Trying to disconnect external HDD.

Peter Jason wrote:

I have an external "Maxtor" 250Gb HDD with a firewire connection that
is used solely for backups.

Often I get the message: (Windows 7)

******
Problem Ejecting SBP2 Compliant IEEE 1394 device

Windows can't stop your 'Generic volume' device because a program is
still using it. Close any programs that might be using the device, and
then try again later.
******

"Later" never works, and there's no program using it. I have to
reboot the computer to make the message go away. Is there some
other way?

Peter

This is a more common problem on Unix. And this is a tool I used
in the past for that. And while I'm there, the article tells me
what the Windows equivalent of that command is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lsof

"See also

Process Explorer from SysInternals - the equivalent for Windows
(Find menu -> Find Handle or DLL)"

So Process Explorer is supposed to be able to find open files,
such as the kind that prevent a volume from being dismounted.

You can get Process Explorer here.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/...s/bb896653

I tried the "Find menu -> Find Handle or DLL" part, and when
you get there, there is a search box. Type the drive letter.
For example, I typed C: in there, to see how many files
were open on C:.

On my E: volume, I can tell System Restore has a file open.
You might check and see if it's something like that.

In this example, only C: is included in System Restore. But other
drives, might also be included, like your Firewire drive.

http://res2.windows.microsoft.com/r...4e2bde.jpg

Paul