Unable to eject USB drives due to Win Defender

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  1. RBT
    Posts : 53
    Windows 10 Home
       #11

    dalchina said:
    Hi, you might try adding an exclusion:
    Exclude external drive from Defender Virus Scan
    Thanks for reply, normally one would exclude the drive with Windows Defender. But in my case that was not possible due to the Windows Defender delegating that to Norton Antivirus and then graying out the ability to exclude it via Windows Defender. (It was (is) excluded it in Norton)
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 42,733
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #12
      My Computers


  3. RBT
    Posts : 53
    Windows 10 Home
       #13

    dalchina said:
    . . . . . . .
    Section here on that too- tenforums tutorial: Add or Remove Microsoft Defender Antivirus Exclusions in Windows 10
    Sorry for late reply something came up. I tried your registry suggestion.
    Opened Regcool with admin privileges to,
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Exclusions\Paths

    Tried to add the pertinent USB drive path but was denied access to key. So right clicked key and clicked Permissions, added my logged in user profile name, which by the way is an administrator level account. Then tried to set the privileges for the newly added User and was again denied access.

    Is there a trick to getting past the Defender's ownership of this key?

    What would really be productive rather than excluding every external drive letter used for backups, would be to just exclude all external drives from the Defender's scan etc.
    Maybe something like this if that's possible.
    HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan\DisableRemovableDriveScanning
    Enable 0 ? Disable 1
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 77
    Windows 10 Pro
       #14

    First, use Disk Management to toggle the drive offline then back online.

    Second, eject the drive using the Safely Remove icon in the notification area.

    Works every time.

    If you forget to set the drive back online, you won't see it in file explorer the next time you connect it until you bring it back online.

    You can make a shortcut to discmgmt.msc and keep it close to the tray for easier access.
      My Computer


  5. RBT
    Posts : 53
    Windows 10 Home
       #15

    I tried the powershell method and it was able to by pass any permissions issues I had in the registry editor and wrote the below to the registry,
    Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "F:"
    Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "L:"

    However, after the registry exclusions in
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Exclusions\Paths,
    and rebooting, I still get the below items blocking release when asking Safely Remove USB to eject drive F:
    System
    F:\System Volume Information\EfaSIDat\SYMEFA.DB
    F:\$Extend\$RmMetadata\$Txf:$130:$INDEX_ALLOCATION
    F:\$Extend\$RmMetadata\$TxfLog\$TxfLogContainer000000000002
    F:\$Extend\$RmMetadata\$TxfLog\$TxfLog.blf
    F:\System Volume Information\EfaSIDat\SYMEFA.DB
    F:\$Extend\$RmMetadata\$TxfLog\$TxfLogContainer000000000001
    (but no MsMpEng.exe showing this time)

    Apparently these files are used for Windows stuff like Shadow Copies etc. As to why Win10 won't release them well after a mirror sync is a mystery.
    I thank all the replies but for the time being I will continue to aleviate this windows sloppyness by just letting Safely Remove USB force close the process. I've done it 2 separate times over the past week and have not had any issues yet.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 77
    Windows 10 Pro
       #16

    letting Safely Remove USB force close the process.
    What do you do when the Safely Remove process gives the message that it isn't safe?
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 42,733
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #17

    You make an executive decision based on the information available.

    There is the option to forcibly close processes.
    And you could even choose to log off or shut down I suppose... which rather defeats the object of course.

    USB Safely Remove is being given away- might still be valid for a couple of hours - my post yesterday:
    USB Safely Remove Giveaway v6.4 - 13hrs left 16-6-21
      My Computers


  8. Posts : 77
    Windows 10 Pro
       #18

    Do you know of some risk associated with using the Windows 10 offline/online functionality within Disk Management? Following the really easy steps in my previous post allows safe removal in every case I have encountered and that includes cases where even a restart wouldn't allow removal.

    It only takes a few seconds once you have a desktop shortcut to diskmgmt.msc.
      My Computer


  9. RBT
    Posts : 53
    Windows 10 Home
       #19

    mjohnsonn2 said:
    Do you know of some risk associated with using the Windows 10 offline/online functionality within Disk Management? Following the really easy steps in my previous post allows safe removal in every case I have encountered and that includes cases where even a restart wouldn't allow removal. It only takes a few seconds once you have a desktop shortcut to diskmgmt.msc.
    In response to your question I reasoned the following.
    I have a DiskMgmt shortcut (C:\Windows\System32\diskmgmt.msc) on my Desktop and use it for formatting, partitioning needs. But didn't see a anything to toggle the drive offline (?). I only saw Shrink or Delete Volume, possibly my old eyes are defective(?).
    So at the time I surmised whatever disk Mgmt must do to "toggle" the USB offline must in some way be similar to the process that Safely Remove USB does with the "Force Close" option. That coupled with me getting a bit weary of windows sloppiness in this area I just went with USB app (which I'd already purchased). I did watch for any signs of issues on following boots but have not had any now (spell edit) going on 6 days.
    Hopefully with the next updates Windows will clean this slop up and we won't have to go through hoops to use our USB drives for image and file backups.
    I do thank you for your reply though, all replies are helpful and I weight each against the reality of the situations that happen.
    Last edited by RBT; 18 Jun 2021 at 10:12. Reason: Spell edit, not to now
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 77
    Windows 10 Pro
       #20

    But didn't see a anything to toggle the drive offline (?)
    Bring up Disk Management. Wait a few moments for it to populate.

    You will see squares at the left of the screen that have labels such as "Disk 0," "Disk 1," etc. Each square indicates whether its associated disk is online or offline. More detailed info about the disks is to the right that you can use to easily identify the disk in question.

    Find the disk you are having trouble removing.

    Right click the square region at the left. In most cases, upon right clicking, you will see the word "offline" or "online." Click the word "offline" to take it offline. Click "online" to bring it back. Then use the icon in the notification area to eject.

    It really isn't as much trouble as it looks. You can do it in just a few clicks--especially after you set up a shortcut.

    The web has been SCREAMING for years about how to safely remove fool USB devices. There are a bazillion sites that say to do all sorts of ridiculous stuff that doesn't work. Sometimes Windows even gets confused and thinks a USB drive is a regular internal drive. Take the drive offline to free it up and put it back and eject it. That usually works. No muss no fuss.
    Last edited by mjohnsonn2; 18 Jun 2021 at 21:55.
      My Computer


 

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