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General discussion

Disk write cashing & lock ups

Mar 6, 2004 4:14AM PST

I've been having sporadic boot up & shut down problems - my laptop would lock up. Ran many tests & cleanups: hardware, defrag, scan disk, antivirus, memory, motherboard, updated BIOS & chipset drivers, etc. there seem to be no problems. I seem to be able to bootup sucessfully if my laptop has been rested for awhile. I thought it was a heat problem at first but the more I looked into this problem it seem to be more of a problem relating to the way the disc read, write, store data or some sort of cashing. When I tried to do a repair with my WinXpPro CD, I always got stuck at the "Welcome setup page" & it would lock up.

Sure enough, when I ran Bootvis (which I just downloaded & installed), the report on the Disk I/O section gave me a warning: "WARNING! DISK WRITE CASHING IS DISABLED". However when I checked my HD properties, the disk write cashing IS abled. I reset (unchecked & checked again) this option, reboot & ran the test again & I still got the warning.

Is there a way to fix this problem? Would a replacement of the HD remedy this situation? - hardware test shows no problems however. I appreciate any help. Thanks.

My Specs: Gateway 600XL Laptop, WinXp Pro SP1, Pentium 4, 2.2 GHz-M, 512MB Ram, 60G Ultra ATA Hard Drive (43G Free Space).

Discussion is locked

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Re:Disk write cashing & lock ups
Mar 6, 2004 12:23PM PST

Nothing sticks out in your post except that XP Pro OS. Was that factory installed/supplied?

No cure, but ideas...

1. The repair step failing is not a good sign.

a. Is the BIOS current?

2. Rather than the repair step, how about

SFC /SCANNOW
???

3. The usual pests and parasites the antivirus doesn't fine. Let me state that if you don't eject them all, then problems usually continue.

Sillyarasite removal programs.


http://reviews.cnet.com/5208-6132-0.html?forumID=32&threadID=1313&start=0 notes the five scanning tools and removal tools that are fairly safe. If one does encounter an issue, its always been damage done by the MALWARE. The most common issue being Layered Service Provider replacement which you can use LSPFIX (Hint: use http://www.google.com to find).

The thread has follow on discussions about new links if you don't want to use Google to find an item.

Bob

PS. All the tools are free.

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Re:Re:Disk write cashing & lock ups
Mar 7, 2004 3:50AM PST

Thanks Bob. I've ran sfc /scannow, adaware, spybot, antivirus & the usual windows system diagnostics and there seem to be NO problems. And yes, the BIOS is updated & most current. The WinXp Pro OS was home installed on a clean, new HD using my WinXpPro CD. I've no problems with internet connection so I'm holding off on the LSPFIX. The only thing that sticks out at this moment is the "disk write caching is diasabled" warning by Bootvis (but my HD properties shows that it IS abled) that I mentioned in my original post. Any ideas regarding this? Thanks.

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An issue with bootvis.
Mar 7, 2004 5:31AM PST

It's not supported in any form now. While "interesting" I think its time to stop using it. Your choice.

There are a few disk cache settings in hardware worth noting. Before I reveal it, I will share I have never found turning it on to help a machine (the opposite however is true.)

If I knew the make/model of the hard disk, it might be possible to find the drive maker's tool to turn on the hard drive's cache. BUT it's odd that its off. The possible issues are:

1. Gateway found an issue and fixed it by turning it off.
2. Bootvis doesn't know what its reporting (my bet!)

Before enabling it, remember that data may spontaneously vanish if item 1 is true. You do have a backup?

Bob

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Re:An issue with bootvis.
Mar 7, 2004 12:02PM PST

Thanks Bob. My HD make is Toshiba ATA (Model MK6021GAS) 9.5mm Height, 60G. Another thing I tried was to read the drive in DOS using the NtfsReader utility. The drive was detected in DOS but when I tried to do a search or a scan, it started for a while (like 10%) and then it got stuck & locked up just like when I tried to do a repair with WinXp Pro CD.

Bootvis aside, my HD properties shows that disk write caching is NOT disabled. I'm leaning toward HD malfunction (altho hardware test shows it's not) - somehow the HD lost connection after a while. At this point I just wanna get a new HD but I don't even know if that will work. I guess I'll just have to take a shot & blow some $. Your suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

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Where's the toshiba tool?
Mar 8, 2004 12:20AM PST

Here's the Hitachi tool.

"Feature Tool (v1.92)
The Feature Tool allows you to control some of the features of our Deskstar and Travelstar high performance ATA hard disk drives and supports 48-bit addressing, so it will work with the new large capacity drives. This version adds support for our latest drives. The Feature Tool allows you to:

* Enable or disable the read-ahead or write cache.
* Change the drive Automatic Acoustic Management settings to the:
o Lowest acoustic emanation setting (Quiet Seek Mode), or
o Maximum performance level (Normal Seek Mode)."

http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

Remember this is to change the seek noise. If you have a constant whine or bearing problem, this will not have any effect. That's a high-performance drive for a laptop at 5400 RPM. We used to see much slower units so power consumption was lower, but then people are wanting desktop performance... You get the story."

I can't find the Toshiba version. You can try http://209.167.114.38/support/Download/ln_byModel.htm

Bob

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Re:Where's the toshiba tool?
Mar 8, 2004 9:43AM PST

Thanks for your help Bob. I'm not aware of such tools for Toshiba. Just ordered a new HD & hope for the best. Have a great day.