[Edit] Beta 4 is now released – see here.
Its been almost 5 months since I said it was my intention to release new beta versions of USB Disk Ejector “as often as I can”. Sorry about that everyone, but 1.2 beta 2 is finally here.
There has been a huge number of features added and bugs quashed so I’m looking for as much testing and feedback as possible. So far its only been very briefly tested by me on Vista 32 bit. Please, please let me know how this beta performs. I want to know about problems, bugs, quirks, or even if it all works perfectly. Contact me, post in the comments or add an item to the issues tracker. Please include as much information as possible, including your version of Windows and if possible, the steps to reproduce a bug.
Click ‘Read the rest of this entry’ for the list of new features and the download link.
New since the last stable release:
- Support for Firewire drives/disks
- Support for card readers/flash memory cards (Cards are now ejected not the card reader as happened in previous versions)
- Auto-polling to detect when a new flash card is inserted
- Double right clicking on a drive opens an explorer window for the disk
- Much better notifications:
- Uses balloon hints in the taskbar for notifications instead of a messagebox
- Much better detection and explanation of the reasons for a failed eject
- Now notifies (via a balloon hint) when an eject is successful
- Automatically closes explorer windows related to the disk before ejecting (this stops a lot of the failed ejects in Vista)
- Can auto-close any applications running from the disk before ejection:
- Can do this using a safe ‘ask’ method or a brute force unsafe method
- Please note this closes applications that were launched from the ejecting disk. It currently does not close applications launched from elsewhere that have a file from the ejecting drive open.
- Eg – if you launch portable firefox from a usb stick and then eject the stick it should close portable firefox and eject successfully, but if you open a document on the pen drive in Word then it wouldnt be able to detect and close this.
- Hotkey support (can assign a hotkey to eject a drive based on its name or drive letter)
- New ‘no disks’ found icon – the old face icon apparently scared some people
- Added tray icon:
- Added popup menu to tray icon so you can right click and eject disks, similar to the behaviour of Windows’ ‘Safely remove hardware’ tray icon
- Smart auto-resizing of the program window to accommodate new disks/devices
- Better docking behaviour when the program window is in a corner of the screen
- Added ‘/NOSAVE’, ‘/CLOSEAPPS’ and ‘/CLOSEAPPSFORCE’ command line switches
- Fixed – font size in the options dialog on Windows XP
- Fixed – very rarely a device with many disks/partitions might not have all its disks detected correctly. The detection procedure is now threaded to stop this rare occurrence
- Fixed – if the program was set to read only – when it restarted in mobile mode and copied to the temp folder it couldn’t delete itself
- Options dialog added – options can now be set and saved. Click on ‘more’ then ‘options’ to show it.
- Added options to:
- Start the program minimized
- Remember the last size of the program window
- Remember the last position of the program window
- Autosize the program window
- Enable/disable balloon notifications
- Close to the system tray
- Minimize to the system tray
- Enable/disable eject notifications
- Use the standard windows eject notifications
- Close the program after a successful ejection
- Minimize the program after a successful ejection
- Control the adding and management of hotkeys
- Control the closure of any programs running from a drive before ejection
- Search for media cards (in card readers)
As the number of USB storage devices I have grows, referencing them by drive letter becomes less and less practical. So, I’m now using NTFS mount points and not assigning a drive letter at all. Your utility doesn’t see drives mounted this way.
The problem with mount points is that I have two identical USB hard drives. If both are mounted, I can’t tell which is which with the usual Windows XP eject function. That’s why I’m looking at alternate eject utilities.
Dude,
nice-looking tool. Have been missing such a thing for ages, even decided to release one myself. I’m glad someone else beat me to it with taste.
As concerning detecting open documents (handles):
I’m currently using a manual method and was planning on automating it (by incorporating code into my software).
You probably know Process Explorer by Sysinternals, right? Just use it’s search function with the drive letter, i.e. H: – this will yield a list of open files on the drive.
Ergo – one could display a list of applications which still have open files and offer to the user to foreground them so he could close the documents or whatever.
As to your homepage – it’s much better than most out there, only thing I’d change is your header. The text in it is hard to read IMHO.
Keep rockin’.
Max
Hey, just so u know, i usually put the app in my start menu and create a shortcut to objectdock, however, i enabled the options to remember window position and size, but now its not able to save to the configuration file when i exit the app so the app is unable to close.
