Can not safely remove external device when hidden files are shown?


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JohnnyGui

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When hidden files are shown in the folder options of explorer, trying to safely eject an external harddrive (via the icon in the system tray) results in an error saying that the device is in use. The moment I disable "show hidden files" I can safely remove the device.

Is this something others are experiencing as well?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Pro 11 23H2 Build 22631.3737
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built
    CPU
    i5-12600K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z690 UD DDR4
    Memory
    Transcend 16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Zotac 4070Ti Trinity
    Sound Card
    Internal: Realtek® ALC892 codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus VZ239-H
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    Kingston 500GB nVME
    Case
    Fractal Focus 2 RGB White
    Cooling
    Xilence LQ240PRO Watercooling
    Browser
    Edge Chromium
Usually Hidden files are similar to System files and still in use by the System. Might need to know what they are and in Task Manager use End Task to close them or close the program using them first. Sometimes simply closing File Explorer works and sometimes using Task Manager and Restart File Explorer will help.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 Pro RTM
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3400
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 11th Gen. 2.40GHz
    Memory
    12GB
    Hard Drives
    256GB SSD NVMe M.2
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro RTM x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 5890
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 10th Gen. 2.90GHz
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Onboard, no VGA, using a DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24" Dell
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD NVMe, 4TB Seagate HDD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender/Microsoft Security
I don't know if I am affected by that because I never eject external drives - I just unplug them. With the default policy for external drives, there is simply no need to have to eject a drive.

Image1.webp
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 Pro 24H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self-built
    CPU
    Intel i7 11700K
    Motherboard
    ASUS Prime Z590-A MB
    Memory
    64GB (Waiting for warranty replacement of another 64GB for 128GB total)
    Graphics Card(s)
    No GPU - Built-in Intel Graphics
    Sound Card
    Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP Envy 32
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1440
    Hard Drives
    1 x 1TB NVMe SSD
    1 x 2TB NVMe SSD
    1 x 4TB NVMe SSD
    3 x 512GB 2.5" SSD
    1 x 4TB 2.5" SSD
    5 x 8TB Seagate Barracuda HDD
    PSU
    Corsair HX850i
    Case
    Corsair iCUE RGB 5000X mid tower case
    Cooling
    Noctua NF-S12A chromax.black.swap case fans (Qty. 7) & Home Computer Specifications, Configuration, and Usage Notes General Specifications ASUS Prime Z590-A motherboard, serial number M1M0KC222467ARP Intel Core i7-11700K CPU (11th Gen Rocket Lake / LGA 1200 Socket) 128GB Crucial Ballistix RGB DDR4 3200 MHz DRAM (4 x 32GB) Corsair iCUE RGB 5000X mid tower case Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black CPU cooler Noctua NF-S12A chromax.black.swap case fans (Qty. 7) & Corsair LL-120 RGB Fans (Qty. 3)
    Keyboard
    Corsair K70 Max RGB Magnetic Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1 Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    The five 8TB drives and three 512GB SSDs are part of a DrivePool using StableBit DrivePool software. The three SSDs are devoted purely to caching for the 8TB drives. All of the important data is stored in triplicate so that I can withstand simultaneous failure of 2 disks.

    Networking: 2.5Gbps Ethernet and WiFi 6e
  • Operating System
    Win11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 2
    CPU
    Intel i7-1255U
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC3306-CG codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3-inch IPS Display
    Screen Resolution
    WQXGA (2560 x 1600)
    Hard Drives
    2 TB 4 x 4 NVMe SSD
    PSU
    USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 Power / Charging
    Mouse
    Buttonless Glass Precision Touchpad
    Keyboard
    Backlit, spill resistant keyboard
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    WiFi 6e / Bluetooth 5.1 / Facial Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / ToF (Time of Flight) Human Presence Sensor
Try ejecting the drive two or three times. If that doesn't work when I get home I'll look for the link to the ejecting program i use.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec B746
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-10700K
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming 4/ax
    Memory
    16GB (8GB PC4-19200 DDR4 SDRAM x2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 TI
    Sound Card
    Realtek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    #1. LG ULTRAWIDE 34" #2. AOC Q32G2WG3 32"
    Screen Resolution
    #1. 3440 X 1440 #2. 1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    NVMe WDC WDS100T2B0C-00PXH0 1TB
    Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB
    PSU
    750 Watts (62.5A)
    Case
    PowerSpec/Lian Li ATX 205
    Keyboard
    Logitech K270
    Mouse
    Logitech M185
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge and Firefox
    Antivirus
    ESET Internet Security
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec G156
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8400 CPU @ 2.80GHz
    Motherboard
    AsusTeK Prime B360M-S
    Memory
    16 MB DDR 4-2666
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Speptre HDMI 75Hz
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO 500GB NVMe
    Mouse
    Logitek M185
    Keyboard
    Logitek K270
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge and Edge Canary
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
hsehestedt said:
I don't know if I am affected by that because I never eject external drives - I just unplug them. With the default policy for external drives, there is simply no need to have to eject a drive.

