Question I can't "Safely Eject" the external HDD ?

[xilin_0]

Hello all,
I plugged in my external hard disk and nothing was done except several large files from multiple folders were deleted.
After a while, I was unable to safely eject it from the icon tray.
So what I did :

1. Restart Windows Explorer from Task Manager.Didn't work ❌
2. End Task Windows Explorer and create a new one. Didn't work. ❌
3. Disable Disk Write caching. Didn't work ❌
   
   
4. Turned off the Indexing Option. None of them was checked. Didn't work ❌
   Something like this :
   
   
   
   
5. Disabled (unchecked) Allow file on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties.Applied to the subfolder also. Didn't work ❌
   
   
   
   
6. Disabled Microsoft Windows Defender and turned the firewall off(No AV has been installed, and even the Bitdefender agent was deleted). Didn't work❌
7. I installed the Sysinternals Suite and allowed direct access to the drives. I checked two of them. Although I don't have a screenshot, as far as I remember, for one of the drives, it was showing indexing information,"and \$(something)," which is related to the system. It might be best to wait until the system has finished its process.

Finally, what I did :

I was able to turn off the system, but first I took the disk offline from Disk Management. Then, I clicked on the Safely Remove Hardware icon, and magically it worked. Finally, I turned off the system. After it completely shut down, I unplugged the external hard drive.

My questions, please :

What is the best course of action in the same situation?​

Should I seek help from third-party software?​

Thanks and regards

 

[xilin_0]

BSOD - USBPORT.sys - System Thread Exception Not Handled

Hello all,
I believe this BSOD is related to what I did for safely removing the external hard drive.
I asked here : https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/cant-eject-the-external-hard-disk-safely.3879941/

Should I take further steps, like booting into Safe Mode, to identify any logs? I have already run SMART on both my internal and external hard drives. Both are fine.

 

[xilin_0]

After two hours, I turnedthe system on and I received BSOD :
I posted here :
https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...-system-thread-exception-not-handled.3879942/

 

[Lutfij]

After a while, I was unable to safely eject it from the icon tray.
Were you able to right click on the drive in This PC(assuming you're on Windows 10 or above) and eject the drive?

When posting a thread of troubleshooting nature, it's customary to include your full system's specs. Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model. BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.

Stick to one thread unless you want spaghetti brains.

 

[Aeacus]

What is the best job in the same situation? Should I seek help from third-party software?

Lockhunter, link: https://lockhunter.com/

I've this very same program in use and thus far (many years actually, since Win7 days. Maybe even since WinXP days, can't remember, it has been in use for so long), it has never failed me. Always showing what is locking the file and it can even unlock the entire drive (your use case). Also, great tool to get rid of malware that refuses to delete by user input.

 

[xilin_0]

Lockhunter, link: https://lockhunter.com/

I've this very same program in use and thus far (many years actually, since Win7 days. Maybe even since WinXP days, can't remember, it has been in use for so long), it has never failed me. Always showing what is locking the file and it can even unlock the entire drive (your use case). Also, great tool to get rid of malware that refuses to delete by user input.

Thank you so much.
Is it easy to work with that ?

 

[xilin_0]

Sorry, which one should be used?

 

[Aeacus]

Is it easy to work with that ?

Very easy.

Once downloaded/installed, a new option appears in the context menu (the one you get by right-click), called "What is locking this file?". Once you click on that, Lochunter program launches (it may ask you for Yes/No, depending on your Win security settings), afterwhich, click Yes and new window appears, showing what is locking it. From there, you can unlock the file/drive, delete or other options.

Use lockhuntersetup file.

Another program is for safely remove USB drives (or initiate them again when plugged in). If your external HDD isn't using USB connection, then this program doesn't help you. But if it does, you can give it a go as well.

 

[xilin_0]

If your external HDD isn't using USB connection

It is connected via USB, and my problem is can't eject safely.
If I have more than one drive(partition) and the remove safely icon does not work and shows pop up message , should I do for both drive or this program gives the ability to remove it safely, like what safely remove icon do in Windows ?

 

[Aeacus]

Once you have lockhunter installed, in the This PC menu (where you see your connected drives), you can select the external drive and then right-click on it to open context menu. For removable drives, one option is "Eject". If that doesn't work, use the "What is locking this file?" option to open up lockhunter and see what is going on.