Hope this helps u with the debug.
Cheers ^_^
The command line option ejects the entire card reader, while the GUI, correctly, ejects only the card.
Thanks for writing this useful program. Keep up the good work.
I’m trying 1.2beta2. The tool is quite good, but I’m missing the possibility to remove a sd-card from a build in sd-card reader in my laptop. it is not an usb device. I have checked the check box “search for memory card” but I think non-sd card reader are not supported yet. It would be create I you can provide a new version that has support for this.
Thanks a lot
Stephan
Does this version connect to the internet every time you eject a USB drive ?(check your firewall)
No it doesnt. The only time it connects is if you click on the banner in the about form – then it will load up this website.
the version 1.2beta2 has sometimes the problem that it displays a smal window only with the title without the canvas instead of being minimized to the tray. I run it on Vista bussiness. Also sometimes the window is empty and does not show the no-disk icon. on xp it very often does not detect the disk device and shows an empty window.
Same request as “Mik” posted, glad I read the comments before posting the same!
I have been very careful to create icons for all of my remavable USB devices. This includes lots of external drives, thumb drive, MP3 players and assorted Camera’s we use within the famil. It would be very cool if I saw the same icon as “My Computer” lists via the autorun on each device.
Fantastic little utility I use it all the time. Using the command line version in a little batch file that backups essential mail and document files to a thumb drive. It removes the device automatically, making my life and the IT challenged in the extended family a safer place!
I just downloaded the Beta2 because my Vista64 “Safely Remove Hardware” icon does not display the flash drives plugged into my D-Link 7 port USB2 hub.
Beta2 displays the flash drives correctly, but when I double click on them or hit enter as directed, the Beta2 locks up and I get a “Not Responding ” error.
I tried your previous stable release, and it also locks up in Vista 64.
THANKS!
Ira:
The sarcasm really wasn’t necessary; if it doesn’t work, write your own software.
Everyone else:
Thanks for the continuing feedback, I’m still working on the app when I get time. Progress is just very slow at the moment.
Hi,
immer nach dem Start von Vista, wird ein Kleines Fenster (nur titelzeile) angezeigt. Minimieren geht nicht. Im tray ist das icon weiterhin vorhanden. wenn ich dort klicke, geht das eigentliche Fenster auf, welches leer ist und nur den “more” link enthält.
Kommt eine Unterstützung für eingebaute SD Card reader (kein USB) hinzu?
Grüße
Stephan
Can it remount drives that have been safely removed/ejected *without* unplugging/replugging them?
http://safelyremove.com offers this feature and I’d love to see it in USB Disk Ejector as well.
BTW, no rush or anything, but it *has* been 5 months since this post. Any chance at all of a final stable release?
USB Disk Ejector v1.2 BETA 2
Windows XP SP3 – 32bit
[Memory Leak After Ejecting USB Disk]
With the option to close the program after ejecting, I get a memory leak error. Doesn’t happen if I deselect that option and close manually. Ejection still occurs. Below is the error.
An unexpected memory leak has occured. The unexpected small block leaks are:
1-12 bytes: String x4
13-20 bytes: String x4
61-68 bytes: TEventsThread x 1
Followed by Runtime Error 216 at 00403E1A
AS: An update will come just as soon as I get some free time.
Jason: Thanks for that bug report, thats really useful and should help me fix that AV. Thanks!
I’ve been looking at the code (I hope it was the Beta version) and (if I’m right) it appears that you actually call the GUI from the command-line. The odd thing is that the command line option to eject will eject the card reader not the card. On the other hand, the GUI, ejects only the card. I am using XP. Does this make any sense to you, or am I reading the code wrong?
The code is still in a state of flux. The command line options haven’t been updated yet to incorporate the new features. So the switches dont yet support card readers.
—————————————————
A status update for all – when I’ve had the time to work on the app, I’ve been working on uncoupling the code from drive letters. This means that it will now work with drives mounted to mountpoints that dont have drive letters. Once this is fully working (I think its 90% done) I’ll be trying to solve all remaining bugs.
Hey, great job on the app, congratulations. One small hiccup, though: today the Ejector won’t work right, when I double-click on the icon for the flash drive, it freezes and I have to kill it, ’cause otherwise it won’t close. No new hardware has been added to my rig, and no change has been made to my Windows, any thoughts?
