delayed write failure

[Guest]

Hi - I'm using windows XP with SP2 on a Dell machine with a 100 MB ZIP
drive. Suddenly, I am having trouble with reading files from the ZIP drive. I
keep getting the message "Window delayed write failed" and many of the files
are then unreadable. I have no idea whether this is a ZIP drive problem or
something else. I have never had a problem with the ZIP drive until now. Any
suggestions? Any help is appreciated.

 

[R. McCarty]

Removable drives have 2 operating modes ( or Policies ). One is "Set
for Quick Removal", this does not employ write behind caching. The
other "Optimize for Performance, does enable the cache.

You need to go Device Manager, double click your Zip under the
Disk Drives category, Click Policy (TAB) and toggle it's operating
mode to "Set for Quick Removal".

Also ZIP disks are subject to corruption, so don't depend on them
for long-term storage. While bigger than traditional Floppy disks, they
are still magnetic and should really only be used for Transport or a
temporary backup.

 

[CWatters]

Removable drives have 2 operating modes ( or Policies ). One is "Set
for Quick Removal", this does not employ write behind caching. The
other "Optimize for Performance, does enable the cache.

You need to go Device Manager, double click your Zip under the
Disk Drives category, Click Policy (TAB) and toggle it's operating
mode to "Set for Quick Removal".

That doesn't always cure this problem but it's worth a try.

Also ZIP disks are subject to corruption, so don't depend on them
for long-term storage. While bigger than traditional Floppy disks, they
are still magnetic and should really only be used for Transport or a
temporary backup.

You mean like mag tape ;-)

 

[frodo]

Hi - I'm using windows XP with SP2 on a Dell machine with a 100 MB ZIP
drive. Suddenly, I am having trouble with reading files from the ZIP drive. I
keep getting the message "Window delayed write failed" and many of the files
are then unreadable. I have no idea whether this is a ZIP drive problem or
something else. I have never had a problem with the ZIP drive until now. Any
suggestions? Any help is appreciated.

Often caused by "old" disks, over time they develop bad spots, just like a
floppy does. Do a LONG format on the offending disk, then check its
properties | iomega tab | disk | more information, look at the 2 "life
status" lines.

Also, install the IomegaWare Drivers (4.02 is latest). Then Remove the
"Active Disk" add-on that it also installs by default, leaving just the
drivers. Having Iomegaware installed makes sure the disk ejects at
shutdown, and ensures the cache gets flushed at other appropriate times.
It also makes sure the disk icon "looks right", and adds a right-click
menu w/ options/utilities to manage the drive/disk (including the Long
Format and IOmega Tabs mentioned above).