Problem Ejecting USB Mass Storage Device "This device is currently in use. Close any programs or windows that might be using the device, and then try again."

Nouschcat, your explanation raises several questions:

1. This problem affects multi-TB hard drives that come pre-formatted as NTFS just as it does small flash drives. If exFAT is the file system of choice for removable drives then why is it I've never seen anything except SDXC cards (for which exFAT is the official file system) being sold pre-formatted with it, instead of NTFS?
2. I have some drives that always get ejected properly on the very first attempt, and others that will stubbornly refuse every single attempt at safe removal. Even the manufacturer can't explain why this happens. Why would Windows single out certain drives for special treatment?
3. Perhaps you can explain why, if NTFS formatted USB drives are treated as internal (non-removable) fixed drives, the Safely Remove Hardware icon and Eject option is still available for them?
4. Most importantly, since the Eject option is indeed available, why the heck can't MS make TxF respond to a user's explicit demand for drive removal and initiate cessation of its journaling operations or whatever the <beep> it is doing? The "Sorry, cannot eject drive right now because it is in use" dialog is probably the most irritating and useless one I've seen in Windows to date. The OS won't bother to tell users what process if any is still writing to the drive, nor will it terminate the process after a certain period and inform the user that the drive is ready for removal, or really do anything useful at all. Just a dumb "Drive is busy right now, G.T.F.O. my lawn" message that is a TOTAL usability fail. Clearly the feature was coded by people who care nothing about user experience, or are incompetent, or quite likely both.

</rant>

The problem is widely reported.  Thousands of times! It is maddening. It does not matter which USB storage devise is used and it may not be consistent even what the USB device. The point is that some program is using the device and even in task manager you have NO way of knowing which process because nothing in  Task Manager even suggests is it associated with that or any drive. "Only connect" but you can't . Shut down every program running and it will not help. So something in the background is running and GOOD luck trying to sleuth that out.

The so-called solutions are maddening! The instructions are very badly communicated. The download Process Explorer program suggested? No help.  I get a list of no less than 98 items associated with that drive (which, in this case, is designated as E:) and none of them show up on the task manager. Moreover the instructions on what to do when you find them are incomplete. Not a clue on what to do with those items or how to terminate them. WHO writes this stuff?!  I already have a career!

So it does not matter what kind of device and the problem will probably not exist every time you use that device. It is not device related but a matter of that device being used by a program and there is no way I can find to connect that device to any program, process, service, etc., that clearly points   to that USB device.

To terminate whatever is using that device just  reboot the computer. Unless it is a program that loads on boot (which is unlikely) that reboot will terminate whatever item is in operation related to that drive. Then try again and you will be able to eject the device.

This may be a nuisance but it takes a LOT less time than the hours you will squander going through a bzillion google hits (with as many 'solution' that don't seem to work!) and downloading (possibly malicious) software programs you can't figure out.  Get a Life! You do not need new career. In my case I suspect that whatever Windows process I  used to copy items to the USB device remained in play after the job was done and I could find no way which one was associated with that  drive.  If it's not a program or process that loads on boot it will probably not be active after a reboot.Save the grief. You have WORK to get done. Don't waste more time. Just reboot and then eject.

I've been having this problem intermittently for several months.  In my case searching in process explorer returned no results matching the drive letter.  

Today I discovered something remarkable.  If I select "Computer" from the start menu, then right-click "Eject" from the USB drive in this location, it ejects properly without issue.

This implies (in my experience as a developer) that I have installed something that integrates with Windows Explorer to offer a right-click option.  The process is short-lived while the right-click menu is open, but is no longer running by the time I attempt to search for it in process explorer.

I try not to be jaded with my replies, but it seems to me that Microsoft should put the priority of "fixing things that are truly annoying" higher than the priority of "completely reinventing the user experience so that everybody is forced to relearn everything about their operating system."  Why WOULDN'T the dialog box for this error tell the user what process is blocking the requested action?

i dont know why miscrosoft do not patch for this very easy problems..

but in Windows 8 everything is fine as far as i know ..