Delayed Write Failed Error with USB drive

Posted by Abhishek in computer problems, how to fix, windows 

5

May

Trouble:

I have been using my portable hard disk drive for more than an year now. Its a laptop hard-disk of 2.5 inches, 80GB capacity with a USB 2.0 casing. By now the drive has become nearly full, there is little free space.

delayed write failed error

Three days back, I got a warning saying

“Windows delayed write failed -  Windows was unable to save all the data for the file M:\$Mft. The data has been lost. This error may be caused by a failure of your computer hardware or network connection. Please try to save this data elsewhere.”

 

For a moment I thought that disk is going faulty, but with some hit and trial, I got it fixed.

Let me share the solution with you.

Fix:

 

This kind of problem is observed when the drive is almost full and there is some problem being faced by the disk in maintaining the file allocation table. This problem can be fixed in some easy steps:

 

1. Delete some un-necessary stuff from your drive and make at-least 5% of the total disk space as free space. See this post in case you need more details.

2. Open My Computer, right click on the USB drive, click on properties.

3. Go to Tools > Error-checking and select option to check now as shown in the image below.

Tools error checking

 

4. This will show a window like the one below. Check the check-boxes to Automatically fix the file system and Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors. Click Start.

error checking

NOTE: If you are not able to run this scan, disconnect the drive and try again. If the USB malfunction error is received, see this post for solving it.

 

This scan may take a few minutes to a few hours depending on the disk size and type of file system. Keep patience and let it complete properly. Once this is done, re-start your computer.

Author + Admin: Abhishek Bhatnagar
Hi, I am a Software Engineer by profession and blogger by passion, I write about computer tips and tricks and solutions for computer problems. You can connect with me at twitter or know more about me on www.abhishekbhatnagar.com.

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10 Users Commented In This Post

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mygif
Joel says, June 16th, 2008   

Hey guys
Thank you so much for posting this. I thought everything on my harddrive was going to be gone.
Keep up the good work!

mygif
B says, June 23rd, 2008   

I had hopes, but mine starts the scan then says it cannot complete and stops.

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Jyotirmoy Biswas. says, June 30th, 2008   

Thankyou. This helps me to solve my problem.

mygif
sounak says, August 11th, 2008   

hey ……. my portable hard drive is almost empty but still sometimes i get the same error…………hv any suggestions for that

mygif
Sumeet says, August 26th, 2008   

I am using Transcend T.Sonic 610 MP3 Player. When I connect it to computer it gives the same error, and even I cant open My Computer, Start Menu or any other applications while it is connected and as soon as i disconnects it from the computer all the applications starts properly, My computer gets opened, everything works fine. I cant find the proper solution please help me. Thank You.

mygif
Trekster says, September 12th, 2008   

I must disagree with this statement you made… “This kind of problem is observed when the drive is almost full…”

I am experiencing the same problem (and same message) with my new 1TB ‘My Book’ USB drive. I only have 6GB used of 931GB available (I should point out that I have no trouble with my other 7 external drives ranging from 120GB to 500GB).

You are correct in the time frame of how long it will take to implement the solution you provided. It took about 7 hours to do my 1TB drive.

People should be aware of the second part of the error message that states it could be a failure of the connection (network). I have been unplugging the USB cable, waiting a few minutes, then plugging it back in and everything was fine.

I’m only trying your suggestion to see if it stops me from having to “pull the plug” every few days.

I have a feeling it won’t… BUT, Not because there’s a flaw in your fix… But, because my particular problem strays from your original cause.

Bob

mygif
dev says, January 19th, 2009   

hey, my pendrive still have same problem. can anybody help me.

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Gill831 says, January 29th, 2009   

I had this warning when I added a another HD (IDE) to my PC and instaled Windows 7 Beta.The first HD was Sata.The drive (IDE)would give a warning each time when I try to copy from it using USB external HD or Pendrive even to the internal Sata drive.
After going through the WEB & not finding any solution I
guessed the problem was the IDE cables having a slow transfer
of data.After changing the IDE cables with a faster transfer of data it worked fine. hope this might help someone.Thanks.

mygif
dinesh belgali says, September 29th, 2009   

i have a wireless modem from BSNL WLL connected to my pc through usb connector, & driver for the sme installed on my PC correctly but when i connect through this modem it connects but i am not able to browsc the pages & after some time the same will disconnect.

Request you to kindly give me the solution for the same becasue i am helpless to solve this problem.

mygif
Kwan says, November 10th, 2009   

My usb hard drive drive drop’s a connection every 20 min.
or so with the connection failed warning…. It could be many problems. First check your usb cable and usb port to make sure it’s seated into the slot. If the cables are good. try a different usb port, better if its on a different board.
If it still drops like mine I’m switching out hard drives in the external case itself and see if it will hold a connection.

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