View attachment 131786
Click to expand...
I tried that some time ago but due to our daily power bumps and before the UPS I opted for the Safely Remove after having lost some files due to corruption.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 Pro RTM
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3400
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 11th Gen. 2.40GHz
    Memory
    12GB
    Hard Drives
    256GB SSD NVMe M.2
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro RTM x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 5890
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 10th Gen. 2.90GHz
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Onboard, no VGA, using a DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24" Dell
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD NVMe, 4TB Seagate HDD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender/Microsoft Security
Berton said:
Usually Hidden files are similar to System files and still in use by the System. Might need to know what they are and in Task Manager use End Task to close them or close the program using them first. Sometimes simply closing File Explorer works and sometimes using Task Manager and Restart File Explorer will help.
Click to expand...
Closing File Explorer or even rebooting the PC doesn't fix this. The moment I disable "show hidden files" I am able to safely remove the external device. Could you perhaps test this at your end?

Winuser said:
Try ejecting the drive two or three times. If that doesn't work when I get home I'll look for the link to the ejecting program i use.
Click to expand...
I tried it several times but it keeps saying it's busy. It seems the "Show hidden files" option is the cause at my end but I'm wondering if this is normal behaviour.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Pro 11 23H2 Build 22631.3737
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built
    CPU
    i5-12600K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z690 UD DDR4
    Memory
    Transcend 16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Zotac 4070Ti Trinity
    Sound Card
    Internal: Realtek® ALC892 codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus VZ239-H
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    Kingston 500GB nVME
    Case
    Fractal Focus 2 RGB White
    Cooling
    Xilence LQ240PRO Watercooling
    Browser
    Edge Chromium
JohnnyGui said:
Closing File Explorer or even rebooting the PC doesn't fix this. The moment I disable "show hidden files" I am able to safely remove the external device. Could you perhaps test this at your end?


