Is there anything that would list every task that's using the drive so that I could properly close what applications were using it? Killing all of them sounds great when one is in a hurry, but otherwise I just want to do it right.

TVarmy

@AltReality: Unlocker has an "Unlock All" option. You can right-click on the drive letter in "My Computer" to use Unlocker on the entire drive.

The real downside is that Unlocker isn't portable.

However, if you just always need to eject that one @!*%&#! drive and have it assigned to a specific drive letter, unlocker can take the path as a command line parameter. So you can create a shortcut to unlock it like:

Unlocker.exe Q:

joelena

I believe unlocker can only end tasks one-by-one, while ejectusb detects what's touching your drive and ends it all in one click.

AltReality

Why not use Unlocker instead? It does the same thing but is more versatile because it also works for single locked files or folders:
[ccollomb.free.fr]

emmzee

good to have on-hand, although I've found that many times, it's either WINWORD.EXE still running, or a file copy process is still running in the cache.

Norcross

I've been looking for something like this forever. This is wonderful, works great. I have it as a magicword in my portable slickrun. Thanks!

S@ndman

"the program will mercilessly kill every program, process, or anything else touching your drive, letting you safely remove it without any fear of data loss. "

Well if it kills the program using the drive, would it not create data loss by itself??

Neo

"USB drives that just won't property eject in Windows,"

Property = Properly.

fix it =]

Rob C

I wanted this yesterday when my iPod can't be released despite closing iTunes. I only found out later that MixMeister BPM Analyzer was keeping the iPod from being released.
Just tested it with my thumbdrive. Nice!... and explorer wasn't "killed". :)

Junkan

Does it kill the processes or just kill the handles? Because half the time if it isn't an app or isn't Explorer it's some deep down windows system process, that I wouldn't necessarily want to kill.

johnsmith1234

I have an excellent USB drive force-ejecting solution already that has worked for years... it's called my thumb and fingers. For beginners I recommend the thumb and forefinger, but more advanced techniques are possible...

sewob

According to EjectUSB's documentation, it will use Unlocker to close file handles if it is found in EjectUSB's directory. There are several other helper apps listed that EjectUSB will use if found -- nifty idea.

irkregent

It looks nice, but as the control freak I am, I prefer to use something like MS process explorer to find the guilty threads. Then I can kill them if they are deemed unnecessary.

kalleguld

@sewob: haha, very funny. i agree. for more advanced users, u can upgrade to ejection by teeth, good for those stubborn stuck drives.

but seriously, as long as i know i've got no open docs on it, i just yank it out since the U3 thing stopped working right on my pc.

tjmage1

One of the members of the Autohotkey forum just needed something similar to this. Another member wanted to point out that the way the title of the post wraps is pretty funny,

engunneer

If you're going to use EjectUSB to "...mercilessly kill every program, process, or anything else touching your drive", why not just unplug it? I know that sewob uses that method, but what are the downsides to just unplugging it versus using EjectUSB?

cellojoe

I grabbed this in a hot minute as my USB key never ejects on my work PC. Did it work? No! It closed the programs I'd deliberately left open alright, but then hung. Ouch!

portobello_man

@cellojoe: Ditto. I had the same thought. If you KNOW that nothing is using the drive, just remove it. Why not?

aikoto

most removable storage devices are automatically set for quick removal. it's a setting in the devices properties...the other option being to set it for optimal performance. so like some people above already said, if you have nothing open, just pull it out.

MobileMilitia

just remembered...
The last time I yanked an NTFS formatted flashdrive it didn't set the drive as 'not in use'. I then wasn't able to mount the drive in Linux because apparently NTFS has a flag for 'in use'. Would using EjectUSB prevent that problem?

cellojoe