Windows Delayed Write Failed – Latest Solution
UPDATE: Latest article: Window Delayed Write Failed – Solutions –>
A while back, I wrote a post about the “Windows Delayed Write Failed” error message, and I presented ways to resolve the problem. That worked for many people.
Recently, after installing a fresh copy of Windows XP (with SP3), I got the same problem, and I tried everything I knew to solve it, but no luck!! As the problem’s to do with the USB caching and data transfered from the cache to the disk, I went to my favorite search engine again!
The last thing I found, which solved the problem is to use a piece of software from SysInternals (actually aquired by Microsoft) called Cacheset !
Easy Steps to do:
- Download Cacheset.zip from my Downloads Page,
- Extract it somewhere on your computer,
- Run Cacheset.exe from where you extracted the file,
- Click on “Clear” button to clear the current working cache.
- Set the maximum working cache to either 64 MB or 128 MB,
- Click Apply.
- Buy me a coffee if this worked for you! (Link is in the sidebar)
I tried it and now, after one week of intensive tests, I didn’t get the Delayed Write Failed error! I suppose that the problem is solved.
Anyway, if it happens even after setting the cache, do the same process of cache setting (to 64 MB or 128 MB) again as Windows has tendency to go back to its initial configurations.
Note1: Test both the cases; 64 MB as cache and then 128 MB, if you get your disk working on 128 MB, so keep it, as it runs faster.
Note 2: When applying the “Working set maximum” value in Cacheset, calculate the number by multiplying the required cache by 1024. example: 64*1024=65536 which is the value you should give.
PLEASE GIVE FEEDBACK!
This is tested and it works! Digg it if useful.
UPDATE : Latest article: Window Delayed Write Failed – Solutions –>
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tengo este problemita tambien pero lo mio no es por USB sino en una red local, acceso desde el equipo 1 al 3 en red y cuando abro algun documento o hago algo que requiera grabar, windows muestra el tipico error lectura lenta etc, esto me viene ocurriendo desde que repotencie el equipo antes era un pentium 3 y ahora lo repotencie a un dual core 2.0Gb, sencillamente hice ese cambio y ahora me hace la vida de cuadritos cada vez que necesito accesar y grabar alguna informacion de forma remota, quisiersa saber si este Cacheset.exe funciona tambien para este tipo de detalles en redes etc bien espero sus prontas respuestas gracias….
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So I have the WD My Studio. Formated for my PC, Windows XP-Pro.
Using firewire 400.
So why am I getting a delayed writing error EVERYTIME I try to install a program onto this drive. Its only a week old, and i cant do anything with it.
I try to install a music program, 6 dvd program. dvd’s 1 and 2 are fine, 3 gives me problems. It gives me the error message, so i have to reboot, and try again, and i repeat this process a million times.
WHAT CAN I DO!!! Is it the drive?!
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I just started to get these DWF and have had some data loss, after reading this page I took a digital thermometer to check the temp on my three WD books (2@500gb / 1@1tb) and the temps were: 1st 500gb was 115.7 Fahrenheit, 2nd 500gb was 117.6 Fahrenheit, 3rd 1tb is 112.2 Fahrenheit, the errors are from the two 500gb drives and nothing from the 1tb drive .. yet .. Wd advises the “Environmental Specifications Operating Temperature 41° F to 95° F” .. so all of my drives are above the temp needed to work smoothly … my two internal drives are @ 88.3 Fahrenheit avg .. so I will make something to bring down these temps and see if that is the cause .. and post the info here when i know…
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Sorry for the late replies
@wguimb: Thanks for sharing your experience! I’ll use this info in my next article on this topic.
@Akquicksilver: The errors might be due to USB Controllers on your machine. You might want to use a recent PCI – USB expansion card.
About the cacheset values, just set the Working set Maximum to the desired values (as explained in the article)
@MrOts: Thanks for sharing your solution!