I tried it several times but it keeps saying it's busy. It seems the "Show hidden files" option is the cause at my end but I'm wondering if this is normal behaviour.
Click to expand...
I have show hidden files selected in File Explorer and on occasion it takes two or more tries before I get the Safe To Remove notice. I never associated it as being the reason why. If you want I'll restart my computer so I can log-in to my Insider build to get the name of the program I use. I'm just starting to switch over to 24H2 as my main OS so I only have a couple of programs moved over from the Canary build.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec B746
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-10700K
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming 4/ax
    Memory
    16GB (8GB PC4-19200 DDR4 SDRAM x2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 TI
    Sound Card
    Realtek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    #1. LG ULTRAWIDE 34" #2. AOC Q32G2WG3 32"
    Screen Resolution
    #1. 3440 X 1440 #2. 1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    NVMe WDC WDS100T2B0C-00PXH0 1TB
    Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB
    PSU
    750 Watts (62.5A)
    Case
    PowerSpec/Lian Li ATX 205
    Keyboard
    Logitech K270
    Mouse
    Logitech M185
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge and Firefox
    Antivirus
    ESET Internet Security
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec G156
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8400 CPU @ 2.80GHz
    Motherboard
    AsusTeK Prime B360M-S
    Memory
    16 MB DDR 4-2666
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Speptre HDMI 75Hz
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO 500GB NVMe
    Mouse
    Logitek M185
    Keyboard
    Logitek K270
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge and Edge Canary
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Winuser said:
I have show hidden files selected in File Explorer and on occasion it takes two or more tries before I get the Safe To Remove notice. I never associated it as being the reason why. If you want I'll restart my computer so I can log-in to my Insider build to get the name of the program I use. I'm just starting to switch over to 24H2 as my main OS so I only have a couple of programs moved over from the Canary build.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the testing. You mean you use a 3rd party program to safely remove an external device? I was wondering about the Windows feature of safely removing devices, via the icon in the systray (right lower corner).
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Pro 11 23H2 Build 22631.3737
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built
    CPU
    i5-12600K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z690 UD DDR4
    Memory
    Transcend 16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Zotac 4070Ti Trinity
    Sound Card
    Internal: Realtek® ALC892 codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus VZ239-H
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    Kingston 500GB nVME
    Case
    Fractal Focus 2 RGB White
    Cooling
    Xilence LQ240PRO Watercooling
    Browser
    Edge Chromium
I just put a USB drive in with some hidden files and turned off see hidden files. It ejected with no problem. I tried several variations, no problem at all. I don't have any 3rd party drivers, I just right clicked on the drive in This PC and said EJECT.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Build 26100.3775
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brew
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 14500
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte B760M G P WIFI
    Memory
    64GB DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce RTX 4060
    Sound Card
    Chipset Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG 45" Ultragear, Acer 24" 1080p
    Screen Resolution
    5120x1440, 1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Crucial P310 2TB 2280 PCIe Gen4 3D NAND NVMe M.2 SSD (O/S)
    Silicon Power 2TB US75 Nvme PCIe Gen4 M.2 2280 SSD (backup)
    Crucial BX500 2TB 3D NAND (2nd backup)
    External off-line backup Drives: 2 NVMe 4TB drives in external enclosures
    PSU
    Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 750W
    Case
    LIAN LI LANCOOL 216 E-ATX PC Case
    Cooling
    Lots of fans!
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000
    Mouse
    Logitech G305
    Internet Speed
    Verizon FiOS 1GB
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Malware Bytes & Windows Security
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Build 26100.3775
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brew
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 14400
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte B760M DS3H AX
    Memory
    32GB DDR5
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel 700 Embedded GPU
    Sound Card
    Realtek Embedded
    Monitor(s) Displays
    27" HP 1080p
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Crucial P310 2TB 2280 PCIe Gen4 eD NAND PCIe SSD
    Samsung EVO 990 2TB NVMe Gen4 SSD
    Samsung 2TB SATA SSD
    PSU
    Thermaltake Smart BM3 650W
    Case
    Okinos Micro ATX Case
    Cooling
    Fans
    Mouse
    Logitech G305
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000
    Internet Speed
    Verizon FiOS 1GB
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Malware Bytes & Windows Security
gunrunnerjohn said:
I just put a USB drive in with some hidden files and turned off see hidden files. It ejected with no problem. I tried several variations, no problem at all. I don't have any 3rd party drivers, I just right clicked on the drive in This PC and said EJECT.
Click to expand...
I have experienced the same a few times, seems File Explorer does not have the same issues as the Safely Remove on the Notification Area.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 Pro RTM
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3400
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 11th Gen. 2.40GHz
    Memory
    12GB
    Hard Drives
    256GB SSD NVMe M.2
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro RTM x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 5890
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 10th Gen. 2.90GHz
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Onboard, no VGA, using a DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24" Dell
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD NVMe, 4TB Seagate HDD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender/Microsoft Security
OK, I tried it and used Safely Eject, and it still worked every time. :unsure:
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Build 26100.3775
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brew
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 14500
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte B760M G P WIFI
    Memory
    64GB DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce RTX 4060
    Sound Card
    Chipset Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG 45" Ultragear, Acer 24" 1080p
    Screen Resolution
    5120x1440, 1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Crucial P310 2TB 2280 PCIe Gen4 3D NAND NVMe M.2 SSD (O/S)
    Silicon Power 2TB US75 Nvme PCIe Gen4 M.2 2280 SSD (backup)
    Crucial BX500 2TB 3D NAND (2nd backup)
    External off-line backup Drives: 2 NVMe 4TB drives in external enclosures
    PSU
    Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 750W
    Case
    LIAN LI LANCOOL 216 E-ATX PC Case
    Cooling
    Lots of fans!
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000
    Mouse
    Logitech G305
    Internet Speed
    Verizon FiOS 1GB
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Malware Bytes & Windows Security
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Build 26100.3775
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brew
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 14400
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte B760M DS3H AX
    Memory
    32GB DDR5
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel 700 Embedded GPU
    Sound Card
    Realtek Embedded
    Monitor(s) Displays
    27" HP 1080p
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Crucial P310 2TB 2280 PCIe Gen4 eD NAND PCIe SSD
    Samsung EVO 990 2TB NVMe Gen4 SSD
    Samsung 2TB SATA SSD
    PSU
    Thermaltake Smart BM3 650W
    Case
    Okinos Micro ATX Case
    Cooling
    Fans
    Mouse
    Logitech G305
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000
    Internet Speed
    Verizon FiOS 1GB
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Malware Bytes & Windows Security
gunrunnerjohn said:
OK, I tried it and used Safely Eject, and it still worked every time. :unsure:
Click to expand...

