Windows - Delayed write failed

"Windows was unable to save all the data for the file \device\harddiskvolume1\documents and setting\administrator\local settings\temp\MSI3a161.LOG The data has been loast. This error may be caused by a failur of your computer hardware or network connection. Please try to save this file eslewhere."


OKay... umm what the heck is up with this error message?? I keep getting it, I just JUST installed W2k about 2hrs ago and have only downloaded a few of the programs i use not all of them yet, but why do i keep getting this??

YES im at stock speed yes im at stock voltage everything is stock when i install a OS... im getting boat loads of these stupid things....

fresh install on a 40GB HD after installing everything i did slap in my other 40gb with my games and stuff on it, and then errors started after a couple restarts with the other one in (HD) but ive done it like this before many times

I have gotten strange messages like that before, all I did was move my "temp" file somewhere else and it has been fine for about a year.

Fiz

bump cause im having the same problem now.

windows xp

This is a common error that normally occurs when a HDD is about ready to fail...try running chkdsk /r (the /r switch locates bad sectors and recovers readable information from the drive/partition) from the command prompt: Start | Run | Type cmd and hit OK. You may also want to try running a HDD diagnostic utility, normally available from your drive manufacturer's website.

BUMP

Right, now I'm getting this problem, but my story is quite in depth.

A few weeks ago I had a GF3 Ti200 in my sig system, both HDs are very new. I then bought a Radeon 9700 Pro, put it in,installed the drivers, and then bam, delayed write failure. So I reinstalled Windows, and everything was ok for a while.

But I was in a small race on a forum to get 20k in 3DMark 2001 and a friend(Also has NForce 2 and Radeon 9700/9800 Pro) sent me a few links with tweaks to do. Most of which I already knew but just hadn't bothered with since reinstalling windows. So I did all these tweaks, one of which is a registry one where you set the L2 Cache size of your CPU. But he told me to NOT change it as it causes this Delayed Write problem on NForce 2 boards. I rebooted anyway, and bam, Delayed Write Failure

So I had to reinstall Windows again 4 days later I was building a PC for a friend.

Epox 8RDA+
2x256mb TwinMOS/Winbond PC3200
Athlon XP 1700+ @ 2.1GHz
Radeon 9700 Pro
520w Hiper Power/TTGI
80GB 8mb Cache Maxtor DM+9
80GB 8mb Cache WD

Knowing that this certain L2 Cache setting in the registry was causing this problem I avoided it. I reinstalled Windows, SP1, did all the Windows updates, NForce 2 drivers, and so on...... All was fine until I installed the GFX card drivers. BAM, delayed write failure I can't think what could have done it, it was a totally fresh install, with just a few patches, programs and simple settings changed, nothing drastic in the registry.

So by this time I'm mad because I need to install Windows on his PC again. On the same day(Yesterday) I got 2 new 80GB 8mb Cache SATA Maxtor DM+9s to replace my PATA ones. I set them up in Raid 0 mode to benchmark them in Sandra, and all was well.... But I really wanted them in Raid 1 mode, so I changed it in the Raid BIOS, rebooted, bam, DELAYED WRITE ****ING FAILURE, ARGHHHHHHHH So now I have to reinstall Windows AGAIN!!!!!!!!

So what the hell is doing this. From my own testing I've found that it's not any particular motherboard, although I've noticed it only happening on NForce 2 boards. Overclocking is NOT the cause of this problem either, I've tried that. I've ONLY noticed this error occur when using Radeon 9700 Pros in NForce 2 systems. It's not duff HDs causing this, all the HDs(5 of them) I've used are new. It's not the NForce 2's weird "SCSI" IDE drivers, the other MCP2 ones cause this problem too, and it also happens with drives connected to the NF7-S SATA.

WHY WHY WHY is this happening?

I had a thread just recently explaining a problem with my Epox 8RDA failing during w2k install. My conspiracy theory tells me there's something wrong with Epox boards (at least the 8RDA and +) and other nf2 boards. I've used a Leadtek nf2 board with no problems at all, so it could just be some versions of the chipset.

The only thing I can think of, besides RMA, is try to replicate when the problem happens and don't do what you did. If it occurs right after vid card driver install, then use another vid card or something like that.

Wedo