Inability to stop a connected external hard drive accompanied by a message that Windows cannot stop the "universal volume" is a fairly common problem. Its solution can be found in the use of standard tools of the system itself.
Instructions
Step 1
Call the main system menu by clicking the "Start" button and go to the "Control Panel" item. Expand the Hardware and Sound link and expand the Device Manager node. If you logged in with an administrator account, the manager window will open immediately. If you used a user account that is a member of the Administrators group to log in, click the "Continue" button in the User Account Control dialog box that appears.
Step 2
An alternative method to launch the Windows Device Manager utility is to use the command line. To do this, return to the main Start menu and go to the Run dialog. Type mmc devmgmt.msc in the "Open" line and confirm the launch of the dispatcher by clicking OK. Please note that this action cannot be performed as a regular user - the device manager will be read-only.
Step 3
Expand the "Processes" link in the dispatcher dialog box that opens and click the "Show processes for all users" button at the bottom of the window. Find all processes running under the account you are using in the directory that opens and disable them one by one until you get the desired result.
Step 4
To completely eliminate the problem with the inability to stop the external hard drive, it is necessary to get rid of the influence of all third-party applications, i.e. perform a clean boot of the operating system. To do this, reboot in safe mode and open the "Control Panel" item. Go to the Administration section and expand the System Configuration node. Click the Startup tab in the dialog box that opens and uncheck the boxes for any items that are not signed by the manufacturer from Microsoft. Go to the Services tab and repeat the same steps. Confirm the execution of the selected action by clicking on the "Apply" button and reboot the system.
