# Virtual CD removal on Toshiba 1tb Ext. HDD



## abtabdn (Dec 11, 2009)

Hi, I am becoming extremely annoyed with the Virtual CD that came loaded on this hard drive I bought. I would very much like to know if anyone has any hint as how to permanently remove it. It is in CDFS format.
I have already tried just about every formatting tool known to man. So something besides that. Disk management won't do it either. It would likely require firmware hacks or something of the sort.

The model # is PH23100U-1EXB


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## grimx133 (Jan 15, 2008)

The model number doesn't lead anywhere, recheck it, perhaps that's an individual serial number and not the model.


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## Alkotashi (Dec 11, 2009)

I suspect it's a "backup-ready" disk of some sort, yours probably mounting a drive at boot or something. Additionally it may be formatted with two partitions, one small (typically hidden) partition for their bundled software and one regular. The software usually makes various buttons on it work, these won't work if you do the following but you will have a clean hd:

First, to remove the build of a virtual drive, type "msconfig" in startmenu/run, when the dialog appears, choose startup and find whatever resembles what you don't want, untick it and reboot.

Then, if the HD has only ONE partition, open the drive root in an explorer window, choose folder options from the menu and select "show hidden files" and to be sure, uncheck "hide extensions for known filetypes", ok. Delete all files on the disk.

If the disk has TWO partitions and only one is showing in XP you could try PartitionTool, it's free and will find disks up to 2TB. If you still can't format the drive you need a low-level formatting tool, use a bootdisc like Ultimate Boot CD or Hiren's Boot CD, as drivers are needed to find the disk in DOS. Boot the disc, find partition tools and use Ranish, XFdisk or similar, be SURE to find the right hard disk number BEFORE you do anything (usually the highest number as it is external). There will probably be several listings like this, delete them all, make a new partition and format it as NTFS filesystem. On reboot you should have a clean HD...


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## abtabdn (Dec 11, 2009)

Yeah it's PH3100U-1EXB sorry, 2 was a typo. I'll try some more formatting tools, but I think that's probably not the way to go.
Thanks for the responses, I'll post back with any success.


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## terrorist96 (Nov 11, 2009)

Hey. Sorry to bump an old thread but I have the same External HDD and it's got the useless Virtual CD attached to it as well. I had no problem deleting the "Toshiba tools" that screwed me over since I couldn't restore my files which were saved as a .RIM format. Now I just use the Windows Back up tool and it works just fine. But anyway, as for the virtual CD, I just tried going to My computer, right clicking on any drive, properties, and going on the hardware tab. I saw the virtual CD there and I click on properties of that. Then I had to click Change Settings on the General tab and it reopened the same window but this time I could alter the Driver's tab settings. So I went on the Drivers tab and clicked uninstall. It worked and my external HDD still worked. But, just to test it, I turned it off then turned it on, and it automatically installed the virtual CD again. Anyone know how to stop it from installing it when I turn it on again?

Also, in addition to this, sometimes the drive randomly decides to turn off. It hasn't happened during back ups but it still happens whenever it feels like it. I tried going in Device manager and looking under the USB stuff but I couldn't locate the HDD there. I can see it on the Disk Drives tab but I don't have a Power Management tab there. I wanna set my drive to be set for "Better Performance" on the "Policies" tab (instead of "Quick Removal" - which is what it's set to) in the properties menu but I fear that since it randomly turns off from time to time, it might mess it up. Does anyone know anything about any of this? Haha. Thanks in advance.


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## abtabdn (Dec 11, 2009)

terrorist96 said:


