19.01.

2017 4WaystoUnmountaDrivewikiHow

HowtoUnmountaDrive
FourMethods: UsingWindowsXP,VistaorWindow7viaDiskManagement UnmountingaDriveMountedtoaFolderinWindowsviatheCommandLine
UnmountingaDriveinLinux UnmountinginMacOSX

WindowsXP,VistaandLinuxallowyoutounmountopticaldrives,virtualdrives,andnetworkshares.Thisarticleexplainshow
tounmountadriveinWindows7,WindowsVista,andWindowsXP,aswellasLinuxandMacOSX.

Method
UsingWindowsXP,VistaorWindow7viaDiskManagement
1

1 OpentheComputerManagementapplication.ClickStart.

2 Type"run"onthesearchbox.

3 Clickon"run"underprograms.

4 Typein"compmgmt.msc".

5 Clickoktoruncomputermanagement.

6
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6 SelectDiskManagement.It'slocatedinthelefthandpaneoftheComputerManagementwindow.

7 Selectthedrive.Rightclickonthedriveorpartitionthatyouwanttounmount.

8 ChooseChangeDriveLettersandPathsfromthecontextmenu.

9 Unmountthedrive.SelectthemounteddrivethatyouwishtoremoveandclickRemove.

10 AnswerYeswhenpromptedtoremovethedrivepath.

11 QuittheDiskManagementconsole.

Method
UnmountingaDriveMountedtoaFolderinWindowsviatheCommandLine
2

1 ClickontheWindowsbuttononthebottomleftofyourscreen.

2 Starttypingcmdintothe"Startsearch"boxonthebottomnearthebutton.

3 Clickonthecmdunderprograms.

4 Unmountthedrive.TypemountvolPath/dwherePathisthefolderthatthedriveismountedto.

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Method
UnmountingaDriveinLinux
3
1 Openashell.FromtheLinuxGUI,pressCtrl+Alt+F1toopenupaShell.

Alternatively,youcanselectTerminalfromyourSystemTools.

2 Unmountthedrive.Typeumount/dev/partitionIDintheShellcommandline,wherepartitionIDistheIDofthe
partitionyouwishtounmount.

Method
UnmountinginMacOSX
4

1 Unmountthedrive.Rightclickonthedriveandselect"Eject"fromthecontextualmenu.

Alternatelyyoucandragtothetrashtheiconofthedriveyouwishtounmount.

Tips

Sometimes,whenyouaretryingtounmountadriveinLinux,youwillreceiveamessagethatthedriveisbusy.Youcan
findoutwhichapplicationiscurrentlyusingthedrivebyopeningupaTerminalorShellwindowandenteringthefollowing
command:lsof+D/mnt/windows.Thiswillletyouknowwhichprocessneedstobeclosedoutoforkilledsoyoucan
successfullyunmountthedrive.
Removingamounteddrivedoesnotdeleteanyinformationinthefolder,itsimpleunmountsthedrive.
TheLinuxunmountcommandcanbeusedtounmountfloppydrives,USBflashdrives,filepartitionsandCDdrives.The
syntaxofthecommandwhenyouareunmountingmediaisslightlydifferent.Forexample,tounmountaCDdrive,you
wouldenterthecommandumount/media/cdromintheShellorTerminalcommandline.

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Warnings
TakenotethatthecommandforunmountingadriveinLinuxisUMOUNT,notUNMOUNT.
WhetheryouareusingLinuxorWindows,itissmarttounmountaUSBthumbdrivebeforeunpluggingitfromtheUSB
port.Thisensuresthatyoudontexperienceanydatalosswhenunpluggingthedrive.UnmountinLinuxusingtheabove
command.UnmountinWindowsbyrightclickingontheRemoveHardwareSafelyiconinyourtaskbarandchoosingto
stoptheUSBdrive.

SourcesandCitations

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307889
http://kb.iu.edu/data/anqk.html

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