Proper method for ejecting USB 3.0 drive

strells

strells

Product Expert
This seems like a stupid question, but after I lost some very important data a couple of weeks ago, I thought I'd ask.
I'm using Windows 7 on a 2013 retina MBP. I regularly attach an NTFS formatted USB 3.0 drive to my Win7 VM. I have Tuxera installed on the Mac side so I can read and write NTFS. Normally, to attach or detach the drive from the VM, I would select the drive under Devices -> External Devices from the PD menu (I'm normally in Coherence so this is easily accessible). But I'm worried that detaching the drive like this before formally "ejecting" the drive in Windows 7 caused my data loss (reattaching the drive the next time prompted a required CHKDSK which I ran; for some reason, this seems like what deleted a bunch of recent files).

Do I have to eject a drive before disconnecting it from the VM? Also, sometimes when I do try to eject a drive, even if no programs are open, Windows says that the drive is being used, preventing the ejection.

Any thoughts or comments on this?

Thanks,
Steve
 
Hello Strells,
The option to connect an external device to the Virtual Machine, Devices > External Devices, simply disconnects the device from the Mac and connect it to the Virtual Machine. Similarly the option to disconnect the external device in similar fashion is same as using the eject option from inside the Virtual Machine.
You may use this link to see the different connecting preferences.
 
I understand this. What I am referring to is if I need to eject the drive from the operating system so that important files are properly closed to prevent data corruption.
 
Think about what you're running and what might be holding on. Did you load a portable program from that drive? If so, make sure it's closed. Same with any document, photo, or other file on the external drive. You can also open Task Manager (right-click the taskbar and select Start Task Manager) and examine both the Applications and Processes tab to see if anything is hanging on.
 
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