Can't safely remove USB Hard Drive in Windows 7 64-bit

Hi,

Thank you posting the query in Microsoft Community forums.
It seems that you receive error "can't remove the drive as it's currently in use" when you try to safely remove the drive.

Did you make any changes on the computer prior to the issue?

You may check if the issue occurs with the USB on a different computer.

Method 1:
You may run the hardware and device troubleshooter and check if the issue still persists.
Open the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Open-the-Hardware-and-Devices-troubleshooter

Method 2:
You can check Task manager to stop any processes used by the device.

a) Then open “Task Manager” (Use Ctrl+Alt+Del )

b) Once the task manager is launched click the Processes tab.

c) Examine the list of processes, if you find any process belonging to the drive or device, simply end all such processes.

d) Try removing it now.

Method 3:
Perform a clean boot and check if the issue gets resolved.
How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135
Note: After trouble shooting put the computer to start as usual by performing step 3 from the above Knowledge Base article.

Method 4:
You may run a Microsoft safety scanner to make sure computer is free from virus infection:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx
Disclaimer:
If you run the virus scan the program that is infected with virus will get deleted. So you have to reinstall the program. Also if the files and folders are affected with virus then they might even get deleted

Refer to the link:
http://windows.microsoft.com/is-IS/windows7/Safely-remove-devices-from-your-computer

Please let us know if you face any further issue with Windows. I would be glad to assist.