Major problem: Windows Delayed Write Failure

[Namie]

I am running on Windows XP

Everything was working fine until I rebooted my computer and right after I logged in I see this yellow exclamation point on my system tray and get a dialog that says:

"Windows was unable to save all the data for the file C:\$mft. The data has been lost. This error may be caused by a failure of your computer hardware or network connector. Please try to save this file elsewhere."

I get that same dialog for other files too...
My computer is basically unstable from that point, I can't access anything.

I tried Windows Repair Installation, it seemed to get rid of that problem... I was really happy until I had to reinstall my video drivers and such and after I installed Service Pack 1 and rebooted I got the annoying Windows Delayed Write Failure message again....

I don't know what to do now, I really would like the service pack 1 and I also would like my computer to run normally...

Anyone know why this is happening?

[originel]

hmmm....sounds interesting. I can't really say i've heard of this problem before.

what are your system specs? if it is a hardware problem like the error message says then maybe we can narrow it down. also what type of hard drive do you have, and how is it connected? what type of a network are you on?

[Namie]

I have an Athlon XP 2100+ 1.73 GHZ 512 MB, I have a Maxtor 80 GB, ATI Radeon 9700 Pro.

I don't think it's a hardware problem but some bad settings on the computer. I'm not really sure what I did because I had my computer on for 2 days and I decided to reboot one day and the problem came. I haven't replaced any hardware or anything like that. Again like I mentioned earlier, I did a windows repair and it seemed to resolve it but doing so caused me to install the drivers again but after the Service Pack installation and I logged in, I recieved the error...

[Peter M]

Such a "delayed write error" happens when the operating system is trying to write data to the HDD that have been buffered in RAM (hence the delayedness of the write). Usually that does mean that there has been a write problem on the HDD. The error is non-recoverable because the application that created the data cannot be notified anymore - it's long finished whatever operation produced the data.

[Namie]

So are you saying there is no fix for this? Hmm... I did install a program called Anti-Crash and program that frees up RAM called RAM Idle. I probably shouldn't have installed those... one of them probably caused it... I can go through the Windows Repair and I can log in fine but I would need to update my video drivers and such. But again, after I reboot though I would get the error message again... What should I do when I can login safely? Uninstall those programs or what settings would I need to check or change?

One thing seems to be clear, the first time I do Windows Repair the login is fine but after the 2nd or 3rd reboot I recieve the message so I would have to go through with the Windows Repair all over again...

[Jeordiewhite]

I seen this recently,
There was a problem with the hard drive itself, the problem was the drive was dying. So I had to RMA the drive and get a new one, better try this and check the drives integrity:
http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/powermax.htm

[Namie]

I dunno if I can install that program if it involves rebooting because the problem would appear again and I would have to do Windows Repair again and that takes awhile...

[Jeordiewhite]

Step-by-Step Instructions - Downloading PowerMax

NOTE: The PowerMax download is a self-extracting file.

1. After downloading to your Windows desktop, insert a clean formatted floppy diskette into your A:\ drive.
2. Double-click on the PowerMax diskette creator icon.
3. When the Maxtor pop-up screen displays, click on the "Create Floppy" option.

The files will extract on to the floppy diskette, creating a bootable version of the PowerMax utility. Do not download PowerMax directly to a floppy. PowerMax extracts from a Win32 environment only and will not extract from 16-bit DOS mode.

WARNING: ALL DATA WILL BE LOST WHEN PERFORMING THE LOW LEVEL FORMAT QUICK OR FULL OPTIONS.

Maxtor recommends that users backup all critical data and removing other hard drives before performing this test.

System Boot and Test Initialization

1. After extracting the PowerMax files to the floppy diskette, restart Windows with the PowerMax floppy in the A:\ drive.
2. When the system restarts it will boot to the PowerMax diagnostic program

NOTE: PowerMax does not run from within Windows 95, 98/ME, NT, 2000, or XP. Do not try to run the utility from an MS-DOS prompt window.

[Namie]

Okay, I did the Windows Repair once again. I logged in safely and I can see all my files now and they are readable. Should I be concerned with my RAM settings? What should it be set to? Any suggestion would be great while I'm logged in normally. If there was an error on my hard drive wouldn't my files be gone already?

[Namie]

I think it could be the program RAM Idle... there is this option that was checked that said "Large System Cache"... I think that makes the computer use more then 512 MB that I have so that is why I'm getting this Delayed Write Failure?

...or would my theory be wrong?

I disabled that option and rebooted and I didn't get the error this time. The first time I got the error back after doing Windows Repair was after installing Service Pack, rebooted and got the error. The 2nd time I got the error after doing Windows Repair, I had installed video drivers and rebooted then got the error. So it could be just a fluke for not installing anything than changing that option... I dunno...

Isn't this Windows Delayed Write Failure mainly have to do with RAM?