How to determine which program stops safe ejection of a device

Maddening and long standing issue with windows: which program or service is "using" or "accessing" a device and is preventing a clean disconnect. Totally unnecessary waste of time.
The should be a simple way to 'ask' - WHAT IS ACCESSING THE DEVICE?? - which results in list, if any, of any and all culprits. Shutting down a machine is not as simple as in the old days and should not be the only option for a clean device disconnect. Something that would allow you to go to task manager and kill whatever it is could be the worst case scenario, but at least doable. Anyone have a suggestion? TIA

@Tranas

First off, here's ten points, just for filling out your computer specs.


Secondly, are you referring to computer shutdown, or disconnecting something like a USB stick?
If it's a delayed computer shutdown, there are tutorials that will solve that issue.

If it's actually disconnecting a device, then you need to tell us what device you're having problems with.
In most cases, it's caused by some piece of software. Generally, "thinking" about the software you have installed and which may be causing the issue, helps.

There's no general solution for something like this. Because everyone has different things installed.

Sometimes, it will even be some sort of manufacturer's software ON the device itself.
For example, sometimes things like USB sticks or external drives will have some manufacturer's software that is only visible in their marketing of the device.

Something like... our device has some sort of security thingy, aren't you glad.

Also... various antivirus programs can get a bit over zealous in scanning "devices".

This is a section of my Bitdefender AV settings..



If I had "Scan Flash drives" Enabled, it would take quite a bit of time before I could "Eject" my 256GB flash drive.

Try LockHunter LockHunter is a free 64/32 bit tool to delete files blocked by any processes