"This device is currently in use. Close any programs or windows that
might be using the device and then try again."

I get this after backups to plug-in drives.

It never goes away, and I have to disconnect when the computer is off.

Peter

On Sat, 18 Nov 2023 08:58:03 +1100, Peter Jason <pj@jostle.com> wrote:

>
>"This device is currently in use. Close any programs or windows that
>might be using the device and then try again."
>
>I get this after backups to plug-in drives.
>
>It never goes away, and I have to disconnect when the computer is off.
>
>Peter

Make sure the backup program is really closed. I have this, sometimes,
with Directory Opus.

KenW

On 11/17/23 05:10 PM, this is what KenW wrote:
> On Sat, 18 Nov 2023 08:58:03 +1100, Peter Jason <pj@jostle.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> "This device is currently in use. Close any programs or windows that
>> might be using the device and then try again."
>>
>> I get this after backups to plug-in drives.
>>
>> It never goes away, and I have to disconnect when the computer is off.
>>
>> Peter
>
> Make sure the backup program is really closed. I have this, sometimes,
> with Directory Opus.
>
>
> KenW
I get it a lot from Acronis Backup too. If I play around on the computer for 10 minutes, maybe, just maybe it will all
disconnect. Else I shutdown/log off. Logoff is faster obviously.
--
Linux Mint 21.2 Cinnamon
Al

On 11/17/2023 5:10 PM, KenW wrote:
> On Sat, 18 Nov 2023 08:58:03 +1100, Peter Jason <pj@jostle.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> "This device is currently in use. Close any programs or windows that
>> might be using the device and then try again."
>>
>> I get this after backups to plug-in drives.
>>
>> It never goes away, and I have to disconnect when the computer is off.
>>
>> Peter
>
> Make sure the backup program is really closed. I have this, sometimes,
> with Directory Opus.
>
>
> KenW
>

It could be Transactional NTFS (TXF), a deprecated feature that
programs like Macrium seem to use.

In Disk Management, go to the left block in a row, and select "Offline"
for the device. Then try a Safely Remove. The trouble with doing this,
is the *next* time you plug in that device, you have to go through the
same charade and select "Online" for the device, to allow it to mount.

For reasons unknown, an external plugin storage, will not obey
a "Safely Remove", as if something is open. When, definitely,
the user finds the program causing the problem (Macrium), is
exited. Sometimes a user may find materials on the partition
with "TXF" in a couple of the filenames. And this is a hint, a
breadcrumb, of what feature is doing it.

In Macrium, some of the newer versions, there's a "UI Watcher" service.
But I haven't experimented with killing that, because it really shouldn't
have any "handles" on storage. It's an information/notification thing. But
a person suffering from a problem, can try killing that as well.

Transactional NTFS, seems to be the equivalent in other file systems,
of "atomic commit". By flipping one bit with your program, you can
commit and update the file system state. I have no idea why this is
important, when the file system also has a journal and supports
playback. It could result in fewer "fragments" for playback
to clean up.

When you see information about the journal, the
software will claim the journal is "15 gigabytes" in size, whereas
the true size is "first-used minus first-free" of a FIFO buffer
and the size is approximately 32MB if you believe the documentation.
The journal then, is somewhere "between ridiculous and stupid",
and it's up to us to guess which it might be.

And there are disk structures that can "use up" the entire disk.
A mistaken growth in $BADCLUS can cause all the available
space in NTFS to be used up. A folder could look empty, yet
an attempt to copy stuff into it, would yield an "out of space".
This hardly ever happens now. The nfi.exe utility might list
some information about it, but the user has to do some math (ugh).

Paul