Having Trouble with Vista/Win7 "Safely Remove Hardware"? Programs not letting go of drive? Try this:

Tip for any vista/win7 system out there. If you're using a drive via usb/esata/1394 or some other port that recommends using the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon in the system tray; you may randomly run into an issue when some unidentified software won't let go of your device. If you can't get the device free or can't track down the program and you're stuck try this:

Open a command prompt as Administrator priveleges.
Type "diskpart" and press enter
Next type the command "list volumes" and press enter.
In the list that shows up find the volume number of the drive/device you want to remove.
Type the command "select volume #" but replace # with the volume number of the drive you want to remove and press enter.
If you enter the command "list volumes" again you should now see an "*" next to the listing of the volume # you selected.
Now type this command "remove all dismount" and press enter.
Diskpart should now have closed all program holds on your device, removed and removed its drive letter.
Enter the command "list volumes" again if you want to double check your success.
Now type "exit" and press enter to leave diskpart and you should be able to use the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon in your system tray without a problem.

When you decide to plug back in your device it might not have a drive letter assigned to it now so there are 2 ways to re-assign a letter. One involves going back into diskpart, selecting the volume you want, then typing "assign" and pressing enter.

The easier way is to right click "Computer"/"My Computer" and chose the option "Manage" or go to your Start Menu's search box and type in "Computer Management" and opening that program.
In Computer Management look at the left pane for an item called "Disk Management" click that to go in it.
You should then see a graphical layout of various drives. Find your drive missing a letter, right click it, chose "Change Drive Letter and Paths..."
Click the Add button to give your drive the letter you want. Press Ok, Press Ok again and you're done you can close Computer Management

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