Some users have encountered an additional error when ejecting external hard drives. When trying to eject the drive, an error message appears: Eject fail, device busy.
Incomplete ejection can cause a variety of issues, including corrupted files, system crashes, and file system errors.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to troubleshoot the eject error when trying to eject an external hard drive in Windows 10.
- External hard drives provide a lot of space, which makes them very useful.
- However, they can fail, which is why you need to know a few ways to repair them.
- For any other storage-related issues, check out our Storage section.
- For more general troubleshooting guides, check out our Fix section.
Run an SFC scan
- Press Windows + S hotkey, type cmd, and select Run as administrator under Command prompt.
- Type this command and press Enter: sfc /scannow
- Wait for the process to finish, and restart Windows.
Run an SFC scan with DISM
- Press Windows Key + S, enter cmd, and select Run as Administrator under Command prompt.
- When Command prompt opens, enter the following command and press Enter: DISM /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
- Wait until the scan is finished (it may take a while), and then try ejecting the external hard drive again.
Download an ISO file
- Place it on an external hard drive.
- Power on the external drive.
- Make sure that the green light is steady, and not blinking.
- Wait for the Disk Utility window to open.
- Go to the First Aid tab.
- Click Run.
- Wait for the process to finish.
Reset the partition table
- Right-click on the drive and select Manage.
- Click Tools > Restore.
Clean Reinstall Windows 10
- Disconnect and reconnect the external hard drive
- Run the CHKDSK /f /r command
- Reset to Factory Defaults
- Update or Upgrade your External Hard Drive
How do I use Disk Management?
- Click the Start button.
- Type disk management.
- Click Disk Management from the list of results.
- Right-click the storage device and select Eject.
