Delayed Write Failed -- Major Problem

J

jbz7890

Gawd
Joined
Sep 22, 2008
Messages
811
My self-built computer has been working perfectly since August, but today I got a delayed write failed message while browsing the web. After restarting my computer, an error message popped up saying that I needed to reinstall windows.

However, when I reinstalled windows, I got another delayed write failed message! Right in the middle of installation! Now it seems that I cannot reinstall windows.

I'm 99% certain that my hard drive is fine, since my brother received many delayed write failed messages, and his hard drive wasn't the culprit.

I have a hunch that my motherboard may be responsible, since my brother and I both use the same Biostar motherboard, but he was at least able to reinstall windows.

Does anyone know what's going on?

Thanks
 
Um, delayed write errors generally mean that the drive IS dying.

Download Seagate/Maxtor/WD tools for your hard drive. Boot from a CDROM or Floppy with the tools and have it do a health check on your drive. You can also download the Ultimate Boot CD and boot with that to run the toold (already on the disk image).

Everytime I've seen delayed write errors I've had the drive die on me, or I took action to test the drive and RMA it.
 
One more thing: My brother has had to reinstall XP at least 10 times because of delayed write failures, and his hard drive definitely wasn't the problem. If anyone could help explain his problems, I would really appreciate it.
 
If he had to reinstall XP 10 times because of delayed write failures, how is it not the hard disk drive's problem?
 
DriveEuro said:
Um, delayed write errors generally mean that the drive IS dying.

Download Seagate/Maxtor/WD tools for your hard drive. Boot from a CDROM or Floppy with the tools and have it do a health check on your drive. You can also download the Ultimate Boot CD and boot with that to run the toold (already on the disk image).

Everytime I've seen delayed write errors I've had the drive die on me, or I took action to test the drive and RMA it.
Click to expand...

Well my brother had delayed write failed errors and he tested his drive, which turned out to be fine. He then ordered a brand new Seagate from Newegg and he still got the errors! So I think it's very unlikely that my drive and my brother's two drives are defective.
 
Syntax Error said:
If he had to reinstall XP 10 times because of delayed write failures, how is it not the hard disk drive's problem?
Click to expand...

Because the WD diagnostic tool said it was fine. Then he replaced it with a Seagate and still got the errors.
 
Sounds like a faulty cable or motherboard SATA port in that case rather than the disk drive's fault specifically.
 
Syntax Error said:
Sounds like a faulty cable or motherboard SATA port in that case rather than the disk drive's fault specifically.
Click to expand...

What's interesting is that when I would change the SATA port, the computer would work for a couple days. Then the errors would come back. I've also tried changing SATA cables many times to no avail.
 
Is there any way that this problem may be related to USB devices? After switching to a PS/2 mouse and keyboard I was able to install windows.

I think one of the drivers that came with my motherboard may be responsible. It's the "USB controller" driver. Should I just not install this? I don't even know what it does lol.
 
Adakos said:
i had this happen while using a sata card, turns out the card was bad.
Click to expand...

I'm beginning to think my motherboard is bad because the only thing that is constant between my brother's computer and mine is the motherboard.
 
I suppose it wouldn't hurt (other than your wallet!) to get a new motherboard.

Either that or go without a computer for a few weeks as the motherboard RMA goes through (provided it's still within warranty).

Curious: what motherboard make and model is it?
 
Syntax Error said:
I suppose it wouldn't hurt (other than your wallet!) to get a new motherboard.

Either that or go without a computer for a few weeks as the motherboard RMA goes through (provided it's still within warranty).

Curious: what motherboard make and model is it?
Click to expand...

Biostar TP43HP: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138126

I'm not sure if I can return it because I cut the bar code out for a rebate, which of course I didn't not get. Also, Biostar apparently has horrendous customer service.

If I were to get a new one, I would probably get an Asus or a Gigabyte, since they are very respected brands.
 
This can happen for several reasons.
1) A network drive being written to has a connectivity interuption.
2) A USB drive being written to is well, on USB which sucks balls
3) A HDD going bad (Run checkdisk for bad sectors and a diag from the manufacture (In depth test))
4) Bad SATA controller on the motherboard, RMA direct to manufacturer
5) Failed SATA or PATA cable.
 
According to Microsoft, disabling "Enable write caching on the disk" may reduce the risk of getting delayed write failed messages while decreasing performance.

Does anyone know whether this will actually work and by how much my HD's performance will decrease?
 
I used to get "DWF" messages... 100% XP problem... Supposedly was fixed in SP3...

Only complete solution I found was moving to Vista...
 
Tolyngee said:
I used to get "DWF" messages... 100% XP problem... Supposedly was fixed in SP3...

Only complete solution I found was moving to Vista...
Click to expand...

I had suspected that for awhile, but all of my family's other PCs that use XP seem to run fine.

If I have to reinstall windows, then I will probably switch to Vista just to see that fixes it.
 
Tolyngee said:
I used to get "DWF" messages... 100% XP problem... Supposedly was fixed in SP3...

Only complete solution I found was moving to Vista...
Click to expand...

Actually, I just realized that I don't have SP3. I'll see if that fixes the problem.
 
jbz7890 said:
Actually, I just realized that I don't have SP3. I'll see if that fixes the problem.
Click to expand...

SP3 wasn't a complete solution for me, although it was nice for MS to finally acknowledge the problem and post a possible fix.

One thing that will keep the majority of the messages away is to turn off your defrag software. Doing a network share and writing to a network drive between two XP machines with the network one having defrag sw installed caused the networked drive as a write-to drive just about unusable. It would take on average two minutes to get a DWF, which meant I typically couldn't even unrar a .RAR file to the network drive without an error.

Even though turning off the defrag software stops a lot of it, it still wasn't a complete cure. It's an XP problem. I run RAID hardware on all machines, so it's not a hardware problem...


Vista doesn't appear to have this problem, _BUT_ to LAN a Vista machine to an XP machine, I had to go to MS's knowledgebase and find articles about some f-ing error Vista kept giving me... Turned out to be yet another XP f-ing problem, with instructions on what to edit in your registry (!) to attempt to fix it on the XP end of things...

I dumped XP at that time... (but yes, the registry edit did work eventually... Not on the first or second attempt though, it was trial and error to find the correct setting... When I've paid MS for XP, to me it's their f-ing job to figure out how to get XP working right...)
 
Tolyngee said:
SP3 wasn't a complete solution for me, although it was nice for MS to finally acknowledge the problem and post a possible fix.

One thing that will keep the majority of the messages away is to turn off your defrag software. Doing a network share and writing to a network drive between two XP machines with the network one having defrag sw installed caused the networked drive as a write-to drive just about unusable. It would take on average two minutes to get a DWF, which meant I typically couldn't even unrar a .RAR file to the network drive without an error.

Even though turning off the defrag software stops a lot of it, it still wasn't a complete cure. It's an XP problem. I run RAID hardware on all machines, so it's not a hardware problem...


Vista doesn't appear to have this problem, _BUT_ to LAN a Vista machine to an XP machine, I had to go to MS's knowledgebase and find articles about some f-ing error Vista kept giving me... Turned out to be yet another XP f-ing problem, with instructions on what to edit in your registry (!) to attempt to fix it on the XP end of things...

I dumped XP at that time... (but yes, the registry edit did work eventually... Not on the first or second attempt though, it was trial and error to find the correct setting... When I've paid MS for XP, to me it's their f-ing job to figure out how to get XP working right...)
Click to expand...

Well, SP3 seems to be doing the job thus far. However, if I have to reinstall windows, I'll just get Vista...for free :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top