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I have an external hard drive that I could not eject despite all programs being closed.

I followed the instructions explained in this answer to check which process was preventing the drive from being ejected.

I found two entries in the log:

  • The application \Device\HarddiskVolume5\Windows\explorer.exe with process id 21776 stopped the removal or ejection for the device USB\VID_0480&PID_0901\20211220017702F.
  • The application System with process id 4 stopped the removal or ejection for the device USB\VID_0480&PID_0901\20211220017702F.

What should I do? Should I kill explorer.exe? What is System? Should I kill that too?

Luca
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    I usually just sign off, wait 30 seconds, sign on and most of the time (90%) the drive can now be ejected. Best way. – John Oct 10 '22 at 22:13
  • Try Ctrl+Alt+Del to open Task Manager. Scroll to find Windows Explorer. Right click and select "Restart" to kill and restart explorer. Wait till Taskbar loads and try to eject. Tell us if this was successful – xypha Feb 17 '23 at 22:24

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