utility.

As to Win7 - go through the same routine.
Set for quick removal and follow the list above.

note to *1. I've been using the following setup for years and it's one of the first thing I do on a system.
Assign drive letters for optical drives to X and Y.
USB drives - eg 1TB -4 partitions, 250 GB each would be set to eg R,S.T and U. Plus all the settings I mentioned.
I'm not saying the letter position always holds ,because on occasion it does change,but I reset it immmediately before I do any operations on those drives.That's Windows for ya.
In my case it's also due to the fact that I triple boot from this system.

In your case the settings for the drive may well hold if always in same position.
BTW, even changing USB port seems to have an effect ,at least that's what I found.May sound strange ,but that's my experience and can duplicate it this any time.

Pete E.