it's hard to remove the USB HDD without restart the PC

[kwokwai]

I have been searching for a solution to solve the "Safe Remove" problem in Windows XP.
It always happens whenever I try to safely remove any of my USB HDD regardless of brand-name using the safely remove hardware icon in the Taskbar.
I get an error message: 'The device 'Generic volume' cannot be stopped because a program is still accessing it.'
There are no programs accessing the drive as I only use it for storage.

Very often after I stored AVI files to the USB HDD, Windows XP won't let me remove it.

I am sure most of you should ever ecounter this problem at least once in the past!
So, anyone know how to eliminate this problem?

 

[The General]

How does one use an icon to remove a piece of hardware?

Grab the cable, and pull it out of the USB port.

 

[baronvongogo]

yeah as the general said the only reason I know of to use the icon is if the device is still actively working, but if the light is off or not blinking because its not in use then its fine to remove.