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#1
Cannot Safely Remove External Drives
Hello all,
In recent weeks, it has become impossible for me to safely remove my external drives. (Mostly, I use Western Digital Passports, Passport Ultras, etc).
I am using Windows 10.
I close all of my programs and folders. I get the "busy" message and to try again later. I run Unlocker on the drives, and Unlocker shows no activity or actions that I can take. I bring up my task manager and nothing is running. I try to safely eject from the WD utility and it doesn't work. I try to eject by going to my computer, right clicking on the drive, and ejecting from there. Sometimes I simply wait for half an hour, read some articles, try again. I get the same "busy" or can't shut down message.
I read online that I could try to Device Manager, click on the drive, and under policies select "Optimize for Performance." However, the computer must restart for changes to take place, and when i've tried, I get stuck on an infinite "Restarting" screen.
I read somewhere that I can try to empty a hidden recycle bin on my external, but I can't seem to reveal it?
I tried posting in the WD community forum and did not receive helpful tips there.
Nothing I do lets me eject these drives. I have to shut down my entire computer every time I want to remove a drive. Any help would be greatly appreciated.