How to force a delayed write to an eSATA drive?
in [Hardware]
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From: John John - MVP on 9 Apr 2010 07:21 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897438.aspx Sync v2.0 John GettingByOk wrote: > Thank you. > > Quick question, is this a session-level or system-level change? meaning, can > I do this right before I shut down to flush the write buffer? Then enable it > again..... > > ....or do I have to reboot for the change to take effect? > > Ideally if I could do this at-will (i.e., flush the write buffer, put > computer in Standby, wake up computer up, then Optimize for Performance > again) then I could have the write buffer available while I'm working and > turn it off when I want to do Standby.... > > Robert > > "LVTravel" wrote: > >> >> "GettingByOk" <GettingByOk(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message >> news:BA6D35D7-398B-4FB6-924C-83AEDB609F3B(a)microsoft.com... >>> Also, I'm on 32-bit Windows XP SP2. >>> >>> "GettingByOk" wrote: >>> >>>> Hi, >>>> >>>> I just installed an eSATA as a backup drive. I use Windows Standby a lot, >>>> works really well for a long time before needing to do a restart. >>>> >>>> I'd like to shut off the eSATA so it's not running all the time and >>>> wasting >>>> electricity. But if I put my machine on Standby and turn off the eSATA >>>> then I >>>> get an error when I power on the eSATA. It's a cryptic error but has the >>>> string MFT$ in it so it appears to be a Master File Table corruption, and >>>> the >>>> drive becomes inaccessible. >>>> >>>> The actual message says a delayed write to the drive failed and says >>>> something about an MFT error. >>>> >>>> To correct that, I need to do a cold shutdown of my computer and restart >>>> it. >>>> I power down and restart the eSATA drive as well. Seems to fix itself >>>> (almost). I'll get an error that the Recycle Bin is corrupted on the >>>> drive >>>> and Windows deletes and rebuilds it. >>>> >>>> Is there a way I can force Windows to do the delayed write before putting >>>> the system on Standby so I don't have to keep the drive on all the time? >>>> Ideally automatically, of course. >>>> >>>> Is there a safe way to power off the drive before I put Windows on >>>> Standby? >>>> >>>> It's inconvenient to do a cold shutdown all the time but I don't want to >>>> keep the eSATA powered on all the time either if I can avoid it. >>>> >>>> Thanks, >>>> Robert >> By turning off the feature you will probably slow the computer. It may be >> noticeable and maybe not. >> >> Try this: Right click My Computer. Left click Device Manager. Click the + >> by Disk drives to open that listing. Find your drive and right click on >> it's name. Left click on Properties. Click Policies tab. Turn off the >> Optimize for performance and click on Optimize for quick removal (if >> available.) OK out and you should not have the issue again. >> >> What this does is turn off the write cache (buffer) for the drive and forces >> the computer to write immediately to a drive. The write cache writes to the >> drive normally (when the Optimize for Performance is turned on) only when >> the processor and data path to the drive is idle or the cache becomes full. >> With it turned off it will cause the processor to immediately write to the >> drive even though it is busy. >> >> Let us know if this helps or if issues remain. >> >> . >>
From: GettingByOk on 9 Apr 2010 12:28 LVTravel, John John, Thanks. I'll try these. Robert "GettingByOk" wrote: > Thank you. > > Quick question, is this a session-level or system-level change? meaning, can > I do this right before I shut down to flush the write buffer? Then enable it > again..... > > ....or do I have to reboot for the change to take effect? > > Ideally if I could do this at-will (i.e., flush the write buffer, put > computer in Standby, wake up computer up, then Optimize for Performance > again) then I could have the write buffer available while I'm working and > turn it off when I want to do Standby.... > > Robert > > "LVTravel" wrote: > > > > > > > "GettingByOk" <GettingByOk(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message > > news:BA6D35D7-398B-4FB6-924C-83AEDB609F3B(a)microsoft.com... > > > Also, I'm on 32-bit Windows XP SP2. > > > > > > "GettingByOk" wrote: > > > > > >> Hi, > > >> > > >> I just installed an eSATA as a backup drive. I use Windows Standby a lot, > > >> works really well for a long time before needing to do a restart. > > >> > > >> I'd like to shut off the eSATA so it's not running all the time and > > >> wasting > > >> electricity. But if I put my machine on Standby and turn off the eSATA > > >> then I > > >> get an error when I power on the eSATA. It's a cryptic error but has the > > >> string MFT$ in it so it appears to be a Master File Table corruption, and > > >> the > > >> drive becomes inaccessible. > > >> > > >> The actual message says a delayed write to the drive failed and says > > >> something about an MFT error. > > >> > > >> To correct that, I need to do a cold shutdown of my computer and restart > > >> it. > > >> I power down and restart the eSATA drive as well. Seems to fix itself > > >> (almost). I'll get an error that the Recycle Bin is corrupted on the > > >> drive > > >> and Windows deletes