@Andrew: I’ve replied to your comment on: http://www.gibni.com/windows-delayed-write-failed-solved
@Wayne: USB Ports again! I suppose your equalizer is a USB device! so try with a recent PCI – USB expansion card to see what happens.
@Martin: USB Ports and Controllers again! I think you might have added an external USB hub! isn’t it? Try a recent PCI – USB expansion card!
@SofaKingSweet: Thanks for sharing your experience.
@Abue: Thanks for the overheating tip! I agree with you that overheating causes errors.
@Carl T: Well, even if you’re on a network and accessing the drive via the network, you should check for overheating issues and check if your drive is operating in the right temperature! and on the other side, as you have upgraded your computer, I beleive that you’ve changed your motherboard too (as you did change your CPU’s family)! I was wondering if you have re-installed Windows on the new system or not?!
@CISUM: Check your cables, Firewire interface, Cache (using cacheset) and DRIVE’S TEMPERATURE!
@Allan: Thanks for sharing!
Thanks to everyone for commenting and sharing on Gibni.com
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me again, i’m just beggining to think my drive is slowly dying. Given it does overheat a lot, i took it off the rack and plugged it straight to my sata internal connections. It works fine for hours but randomly it decides to die, and it wont even show up as a SCSI drive in my boot screen, ussually i’ll just have to wait hours and then reconnect and it works again fine until it randomly decides to die.
SMART shows the drive being fine. I have another seagate 200gb drive that works perfectly with similar heat ratings but yea i’m sure it’s just heat, i’m just tempted to buy a cpu cooler and hook it up to it somehow… notice these are no longer write delay errors, when the drive decides its reached top heat the computer starts locking up as its trying to read, there’s also a sound the drive does as it powers up as attempting to start spinning and then it just does a click and powers down at least it stops spinning. I’m honestly done with WD drives, i’ve had a similar problem with a passport 500gb drive recently as well when i just tried formatting it and it messed up although i fixed it eventually…. but that’s a different story.
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Basically, all I can say is what the guy above me already pointed out. Stay away from WD Passport external drives. I’ve had a 160gb and a 320gb passport drives die after a year/year and a half of usage respectively. Both drives had DWF errors prior to dying.
Most of the comments on this subject prove the point.
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Already read this article so many time, but still stuck.
2months ago I bought brand new Maxtor 1TB internal HDD using SATA interface. Until yesterday, it’s fine. And after I set network sharing to one of its folder, the DWF appear. I already follow the instruction listed in this site, following the instruction in Microsoft site, and using cacheset, but sadly nothing help me. Still DWF appear once after I access the drive. But if I didnt access the drive, no DWF appear. In BIOS, DMA setting was Auto. Must I change to something else?
And after DWF rarely appear. the disk cannot be access, with error “j:/ is not accessible. The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error”. I tried to use CHKDSK to restore the file, but the error only appear if I access this drive was “Cannot Open volume for direct access”. But other harddrive, no problem using CHKDSK.
Someone can help me? The data inside more important than the hardware itself. Is this hardware failure symptom?
Thanks.
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Hi Guyz,,
I’ve been looking for this error solving method and your solution is the only the best. But I still faced the error even i use 64 or 128 / disable /enable write cacheing from policies .
but finally i found this solution ,,,,
Control panel / System / Advance / performance / setting / Advance
Select >> Background services
Select >> system cache
Damn ..
finally i made it ..
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I’m experiencing the same problem sometimes on my laptop computer, well, just once in a while really. Note that I’m using WinXP SP2 and rarely turn off or restart my laptop, only send it to standby or hibernate when I’m not using it. Usually it pops up when trying to copy large files from my laptop to my USB hard drive. None of the cache or registry tweaks or other tricks worked for me. My drive, USB enclosure and cables are immaculate for sure as I never experience any problems when using them with Linux, for example.
