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Article ID: 927912 - Last Review: October 11, 2007 - Revision: 2.4

Error message and events are logged in the System log when you try to compress a large file on an NTFS volume in Windows XP, in Windows 2000, or in Windows Server 2003: "Delayed Write Failed"

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SYMPTOMS

Consider the following scenario. You have a computer that is running Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows XP, or Microsoft Windows Server 2003. On this computer, you have a very large file on an NTFS file system volume. You try to compress the file by using NTFS File Compression, or you try to copy the file to an NTFS compressed folder. In this scenario, you may receive the following error message:
Delayed Write Failed
Additionally, event messages that resemble the following may be logged in the System log:

Event Type: Warning
Event Source: Ntfs
Event Category: None Event ID: 50
Date: Date
Time: Time
User: N/A
Computer: Computer
Description:
{Delayed Write Failed} Windows was unable to save all the data for the file . 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 file elsewhere.

Event Type: Information
Event Source: Application Popup
Event Category: None
Event ID: 26
Date: Date
Time: Time
User: N/A
Computer: Computer
Description: Application popup: Windows - Delayed Write Failed : Windows was unable to save all the data for the file P:\compressed_folder\100GBfile.dat. 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 file elsewhere.

Note This problem occurs when the compressed file is very large. The file size in which the problem can occur varies based on several factors. The most significant factor is the file fragmentation on the volume. Therefore, you may be able to defragment the volume to reduce the effect of the problem.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.
APPLIES TO
  • Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition for Itanium-Based Systems
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition for Itanium-based Systems
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter x64 Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise x64 Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard x64 Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition (32-bit x86)
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (32-bit x86)
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86)
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Web Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition (32-bit x86)
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition (32-Bit x86)
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition (32-Bit x86)
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard x64 Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
  • Windows Server 2008 Datacenter without Hyper-V
  • Windows Server 2008 Enterprise without Hyper-V
  • Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-Based Systems
  • Windows Server 2008 Standard without Hyper-V
  • Windows Server 2008 Datacenter
  • Windows Server 2008 Enterprise
  • Windows Server 2008 Standard
  • Windows Web Server 2008
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Keywords: 
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