Windows delayed write error

[slayerx02]

I got a new 500GB samsung HDD a couple days ago, installed it and plugged it in SATA port 3 since 2 was a tight fit with how the case is and the other HDD was placed. I have it partitioned into 2 250~drives, so i copy a few movie files to it and it goes smoothly.

The next day when i continue to move more files over, it slows down to a crawl and eventually to a complete stop and i get a windows delayed write error. I have no clue what caused this, at first i thought it was the harddrive so i got a replacement but i still get the same error. =/ any one have any clue as to what could be causing this whether it be software or hardware related?

[TEX4S]

I dont know exactly what is causing this issue - what operating system are you using ?

I always get this error if I am moving something to a USB flash drive - and pull the drive out as soon as its done transferring

I guess the first thing to do is - see where the problem is -- a glitch, a setting, a Windows problem.

I'd say run some DOS-level HDD tests (bootable floppy or boot an .ISO) - I think Powermax (maxtor) will work for any drive manufacturer -

This way you can see if its a BIOS level setting or something in Windows...

[slayerx02]

Im running winXP home. the funny thing is its all fine and works like it should on a fresh drive...but once ive coppied over a few GBs worth of files, the second hard drive (new one) starts to crap out. I googled the error and it seems at worse case scenario its a hardware failure ... but why would it work fine for a few files then stop working afterwards. Guess ill run some hdd testing software and hope its not a sata controller issue.

The board im using is an Abit IP35-E and it has all the latest chipset drivers and what not if that helps.

[coolvi]

Delay write is a way of preventing the hard drive from being tied up with intensive write tasks which can cause the system to become less responsive. Thus, if you remove the drive quickly after copying files over, you will get an error because the drive simply isn't there any more!

It's more like a USB failure than HDD/SATA controller issues. But try installing the latest chipset driver (Intel) for your motherboard. A driver update and a reboot afterwards usually fix glitches like this. :)

[lars77]

This doesn't just occur with USB drives, I've had this error occur when reading/writing files to network shares as well. When it happened it was usually because the CPU utilization on the share server was at 100% & stopped responding to the Windows clients doing the copying. Or sometimes the network share's drive was just full.

It's weird you'd get this with an internal SATA drive. Maybe the drive stops responding or has a bad connection to the motherboard?

Some ideas:

- Definitely check the hard drive itself to verify it's good (the other guys already mentioned this)

- You're sure you're not copying more data than the drive can handle, right?

- Try using a different SATA cable, or maybe a different SATA port on the motherboard.

- When you're copying, do you notice if anything in Windows is using a lot of the CPU? Like maybe anti-virus software, file indexing software, etc.?

- This is a longshot, but you could check the power supply, maybe it doesn't have enough power to spare for that extra drive so the drive craps out during use..do you know offhand what your power supply is rated at?

[slayerx02]

This is the second hdd ive tried, both brand new, it has to be some really bad luck to have 2 faulty drives. I've copied a 2gig file the first time ive installed it and everything went fine, transfer time was around 40seconds or so. I've also tried using 4 different sata cables they all seem to work fine for the first hdd. I havent noticed any CPU intensive process in the task manager when im copying files over.

I might have to look into the power supply though...its a 500~watts antec HE ive only had 1hdd since i put the system together about a year ago and just recently installed an ATI 4850 so idk maybe my power supply is being maxed out =/

The thing thats bothering me is why does it work fine as a fresh drive then after i copied some files over it starts to give me that error. -.-

[bob_c_b]

Got enough Power Supply to support anothe drive?

[slayerx02]

i have an old antec 300watt power supply... can i just have that sitting outside the case to power one of the hdd to see if it is a lack of power issue?

[bob_c_b]

i have an old antec 300watt power supply... can i just have that sitting outside the case to power one of the hdd to see if it is a lack of power issue?

Power Supplies are switched so unless you have a spare set of switch parts around or you can shunt it like when leak teating water cooling set ups, there isn't an easy way to do that.

[slayerx02]

ah crap guess that wont work... another question does having an IDE dvd drive and using sata hdd have any effect on system performance?

and just to confirm if my problem could really be from not having enough power to drive the second hdd, my system specs are:

abit ip35e w/ich9

C2D E6550 @2.33ghz

Visiontek 4850HD

Maxtor Diamond 160GB hdd (main hdd)

samsung 500gb spinpoint hd502ij (second hdd im trying to get to work)

Now a 500+ watts power supply should be enough to run this system right? =/

[bob_c_b]

ah crap guess that wont work... another question does having an IDE dvd drive and using sata hdd have any effect on system performance?

and just to confirm if my problem could really be from not having enough power to drive the second hdd, my system specs are:

abit ip35e w/ich9

C2D E6550 @2.33ghz

Visiontek 4850HD

Maxtor Diamond 160GB hdd (main hdd)

samsung 500gb spinpoint hd502ij (second hdd im trying to get to work)

Now a 500+ watts power supply should be enough to run this system right? =/

Depends on the quality of the PSU, a good unit with lots of juice on the 12v rail can easily handle that. A cheap or older 500w, maybe not, Check th label on the side and get back to us, also see what the +12v rail(s) are rated at?

[slayerx02]

its an antec Neo-HE 550 3 +12v rail each at 18amps

[lars77]

another question does having an IDE dvd drive and using sata hdd have any effect on system performance?

Nope, you shouldn't normally have any performance issues with the two.

Regarding the power supply, just make sure you already ruled out all the other potential issues first. Sounds crazy but sometimes these things are caused by a bad SATA cable or SATA socket on the motherboard..or maybe the impossible happened & you ended up getting a 2nd bad hard drive..doh!

[slayerx02]

well ive tried 5 different sata cables so that rules that possibility out hopefully...all 5 cant be bad :| I moved the hdd from port 5 to 6 created 1 new partition using the entire space of the drive as one big partition (bad idea? performance issues by doing it this way?)

Everything seems normal like how it was when both drives were freshly installed and formated. files copied over quick and smooth and movie play back doesnt skip. gonna download some files via bit torrent to see if the constant read write makes it crap out like last night...