> Hey. Sorry to bump an old thread but I have the same External HDD and it's got the useless Virtual CD attached to it as well. I had no problem deleting the "Toshiba tools" that screwed me over since I couldn't restore my files which were saved as a .RIM format. Now I just use the Windows Back up tool and it works just fine. But anyway, as for the virtual CD, I just tried going to My computer, right clicking on any drive, properties, and going on the hardware tab. I saw the virtual CD there and I click on properties of that. Then I had to click Change Settings on the General tab and it reopened the same window but this time I could alter the Driver's tab settings. So I went on the Drivers tab and clicked uninstall. It worked and my external HDD still worked. But, just to test it, I turned it off then turned it on, and it automatically installed the virtual CD again. Anyone know how to stop it from installing it when I turn it on again?
> 
> Also, in addition to this, sometimes the drive randomly decides to turn off. It hasn't happened during back ups but it still happens whenever it feels like it. I tried going in Device manager and looking under the USB stuff but I couldn't locate the HDD there. I can see it on the Disk Drives tab but I don't have a Power Management tab there. I wanna set my drive to be set for "Better Performance" on the "Policies" tab (instead of "Quick Removal" - which is what it's set to) in the properties menu but I fear that since it randomly turns off from time to time, it might mess it up. Does anyone know anything about any of this? Haha. Thanks in advance.


There was a virtual cd removal tool released by Toshiba recently, however it seems to have been taken down from their webpage. I can verify it works, and I believe it'll fix your drive from turning off.
I went ahead and uploaded it to http://www.mediafire.com/file/domzt5mzmmk/toshiba_drive_converter_v107.exe
Keep in mind though that this did have a minor hiccup. While it removed the virtual cd and the drive works completely fine, it will report to you that the firmware did not install properly. I'm assuming that's the reason Toshiba took it off their website.
Good luck.


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## terrorist96 (Nov 11, 2009)

Thank you very much! It works perfectly. I never got the "firmware didn't install properly" message.


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## Oats81 (Jan 23, 2010)

I used the tool posted above to convert the drive and it worked to get rid of the virtual cd however the 150 meg partition is still there. I've tried a couple different partitioning tools to remove it but I cant seem to find one that will format the entire drive. 

Aside from that it seems to have broken the eSata connectivity.

USB still works fine but if you plug it in with the esata cable the computer locks before you can get into the BIOS.

I have a second identical drive that I did not convert which works fine still so I'm pretty sure it has to do with the conversion tool but i'm wondering if there is a way to get that functionality back?


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## terrorist96 (Nov 11, 2009)

I actually just connected mine via eSATA just today when I went and bought the wire and an internal port that plugs into my SATA drives and gives me two female eSATAs. It didn't detect the External HDD when I first booted up, but then I restarted, and it got stuck at the Verifying DMI Pool Data stage. I held the power button, restarted, pressed F12 and went to the boot menu (I have Dual BIOS) and selected my internal HDD to boot up from. It booted up fine and as soon as it loaded up, it detected the External HDD and I backed up just fine. 
Have you tried restarting?

EDIT: I just restarted again, and it still got stuck at the Verifying DMI Pool Data stage. I had to go to my BIOS menu, and set the my internal HDD as the priority drive to boot from. I already had it to boot primarily from HD but since I got the external one and I also got a flash drive plugged in, I had to reset my internal as the primary by moving it to the top of the list. Have you tried that, as well?


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## abtabdn (Dec 11, 2009)

Oats81 said:


> I used the tool posted above to convert the drive and it worked to get rid of the virtual cd however the 150 meg partition is still there. I've tried a couple different partitioning tools to remove it but I cant seem to find one that will format the entire drive.
> 
> Aside from that it seems to have broken the eSata connectivity.
> 
> ...


What is the model # of your HDD? I have a collection of Toshiba virtual cd tools that may work if yours is older.

If you have the same model as us you can contact Toshiba, you probably just need the correct tool to flash your firmware if terrorist's suggestion doesn't work. Since it's a tool that Toshiba released they should be obligated to fix your problem.

It was extremely difficult for me to talk to anyone to get technical support, I just got sent around in circles until I gave up. There's also no way to get technical support for hard drives except by telephone. They won't accept e-mails. So good luck if that's what you gotta do.


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## terrorist96 (Nov 11, 2009)

Yeah, the website that I was given for hard drive support was extremely useless. I sent three emails and after each one, it said they'd get back to me in like 1 business day. I waited like 3 weeks til I just called the regular support line and before they could even say anything, I was like, "I know this isn't the correct line for hard drive support but I've already gone that other route, so are you gonna help me or not?" In the end, their help still didn't suffice. By the way, my problem was that I couldn't recover the stuff I backed up using the Toshiba tools cuz I reinstalled Windows after backing up and the Toshiba tools are the most useless thing ever. Do NOT use them to back up your stuff. Use the Windows back up tools. I ended up losing everything I backed up since it backed up in a .RIM format and I couldn't restore it since I technically wasn't on the same computer... go figure.