Hey, still loving this app. Just wanted to reiterate my suggestion of a wildcard eject function. This would be great for hibernating a laptop right before unplugging it and taking it elsewhere (sans all connected devices). Slap it in a BAT file with the hibernate command on the second line and you’ve got a great hibernate script that helps prevent window’s confusion upon coming out of boot.
thanks again!
Congratulations.
Well done.
La vida es hermosa con personas como tu.
Sigue asi.
Hello. Is this still being worked on? I’ve been using the 1.1.2 version and it’s very nice indeed. Any updates to this fine product would be welcome. I’ve not tested the beta yet. Has it been updated? Thank you.
It is, but progress is slow. There hasn’t been another beta release.
I’m still working on it when I get time.
I’m also getting freezes now, having been running Beta 2 fine for ages. Some drives eject fine, others cause the freeze. In fact, even the same drive will eject successfully one day and cause the prog to lock up the next.
this vertion is infected
http://www.virustotal.com/analisis/0f0a8cf035519b3a71f0972d9cbbc2f4aef944db3e2045d10b2da2b5a647fd3b-1258046060
Its definitely not infected – if you look at that report only one virus scanner flags it – and its a false positive.
Great app… ^-^b
I see that this app closes applications that were launched from the ejecting disk only, but could it displaying what prevents a device from being stopped? So I wouldn’t close all app that opening… ^^ It would be a useful feature.
Like this app can do – http://safelyremove.com/
I want for win98 plz
I have been using this for a long time and it has worked flawlessly until now. My Passport Elite external drive is recognized as a composite device and will not eject with this software. All other devices eject with no issues. I am using Win 7 64 bit and run the program as admin to avoid memory leak errors.
Is it possible to hide/exclude certain drive(s) from the drive list? I have an external hard disk connected for backup purposes and I do not want it to be disconnect by mistake.
Keep up the good job
Thanks.
This software the best and easy to use !
Keep it on ! Do the Best
The SysInternals Sync program may be what you need to solve your card reader ejection problem
I use version 1.1.2, which is the latest and searched for the “more”-button to set it as I want it e.g. when I close the program or my computer it’s gone, probably because it’s not installed. Any solution for this?? Should I use the instable beta-version, which I prefer not to do by the way.
Thanks in advance.
I would like to be aple to supress the message that the drive is in use when used in a batch file & allow branching instead. This could be a method of testing if the drive is in use.
Hi, I just wanted to put in a belated thank you for adding Windows 2000 support a while back.
Win 2000 is one OS that really needs this software as it forces you to use the damn built-in feature that needs several clicks – maddening if you use a USB all day!
Also the auto minimize to tray on minimize and close are neat little timesavers.
Getting back on topic about the beta: balloons are much better than message boxes. Another smart move!
Thanks!
Windows 7 no eject balloon
Grolo
Make sure ‘show balloon notifications’ is ticked in options. You could also try beta 3 http://quick.mixnmojo.com/usb-disk-eject-1-2-beta-3-please-test
“Cannot create file “C:Program FilesUSB_Disk_Eject.cfg”. Access is denied.”
Happens when trying to set configuration.
Michael: Beta 2 is old – its now up to beta 4 – http://quick.mixnmojo.com/usb-disk-eject-1-2-beta-4-last-beta-before-release-hopefully
Also: thats probably happening because you’re using Vista or Win7 where apps cant write to program files without admin access. Store the application somewhere else.
I would like to see an option to sort by either drive letter or name.
Nice program BTW.
Jerry
I have been using each beta version as its been released on 4 different XP computers. On my primary XP machine, beta’s 2, 3, and 4 are not responding when attempting to eject usb flash or external hard drives. USB DiskEjector just freezes and I have to shut it down and use the built-in Windows Safely Remove Hardware utility. However, if I use v1.12, the drives eject fine and no freezing. Any idea why this is happening?
This particular computer has more card readers and usb devices connected to it than my other machines. On occasions I have had to correct the drive letter so I’m thinking that may be what is causing the problem. Although, after correcting a drive letter, it does show properly in all versions.
I’m not sure at the moment, I’ll have a think about it and see if I can find what the problem might be.