I have the same problems few weeks back,ending with 'Dead ext hard drive'. Good thing is hard drive still under warranty,sent back to manufaturer, they are sending me another one, but i lost all data.If you still can open hard drive ,recomend to back up all important data. If wararrant expired, try to reformat hard drive(you'll lost all data),i had saved a fews hard drive by doing so. Good luck!
Usually it is not Windows XP issue about "Delay Write Failed". "Delay Write Failed"
means the connection or communiction has a problem between a hard drive and
your host. It happens on an external hard drive most.
Why does a connection have a problem? A few factors cause:
1. Hard drive:
A hard drive is out of order so it can not be access properly. Maybe you can go
back your vendor to get a new one.
2. Power short:
Usually it has two USB connector for your 2.5" hard drive. Use both for offerring
power. It may not be enough using one. External 3.5" hard drive does not have
this issue because it has its own power source.
3. Signal issue:
Sometimes this issue happens on USB ports which are on front panel. Using USB
ports which are on rear panel will be better.