So I just tried it again after a reboot and it worked fine now. I always seem to experience some kind of inconsistency with Windows issues..
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Pro 11 23H2 Build 22631.3737
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built
    CPU
    i5-12600K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z690 UD DDR4
    Memory
    Transcend 16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Zotac 4070Ti Trinity
    Sound Card
    Internal: Realtek® ALC892 codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus VZ239-H
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    Kingston 500GB nVME
    Case
    Fractal Focus 2 RGB White
    Cooling
    Xilence LQ240PRO Watercooling
    Browser
    Edge Chromium
Hard to say what was going on there, but since there are millions of lines of code in Windows, it's easy to see there can be a few ghosts hanging around in there. :LOL:
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Build 26100.3775
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brew
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 14500
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte B760M G P WIFI
    Memory
    64GB DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce RTX 4060
    Sound Card
    Chipset Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG 45" Ultragear, Acer 24" 1080p
    Screen Resolution
    5120x1440, 1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Crucial P310 2TB 2280 PCIe Gen4 3D NAND NVMe M.2 SSD (O/S)
    Silicon Power 2TB US75 Nvme PCIe Gen4 M.2 2280 SSD (backup)
    Crucial BX500 2TB 3D NAND (2nd backup)
    External off-line backup Drives: 2 NVMe 4TB drives in external enclosures
    PSU
    Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 750W
    Case
    LIAN LI LANCOOL 216 E-ATX PC Case
    Cooling
    Lots of fans!
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000
    Mouse
    Logitech G305
    Internet Speed
    Verizon FiOS 1GB
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Malware Bytes & Windows Security
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Build 26100.3775
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brew
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 14400
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte B760M DS3H AX
    Memory
    32GB DDR5
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel 700 Embedded GPU
    Sound Card
    Realtek Embedded
    Monitor(s) Displays
    27" HP 1080p
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Crucial P310 2TB 2280 PCIe Gen4 eD NAND PCIe SSD
    Samsung EVO 990 2TB NVMe Gen4 SSD
    Samsung 2TB SATA SSD
    PSU
    Thermaltake Smart BM3 650W
    Case
    Okinos Micro ATX Case
    Cooling
    Fans
    Mouse
    Logitech G305
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000
    Internet Speed
    Verizon FiOS 1GB
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Malware Bytes & Windows Security
Is the external hard drive in a caddy or connected direct? If it is in a caddy then see photo (credit to Computer Active magazine issue 706 page 65): -

Cannot safely eject.webp
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP EliteDesk 705 G5
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 5 Pro 3400GE
    Memory
    8GB DDR4 SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated AMD Radeon Vega 11
    Hard Drives
    256 GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    DELL Inspiron 15-3576
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8250U
    Memory
    8 GB DDR4 - 2400 SODIMM
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel UHD Graphics 620
    Hard Drives
    256GB SK Hynix SC311 SATA SSD
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