Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Write Cache Disabled

Aug 10, 2004 12:18PM PDT

I am running win-XP-HE OS. I have a Maxtor 120gb HD (Model 6Y120LO)in which the Write Cache is disabled (I don't know why). Checking Device Manager, I find that the "Write Cache and Safe Removal" in the Policy Tab are "greyed out". How do I correct this?

Thanks,
Ray Savage

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Re: Write Cache Disabled
Aug 10, 2004 12:49PM PDT

This is not usually a hardware issue or failure. Today I run into the more common issues of missing motherboard drivers (Microsoft doesn't do this for us) or they install the Intel acceleration driver and what you see in Windows isn't what is really going on.

Your post neglected the forum tip about the rest of the machine as well as if the 80 conductor cable was used.

"Tip: If you are asking for help to troubleshoot a computer-related problem, please be sure to include all the necessary information (ie: operating system, model number, hardware, software, etc) that will help others identify your problem for a speedy resolution."

Bob

- Collapse -
Re: Write Cache Disabled
Aug 11, 2004 3:01AM PDT

Bob:

Thanks for your reply. Here is some additional information relating to my system:

The hd in question is my the master and is connected with an 80 conductor cable. I have a 60gb Maxtor6L060J3 slave connected with the same cable (the write cache for this drive is ok.

My motherboard is a GigaByte GA-7VT600-L, having the latest BIOS update. My clock speed is 133mh. The processor is an AMD Athlon XP 2400 (128kb primary memory cache, 256kb secondary memory cache). I have 512gb DDR RAM PC2700. My video board is a RADEON 7000 AGP.

Hope this info will help.

Ray

- Collapse -
And did you install the motherboard drivers?
Aug 11, 2004 3:05AM PDT

Remember that Microsoft won't do this for us.

Bob

- Collapse -
Re: And did you install the motherboard drivers?
Aug 11, 2004 6:20AM PDT

Bob:
All motherboard drivers are installed - just double checked with the install CD.

Ray

- Collapse -
The last items.
Aug 11, 2004 6:24AM PDT

1. The CD is outdated almost every time I'd used such. Check with the motherboard maker's site.

Comment. http://www.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Products/Products_GA-7VT600-L.htm shows its VIA based. Use the latest VIA drivers.

2. The hard disk might have a utility to enable the write cache in the drive.

3. Windows has a setting deep in device manager to disable the write cache. I leave you to find it there or in MSCONFIG.

4. Many will not try the flip to PIO and back to DMA. Do try it.

Anytime you load a driver from CD, it's likely out of date.

Bob

- Collapse -
Re: The last items.
Aug 13, 2004 11:25AM PDT

Bob:
You might know, the last thing I tried gave me the solution - The Maxtor Diagnosis Utility disk. The hard drive check indicated that it was failing. The drive is in warranty, so Maxtor is replacing. I was a little surprised in that the drive is less than a year old - I have several "ancient HD's" that still run great.

Thanks very much for your professional guidance.

Best regards,
Ray

- Collapse -
Just commenting.
Aug 13, 2004 12:05PM PDT

Such drive anomalies can have a machine cough up a wide variety of problems. And Microsoft rarely gives us an error message to nail it down...

Bob