ITinfo: Windows Me Responsible for Data Loss on Fast Computers

Windows Me Trashes Data

Fast computers shutting down before disk operations are complete

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Windows Me Responsible for Data Loss on Fast Computers

by Dave Murphy
ISSN 1535-3613

Reports of Windows Millennium Edition (WinMe) causing loss of data on PCs running at 933MHz and faster with a large-cache ATA100 hard disk are beginning to surface.

The problem occurs during system shutdown and stems from the operating system's inability to fully write data stored in large caches (memory) to the hard disk before the hardware shuts down and powers off the disk drive.

The problem can occur during both routine transfer to sleep mode and during manual shutdown and restart procedures.

Microsoft acknowledges the anomaly and, when pressed, reported the problem may also occur in Windows 98. Last night Microsoft released an OS patch to vendors of 933MHz and faster systems to repair this serious flaw in the operating system.

I haven't yet seen the OS patch available to the public. If you're running a 933MHz or faster computer or if you value your data and want to be on the safe side, turn off the sleep mode of your PC and contact your vendor for the OS patch.

I've anticipated this problem for a few years. The amount of disk activity during system shutdown is an indicator that cached data is being written to the hard disk. Faster hardware is able to complete the shutdown procedure before the Microsoft OS has completed protecting the data by transferring it from volatile memory to disk.

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updated September 22, 2000
http://dgl.com/itinfo/2000/it000922.html