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Can't Stop External Hard Drive

R

Robert Lee

Flightless Bird
I have a Western Digital 250 gb external hard drive connected via USB port.
I am also running Outlook 2007, which I believe has a function
searchindexer.exe that searches all my drives to index the files on them.

I want to be able to unplug the drive without first turning off my computer.
But I get messages saying that the drive can't be stopped. It used to be
that if I stopped searchindexer.exe, I could stop the drive. But that's
stopped working.

Here are two questions:

1. What is preventing me from stopping the drive?;

2. What is the worst that can happen if I remove it without stopping it
first?

Thanks.
 
U

Unknown

Flightless Bird
Do you have the 'safely remove hardware' icon in your tray?
"Robert Lee" <RobertLee@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:7CD3D543-F68E-4003-8C5A-6F0305AC53A4@microsoft.com...
>
> I have a Western Digital 250 gb external hard drive connected via USB
> port.
> I am also running Outlook 2007, which I believe has a function
> searchindexer.exe that searches all my drives to index the files on them.
>
> I want to be able to unplug the drive without first turning off my
> computer.
> But I get messages saying that the drive can't be stopped. It used to be
> that if I stopped searchindexer.exe, I could stop the drive. But that's
> stopped working.
>
> Here are two questions:
>
> 1. What is preventing me from stopping the drive?;
>
> 2. What is the worst that can happen if I remove it without stopping it
> first?
>
> Thanks.
 
T

Terry R.

Flightless Bird
On 3/13/2010 10:11 AM On a whim, Robert Lee pounded out on the keyboard

> I have a Western Digital 250 gb external hard drive connected via USB port.
> I am also running Outlook 2007, which I believe has a function
> searchindexer.exe that searches all my drives to index the files on them.
>
> I want to be able to unplug the drive without first turning off my computer.
> But I get messages saying that the drive can't be stopped. It used to be
> that if I stopped searchindexer.exe, I could stop the drive. But that's
> stopped working.
>
> Here are two questions:
>
> 1. What is preventing me from stopping the drive?;
>
> 2. What is the worst that can happen if I remove it without stopping it
> first?
>
> Thanks.


Hi Robert,

I have one drive that does that. Have you tried right clicking on the
drive in Explorer and selecting "Eject"? Works for me.




Terry R.
--
Anti-spam measures are included in my email address.
Delete NOSPAM from the email address after clicking Reply.
 
R

Rey Santos

Flightless Bird
It could be your antivirus or antispyware tools scanning your drive. Try
turning them off first.

Use Process Explorer:
Why do I get "device ... cannot be stopped right now" trying to safely
remove my USB drive?
http://ask-leo.com/why_do_i_get_dev...now_trying_to_safely_remove_my_usb_drive.html

Use your Task Manager to end suspected running programs accessing the drive.

--
Rey


"Robert Lee" wrote:

>
> I have a Western Digital 250 gb external hard drive connected via USB port.
> I am also running Outlook 2007, which I believe has a function
> searchindexer.exe that searches all my drives to index the files on them.
>
> I want to be able to unplug the drive without first turning off my computer.
> But I get messages saying that the drive can't be stopped. It used to be
> that if I stopped searchindexer.exe, I could stop the drive. But that's
> stopped working.
>
> Here are two questions:
>
> 1. What is preventing me from stopping the drive?;
>
> 2. What is the worst that can happen if I remove it without stopping it
> first?
>
> Thanks.
 
R

Robert Lee

Flightless Bird
Thanks to everyone who responded. Rey, you were right: if I turn off my
Norton Antivirus, I'm able to stop the drive.

Terry, I don't have an "Eject" option when I click on the external hard
drive using Windows Explorer.

Also, what's the worst that can happen if I unplug the drive without getting
the "Safe" message?

"Robert Lee" wrote:

>
> I have a Western Digital 250 gb external hard drive connected via USB port.
> I am also running Outlook 2007, which I believe has a function
> searchindexer.exe that searches all my drives to index the files on them.
>
> I want to be able to unplug the drive without first turning off my computer.
> But I get messages saying that the drive can't be stopped. It used to be
> that if I stopped searchindexer.exe, I could stop the drive. But that's
> stopped working.
>
> Here are two questions:
>
> 1. What is preventing me from stopping the drive?;
>
> 2. What is the worst that can happen if I remove it without stopping it
> first?
>
> Thanks.
 
R

Robert Lee

Flightless Bird
Thanks to everyone who responded. Rey, you were right: if I turn off my
Norton Antivirus, I'm able to stop the drive.

Terry, I don't have an "Eject" option when I click on the external hard
drive using Windows Explorer.

Also, what's the worst that can happen if I unplug the drive without getting
the "Safe" message?
"Rey Santos" wrote:

> It could be your antivirus or antispyware tools scanning your drive. Try
> turning them off first.
>
> Use Process Explorer:
> Why do I get "device ... cannot be stopped right now" trying to safely
> remove my USB drive?
> http://ask-leo.com/why_do_i_get_dev...now_trying_to_safely_remove_my_usb_drive.html
>
> Use your Task Manager to end suspected running programs accessing the drive.
>
> --
> Rey
>
>
> "Robert Lee" wrote:
>
> >
> > I have a Western Digital 250 gb external hard drive connected via USB port.
> > I am also running Outlook 2007, which I believe has a function
> > searchindexer.exe that searches all my drives to index the files on them.
> >
> > I want to be able to unplug the drive without first turning off my computer.
> > But I get messages saying that the drive can't be stopped. It used to be
> > that if I stopped searchindexer.exe, I could stop the drive. But that's
> > stopped working.
> >
> > Here are two questions:
> >
> > 1. What is preventing me from stopping the drive?;
> >
> > 2. What is the worst that can happen if I remove it without stopping it
> > first?
> >
> > Thanks.
 
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