Windows XP won't let me backup-

[Jim N]

Hello, Can someone help,
In Windows XP I have not been able to backup large files (>100MB ) to my seagate Free agent 500 gig USB external drive. No mater what way I try, with Seagate backup software, windows xp backup, windows one care backup, cut-n-paste, "move" files, copy and paste -- nothing works for backing up large files. I can backup small files very easily.

I have been trying to back up my Itunes (15 gigs) since 9:00 AM and have achieved nothing except increased contempt for windows XP. I have tried tuning off windows firewall and it did not change anything -- still same fate. A baloon message comes up saying "Delayed write failure......". I have been having problems performing windows backup for about 4 months. Can anyone suggest something? Seagate's website was not helpful and windows support website is a bad as their system software. I know I sound negative but I am just fed up with this crap.

The same seagate external drive works fine for any backup I do using my Laptop which is also windows XP. It is just my one year old Del Desk top that won't backup.
Thanks in advance for any help someone may offer. Happy New Year!
Jim

[lafinfil]

Hi guys

Please help this poor Windows using soul . He's my brother-in-law and I've been bragging to him
about all of your tech-fu powers ... even in windows. Please don't disappoint me.

: - )

[onthedownlow]

There could be several reasons for the 'delayed write' error/failure...I've encountered it many times...usually with an external drive or other media - and usually turned out to be that particular drive, or controller card of the drive, having issues....or the driver software (XP's built-in drivers). You might go to the Device Manager and do an 'Uninstall' of the USB(?) drive - while the drive is plugged in and mounted...and then go to the 'Action' menu and do a 'Scan for hardware changes' to have it re-recognize the drive and reinstall the drivers.

It mentions it below...but if you have it available, I would run SpinRite on the drive (www.grc.com)...or do a free 'Check Disk' on it. Go to your Start Menu...Run...and type in 'cmd' (without the quotes). Once there, a black, DOS-like window will pop up...type this in: chkdsk X: /r

...replace "X" with the current drive letter of the external drive. This will perform a sector recovery, among other things...and hopefully may help fix your issue. This may take anywhere from 10 minutes on up...so be prepared. After it finishes....try your backup(s) again and see how it goes.

These also may give you a good start:

(taken from elsewhere)

Some common reasons for a delayed-write failure are:

1. Problems with a device driver, especially a SCSI or RAID device driver. Some RAID device drivers are known to issue spurious "Delayed Write Failed" errors in XP Service Pack 2. Most manufacturers have been alerted to this, so check to make sure the disk drivers are up-to-date.

2. Cabling problems. A faulty or broken cable -- especially for an external USB or Firewire enclosure—can generate this error. It can also happen if the cable is too long, or if it is hooked up through a hub that isn't up to spec. Another possible culprit is if you have a UDMA drive that requires an 80-pin cable, and you are using a 40-pin cable.

3. SCSI termination errors. This has become less likely with the advent of self-terminating SCSI hardware, but it shouldn't be counted out.

4. Media errors. This is the worst possible scenario -- essentially, drive failure. If you can garner statistics on the drive via SMART (such as SMART & Simple (http://www.beyondlogic.org/solutions/smart/smart.html), you may be able to determine if there's a mechanical failure in the offing. Gibson Research's SpinRite tool (http://grc.com/) is also useful for assessing media errors, but be warned: It may take a long time to do a thorough test.

5. BIOS settings on the computer are forcing faster UDMA modes than the drive controller can handle. This is unlikely, especially with newer hardware (which can support UDMA far more flexibly), but it can usually be fixed with a BIOS upgrade, or by resetting the BIOS entries for the hard drives to auto-detect settings. Devices set to UDMA Mode 6 that produce this error, for instance, might need to be set to Mode 5.

6. Controller issues. I've observed that USB controllers that contend strongly with other hardware can produce this error. In systems that have both "long" and "short" PCI slots (i.e., 64-bit and 32-bit), try moving the USB controller to the long slot. Older PCI cards will not fit in such a slot.

7. Memory parity issues. If the problem appears after installing new memory, the memory in question may be faulty or not of the correct type for the motherboard in question. (This may go hand-in-hand with other problems such as random lockups, too.)

8. The LargeSystemCache Registry tweak and ATI video adapters. One peculiar set of circumstances that has been observed on multiple machines with ATI video adapters and more than 512MB of memory involves the LargeSystemCache Registry setting, a DWORD entry found in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSession ManagerMemory Management.

This setting governs the amount of memory set aside by the system for certain kernel processes. If it's set to 1 (which allegedly improves performance on systems with more than 512MB of memory), it can cause data corruption on some systems, and produce the "Delayed Write Failed" error. Try resetting it to 0 if it's been set.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

What is the drive format? FAT32 will not allow backup files larger than 4.3 GB but I forget if it will give that error when it hits the limit.

[lafinfil]

onthedownlow - thanks for the suggestions. I'm sure Jim has crashed for the night but I told hime to check
the thread in the morning for updates.

Filliam - I don't believe it is a formatting issue. He had been able to back up his desktop before
and can still back up his laptop - both are Dells a little over 1 year old or so