and rebuilds it. > > >> > > >> Is there a way I can force Windows to do the delayed write before putting > > >> the system on Standby so I don't have to keep the drive on all the time? > > >> Ideally automatically, of course. > > >> > > >> Is there a safe way to power off the drive before I put Windows on > > >> Standby? > > >> > > >> It's inconvenient to do a cold shutdown all the time but I don't want to > > >> keep the eSATA powered on all the time either if I can avoid it. > > >> > > >> Thanks, > > >> Robert > > > > By turning off the feature you will probably slow the computer. It may be > > noticeable and maybe not. > > > > Try this: Right click My Computer. Left click Device Manager. Click the + > > by Disk drives to open that listing. Find your drive and right click on > > it's name. Left click on Properties. Click Policies tab. Turn off the > > Optimize for performance and click on Optimize for quick removal (if > > available.) OK out and you should not have the issue again. > > > > What this does is turn off the write cache (buffer) for the drive and forces > > the computer to write immediately to a drive. The write cache writes to the > > drive normally (when the Optimize for Performance is turned on) only when > > the processor and data path to the drive is idle or the cache becomes full. > > With it turned off it will cause the processor to immediately write to the > > drive even though it is busy. > > > > Let us know if this helps or if issues remain. > > > > . > >
From: GettingByOk on 14 Apr 2010 22:29
Ran into a problem preventing me from trying either of your suggestions..... Now my computer will not boot if the eSATA drive is turned on. It hangs right before it finishes loading the BIOS. About 95% of the way before the white progress bar finishes. Can't even hit F2 to configure or F12 to change boot order. So I have to turn the eSATA drive off then cycle the computer. Then of course it says it can't detect the SATA-4 device and I hit F1 to continue. Any ideas? "GettingByOk" wrote: > Thank you. > > Quick question, is this a session-level or system-level change? meaning, can > I do this right before I shut down to flush the write buffer? Then enable it > again..... > > ....or do I have to reboot for the change to take effect? > > Ideally if I could do this at-will (i.e., flush the write buffer, put > computer in Standby, wake up computer up, then Optimize for Performance > again) then I could have the write buffer available while I'm working and > turn it off when I want to do Standby.... > > Robert > > "LVTravel" wrote: > > > > > > > "GettingByOk" <GettingByOk(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message > > news:BA6D35D7-398B-4FB6-924C-83AEDB609F3B(a)microsoft.com... > > > Also, I'm on 32-bit Windows XP SP2. > > > > > > "GettingByOk" wrote: > > > > > >> Hi, > > >> > > >> I just installed an eSATA as a backup drive. I use Windows Standby a lot, > > >> works really well for a long time before needing to do a restart. > > >> > > >> I'd like to shut off the eSATA so it's not running all the time and > > >> wasting > > >> electricity. But if I put my machine on Standby and turn off the eSATA > > >> then I > > >> get an error when I power on the eSATA. It's a cryptic error but has the > > >> string MFT$ in it so it appears to be a Master File Table corruption, and > > >> the > > >> drive becomes inaccessible. > > >> > > >> The actual message says a delayed write to the drive failed and says > > >> something about an MFT error. > > >> > > >> To correct that, I need to do a cold shutdown of my computer and restart > > >> it. > > >> I power down and restart the eSATA drive as well. Seems to fix itself > > >> (almost). I'll get an error that the Recycle Bin is corrupted on the > > >> drive > > >> and Windows deletes and rebuilds it. > > >> > > >> Is there a way I can force Windows to do the delayed write before putting > > >> the system on Standby so I don't have to keep the drive on all the time? > > >> Ideally automatically, of course. > > >> > > >> Is there a safe way to power off the drive before I put Windows on > > >> Standby? > > >> > > >> It's inconvenient to do a cold shutdown all the time but I don't want to > > >> keep the eSATA powered on all the time either if I can avoid it. > > >> > > >> Thanks, > > >> Robert > > > > By turning off the feature you will probably slow the computer. It may be > > noticeable and maybe not. > > > > Try this: Right click My Computer. Left click Device Manager. Click the + > > by Disk drives to open that listing. Find your drive and right click on > > it's name. Left click on Properties. Click Policies tab. Turn off the > > Optimize for performance and click on Optimize for quick removal (if > > available.) OK out and you should not have the issue again. > > > > What this does is turn off the write cache (buffer) for the drive and forces > > the computer to write immediately to a drive. The write cache writes to the > > drive normally (when the Optimize for Performance is turned on) only when > > the processor and data path to the drive is idle or the cache becomes full. > > With it turned off it will cause the processor to immediately write to the > > drive even though it is busy. > > > > Let us know if this helps or if issues remain. > > > > . > > |