XP "Write Cache Failed" Cause Resolution

Windows uses a special subsystem to support some disk-based operations, such as a technique that temporarily caches writes to disk. Then wait until the system is idle before performing the corresponding operation. This technique, called "write caching," improves system performance, but it may not be turned on by default.

Want to know how the "Write Cache" option is set? Open the Device Manager, expand Disk Drives, right-click on any of the drive icons below and select Properties, then switch to the Policies tab. Here you should see two options: "Optimized for fast deletion" (all things are written directly to the hard drive) and "Optimized for performance" (write to cache). The first option allows you to quickly disconnect your device from your computer, such as a USB flash drive, which you can disconnect directly from the computer without having to click the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon in the taskbar. If both options are in a gray unselectable state, then your disk drive has the "Write Cache" option turned on by default. (For more information on deferring the default state of writing, please see the Microsoft article "Windows XP and Surprise Removal of Hardware")

In Windows XP, sometimes "Write cache failed" ( Delayed write failed)", telling you that there may be some problems with delaying the write system. Although this is not a fatal error, it is worthy of your attention.

Here are some common reasons for "write cache failure":

1. The reason for the disk drive itself. This happens especially on SCSI or RAID drives. Some RAID driver drivers report a fake message in the XP operating system with SP2 to tell the user "Write cache failed." So you should install the latest version of the driver for your disk drive.

2. The reason for the data line. Some errors or broken data lines, especially external USB lines and FireWire, can cause this. If your data cable is too long, or if the data cable is connected to a USB HUB of unqualified quality, the write cache will fail. Finally, it's probably because you have a UDMA driver that requires an 80-pin data cable, but you're using a 40-pin data cable.

3. SCSI termination error. Although this happens rarely on SCSI devices that use self-terminating technology, we still have to take it into account.

4. Media error. This is the most serious situation that can happen, in other words, the disk drive is broken. If you can get disk drive statistics through SMART (such as SMART & Simple) software, then you can use this information to determine the mechanical (physical) failure of the disk drive. You can also use a tool called Gibson Research's SpinRite to help you diagnose media errors, but it takes a long time to fully detect the disk drive.

5. The computer's BIOS setting forces the UDMA mode not supported by the drive controller. Although UDMA mode can enhance the performance of the disk, it will cause some errors if the drive controller does not support it. This situation is rare, mainly on newly installed hardware devices (the hardware device supports UDMA mode), users can restore the BIOS or restore the BIOS's options for the hard drive to the default "auto detect" mode. To solve this problem. For example: If there is a problem with a device set to UDMA Mode6 mode, you can set it to Mode5 mode.

6. The problem with the drive controller. I have encountered a situation where the USB controller and other hardware devices are in conflict and the write cache fails. If your system has both long and short PCI slots (64-bit and 32-bit), try unplugging the USB controller from the long PCI slot. Some older PCI cards do not support this type of slot.

7. Parity error in memory. This usually happens after you add a new memory. The reason for this error is that your new memory module does not match the memory type supported by the motherboard, or there is a problem with the memory itself. (Other problems with memory can cause other errors, such as random deadlocks, etc.)

8. The LargeSystemCache key value in the registry is incorrect. This is rare and usually occurs on machines that have an ATI display adapter with more than 521MB of memory. The registry on these machines has a key called LargeSystemCache

(HKEY LOCAL MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\Control\\Session Manager\\Memory Management), which is used to manage the system's allocation to some core processes. Memory capacity, if the key value is set to 1 (this setting can enhance the performance of machines with more than 512MB of memory), it may cause data errors and write cache failure errors in some systems. If this happens, change the key value to 0.