Windows won't eject a flash drive or external hard drive

When Windows won't eject an external drive saying that drive is in use, you can try the following. Resist the urge to pull the external drive as you may corrupt files

1. Try clicking the Safely Remove Hardware icon again and then choose to eject. 
2. Is a file on the drive you're trying to eject in use? Close the application that's running that particular file, then try ejecting again.
3. Open Task Manager and see if the application is still running after you closed it. Be sure and check Applications and Processes to see if something is still in use
4. Log off and then log back on to your user profile.
5. If all else fails, restart your computer.