When the error pops up there is no matter how many times I try, it just fails every time. But after restarting my machine and trying to copy again, the problem is gone. So if you rarely restart or turn off your portable computer and the same error shows up, just try restarting first
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Have several WD 1T MyBook Studio HDs. They have been working fine with the e-Sata port, but now with a new XP Pro 64bit they don’t (motherborad Asus P6T Deluxe V2). To avoid loosing data have started to copy everything to other HDs with the old machine. It seems to work with the e-Sata if I leave the machine alone (motherboard Asus P5B), but if I open the browser, soon this Windows Delay Write Failure message pops up. Any suggestions what to do?
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XPs ‘optimize for quick removal’ was onfor my extrernal usb drive, so I was beginning to think there was something wrong with the drive. I realize I am being optimistic, but as the error message had occurred just as I powered the drive down at the end of the day before heading home, & I DID NOT get the message today after resetting the cache, I feel much better! It seems to have cleared up the issue. Thanks so much!!
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I’ve tried everything but nothing seems to work. I’m using a Maxtor 160 GB external HD. I went through your previous posts, installed everything, made the cache changes using cacheset, but still nothing. I’m trying to copy movies from my local drive to my external drive. This is an intermittent problem with this external HD. Sometimes it works, most of the times it doesn’t. Any help would be highly appreciated. Luckily enough I haven’t lost any data yet. Whenever I do get a Windows – Delayed Write Failed Error, I’m not able to safely remove the HD. I have to unplug it, plug it back in, and then safely remove it again.
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To give a summary of al that’s been done:
1. Installed the Max128K filter according to instructions. The Registry used was USBSTOR and not SBP2.
2. Installed the changed the cache to 128*1024 at maximum using cacheset.
3. The Optimization is “on” for Quick Removal.
I’m eager to get some help from you as this is getting REALLY irritating.
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Tried everything here.. Problem was .. * TEMPERATURE *
I have an external USB WD MyBook 1GB. It was firstly placed horizontally under my router.. Both were getting very hot.. I placed it vertically so that it can “breathe” out the heat from both sides… Now the “delayed write failed.. etc ” problem has gone..
Hope it works for others.
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Umm,how come nobody knows a solution for the problem yet? So many people have it.
I have tried every single solution you guys have said.Nothing works
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Oh ya and somewhere down the line,it messed up my cookies it seems,as some webpages now i cannot sign in to
I would be cautious before listening to these people.
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Just started getting this as of the last windows update. Tried the cacheset, tried the 128k deal.
When i did that 128k however it did not change the MaxTransferRate to the number implied. How do I change that manually.
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It’s 64 or 128MB….NOT kb’s.
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Multiply 64MB or 128MB by 1024 to get the correct Kb’s. Dig???
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im having the same problems here. i tried in my desktop(windows xp sp332-bit) chkdsk, defrag, reformat, and the regedit thing but still i cant transfer bigger files from my internal hdd(seagate500gb) to my external hdds(120gbWD and 1TBSeagate). i tried transferring from my laptop(windows vista sp2-32bit) to my external hdds and it worked. what could be the problem? why is it that my desktop can’t transfer such huge files now? my internal HDD is heating up that fast at 35deg celsius?
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@everybody: Please read the latest post on this topic here:
http://www.gibni.com/windows-delayed-write-failed-solutions
and posts all your comments, experiences and questions on the latest page.
Thanks.
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I bought an extranal 500GB Sata drive. (st350041 8as usb). On installation drive was not found. I had to initialize and reformat the drive. This seemed to fix the problems. I was doing some video work (Large files) and using the new drive. I was able to create one dvd then the problems started and would not go away. Finding this site. I tried every thing and was getting now where. Some how reading every thing again I decided to try moving the usb connection from a hub with everal other devices to a port of its own. Inital testing was moving files in the size of 11GB to the drive without problems. I think this was a fix for me. In my mind I think I was overloading my usb hub.
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