Microsoft KB Archive/154436

Errors Accessing Hard Disk with Spin-Down Enabled

Q154436

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows 95
Microsoft Windows 95 OEM Service Release, versions 2, 2.1

SYMPTOMS

When some IDE hard disks are configured to spin down during idle time to conserve power, you may experience the following symptoms when you access the hard disk after it has spun down:

Incorrect data is read from or written to the drive.
You receive general protection (GP) fault error messages.

CAUSE

These symptoms can occur if the hard disk requires more than 7.5 seconds to spin up. When this occurs, an error in the Windows 95 driver results in incorrect data being read from the drive, which can result in GP faults.

RESOLUTION

A supported fix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem described in this article and should be applied only to systems experiencing this specific problem.

To resolve this problem immediately, download the fix as instructed below or contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information on support costs, please go to the following address on the World Wide Web:

http://support.microsoft.com/directory/overview.asp

NOTE: In special cases, charges that are normally incurred for support calls may be canceled, if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. Normal support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

Download Remideup.exe now]

For additional information about how to download Microsoft Support files, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q119591 How to Obtain Microsoft Support Files from Online Services

Microsoft used the most current virus detection software available on the date of posting to scan this file for viruses. Once posted, the file is housed on secure servers that prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

The following files are installed by Remideup.exe:

   File name     Version    Date/Time       Size   Destination folder
   -----------------------------------------------------------------------
   Esdi_506.pdr  4.00.1116  8/25/97 11:16a  24,426 Windows\System\Iosubsys
   Voltrack.vxd  4.00.954   3/6/96 9:54a    18,518 Windows\System\Iosubsys

NOTE: The Voltrack.vxd file is installed on Windows 95 computers only. This file is not installed on computers running OSR2.

This issue is resolved in Microsoft Windows 98.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about issues resolved by updates to this component, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q171353 Computer with Ultra DMA IDE Controller May Hang

Q161642 Auto Insert Notification May Prevent Automatic Suspend

Q160800 "Fatal Exception Error" with Iomega IDE Zip Drives

Q154976 Error Message Running Jet Database Engine Stress Test

Q154435 Windows 95 IDE Support for SMART, DMA, and ATAPI Tape Drives

Q153471 Problems with Removable IDE Drives in Windows 95

Additional query words: gpf

Keywords : kbhw kbpolicy osr2 win95 kbgraphxlinkcritical
Issue type : kbprb
Technology : kbWin95search kbOPKSearch kbWin95 kbWin95OPKOSR2 kbWin95OPKOSR210