Windows XP, Vista and Linux allow you to unmount optical drives, virtual disks and network resource shares. This article shows you how to do this in Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Linux, and Mac OS X.
Steps
Method 1 of 4: Method 1: Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7
Step 1. Launch the 'Computer Management' application
Step 2. If you have Windows XP, select the 'Run' item, from the 'Start' menu, and, in the 'Open' field, type the command 'compmgmt.msc'
Step 3. If you have Windows Vista, or Windows 7, in the search field of the 'Start' menu, type the command 'compmgmt.msc' and press enter
Select the application icon from the results list.
Step 4. Select the 'Disk Management' item
You can find it in the list on the left, in the 'Computer Management' window.
Step 5. Select the drive
With the right mouse button, select the drive or disk partition you want to unmount.
Step 6. From the context menu, select 'Change drive letter or path'
Step 7. Unmount the drive
Select the disk or drive you want to remove, then choose the 'Remove' menu item.
Step 8. Click the confirm button, in the new window that appeared, to delete the drive or network path
Step 9. You can close the 'Computer Management' window
Method 2 of 4: Method 2: Remove a drive with the Windows command prompt
Step 1. Note:
this method works even if the drive is damaged, turned off, or missing.
Step 2. Launch Command Prompt
Open the 'Start' menu:
Step 3. In Windows XP, select the 'Run' item and type 'cmd' in the 'Open' field
Step 4. In Windows Vista or Windows 7, type 'cmd' in the search field, then select the icon from the list of results, using the key sequence 'Ctrl + Shift + Enter', to open the command prompt with the computer administrator privileges
Step 5. In Windows Vista and Windows 7, you will be prompted for confirmation in order to open the command prompt
Step 6. Unmount the drive
Type the following command: 'mountvol / d', which indicates the folder the drive refers to.
Method 3 of 4: Unmount drives in Linux
Step 1. Open the system 'Shell'
From the Linux GUI, press the 'Ctrl + alt="Image" + F1' keys, to open the 'Shell' window.
Alternatively, you can start the 'Terminal' application, from the menu of your Linux version
Step 2. Unmount the drive
Type the command 'umount / dev / partitionID', from the command line of the 'Shell', 'partitionID' will be the identifier of the partition to be removed.
Method 4 of 4: Mac OS X
Step 1. Unmount the drive
Select the drive you want to remove, with the right mouse button, and, from the context menu, select the 'Eject' item.
Alternatively, drag the icon for the drive you want to remove to the trash
Advice
- Removing a mounted drive does not delete its data, it simply removes its reference from within the computer.
- Sometimes, it may happen that by unmounting a drive in Linux, the system warns you that the resource is currently busy. To find out what is blocking the drive, open a 'Terminal' window, or a system 'Shell', and type the following command: 'lsof + D / mnt / windows'. This command will allow you to locate the process you need to close so that you can properly remove the drive.
- The Linux unmount command can be used to remove floppy drives, USB drives, partitions and optical drives. The command syntax for unmounting these drives is slightly different. For example, if you want to remove a CD player, you will have to type in the 'Shell', or in the terminal window, the following command: 'umount / media / cdrom'.
Warnings
- Note that the Linux command to unmount a drive is 'UMOUNT' and not 'UNMOUNT'.
- Whether you are using Linux or Windows, it is recommended that you unmount before removing any USB devices. This way you won't experience any data loss. To unmount in Linux, follow the instructions above, while in Windows perform the 'Safely Remove Hardware' procedure by clicking the 'Deactivate' button after selecting the USB drive to unplug.
