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Zubair Alexander
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Disabling Write Caching in Windows XP |
| How do I disable write caching in Windows XP? |
| by Zubair Alexander |
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7/25/2007 -- By default, write caching is enabled in Windows XP to improve disk performance. However, if there's a power failure or system crash, you may lose your data or it can possibly get corrupted. If your system tends to crash or the power in your area is not very reliable you may consider turning off the write-back caching feature. If your computer is protected with an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) and is fairly reliable, you should leave the write-back caching enabled to improve write performance.
To disable write caching, follow this procedure:
- Start Windows Explorer
- Right-click your Local Disk and select Properties
- Click on the Hardware tab
- Select your hard drive and click on Properties
- Click the Policies tab
- Uncheck the box "Enable write caching on the disk"
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Zubair Alexander, MCSE, MCT, MCSA and Microsoft MVP is the founder of SeattlePro Enterprises, an IT training and consulting business. His experience covers a wide range of spectrum: trainer, consultant, systems administrator, security architect, network engineer, author, technical editor, college instructor and public speaker. Zubair holds more than 25 technical certifications and Bachelor of Science degrees in Aeronautics & Astronautics Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Information Systems. His Web site, www.techgalaxy.net, is dedicated to technical resources for IT professionals. Zubair may be reached at .
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There are 4  user Comments for “Disabling Write Caching in Windows XP”
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Page 1 of 1
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| 6/5/09: Anonymous says: |
tried all the suggestions but the check box is greyed out and there is no other way to disable write cahe in xp sp3 |
| 8/17/10: anaon 2 says: |
doesn't work like anonymous says the write behind caching tab is checked and greyed out and I still get write behind failure messages |
| 11/13/10: xpuser2010 says: |
I have the same problem with grayed out boxes that prevents disabling write caching. How do I get access to Policies to change it? I am a single user so I am the admin. Thanks for any help |
| 7/1/12: crono99 from Portugal says: |
The technique given in this tip only works for permanently mounted physical drives - i.e. the hard drive in the computer proper. It does not work for 'mounted' drives, for example a USB connected or network drive. It is usually possible to disable write-cache as given above on a mounted drive, but it will be automatically enabled again at the next mount or re-boot of Windows. MS KB330174 provides some technical info. There is another KB which provides a solution for mounted volumes - but only for earlier versions of Windows, not xp and later where MS have removed the 'FileSystem' option from the Control Panel. Like everyone else with this 10 year old ongoing problem - I am still searching for a solution which works all the time! I keep losing all my new emails because the error happens on my inbox. |
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