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## abtabdn (Dec 11, 2009)

terrorist96 said:


> Do NOT use them to back up your stuff. Use the Windows back up tools. I ended up losing everything I backed up since it backed up in a .RIM format and I couldn't restore it since I technically wasn't on the same computer... go figure.


Yes, they're quite terrible.
My main reason for removing the virtual cd was a matter of pride. I just wanted to beat it. Stupid thing.


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## Oats81 (Jan 23, 2010)

PH3100U-1EXB 1T drive 

I'm going to try and mess around with it again to see if I can get it to recognize the drive with the eSata cable. 

I also tried calling their support # on Friday and spent some time in the loop. It leaves you on hold for a while and then eventually kicks you to a voicemail where you can leave a message for someone to call you back.

I may try that again on monday if I cant get this working


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## abtabdn (Dec 11, 2009)

Damn.. then the tools I have probably won't work. If you want me to I can still post them, there's probably about 4-6.


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## Oats81 (Jan 23, 2010)

If you have somewhere to post them i'd be happy to give em a shot.

At this point I haven't made any progress with tech support or the drive itself.


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## abtabdn (Dec 11, 2009)

Oats81 said:


> If you have somewhere to post them i'd be happy to give em a shot.
> 
> At this point I haven't made any progress with tech support or the drive itself.


Kay. Know that there's no guarantee that any of this software will work properly.

http://www.mediafire.com/?bgwuwq5xzbm Apparently this has worked for other Toshiba drives.

http://www.mediafire.com/?xjhmqztz0vj This is an older version of the drive converter software you tried. Maybe you have an older firmware and it'll work for you.

http://www.techsupportlive.com/index.php?_m=downloads&_a=view&parentcategoryid=9&pcid=8&nav=0,8 some different software to try. If you have access to a mac machine try out the mac version, I'd be interested to hear if that worked.



Those are all probably your best bet to try first. There's a few more that I'd have to dig for again, so just let me know if those work, and if not I'll get to diggin'. Good luck.


EDIT: I just noticed you're on Windows 7. Is it possible for you to try the drive converter I provided earlier (v1.07) using Windows XP? That was the OS I used when I ran it. I know it installs a driver to your system, it's possible 7 blocked it.


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## terrorist96 (Nov 11, 2009)

I thought I should point out that though my HDD no long has the virtual CD and stuff, but it still turns off randomly. Even now that it's connected by eSATA to my internal SATA plugs.


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## abtabdn (Dec 11, 2009)

terrorist96 said:


> I thought I should point out that though my HDD no long has the virtual CD and stuff, but it still turns off randomly. Even now that it's connected by eSATA to my internal SATA plugs.


That might be an issue with power management, so you might want to try setting that up yourself.


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## terrorist96 (Nov 11, 2009)

I've tried before but I can find no power management options. The external hard drive is known for shutting down whenever it feels like. The best option I saw was posted by DiznyOrdiz here: http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/adet.to?poid=445143 in the customer reviews.

They say: "This hard drive is great as far as noise, but it shuts off after 5 minutes of idle. To fix this create and run this batch file. Run it each time you want to keep the hard drive active. To create the file, open notepad and save the file as keepalive.bat on your c: drive. (NOTE: enter [these] as specified information and remove the brackets) @echo off [Toshiba HDD drive letter]: :start mkdir DELETE choice /c yn /t 120 /d y /m "Keep this window open or your hard drive will go idle and turn off." rmdir DELETE cls goto start"

and that seems like too much effort to keep a hard drive on. I'd rather just turn it on manually whenever I need it.


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## Oats81 (Jan 23, 2010)

Good news to report in my case.

Yesterday I ran the older toshiba tool (Toshiba_Drive_Converter_V1.06.exe)

After running it and then doing a long complete format of the drive.....I have regained the ability to connect the drive via the eSata cable and in the process it also removed the CD partition and I was able to get the entire drive to format. Meaning when I check the properties of the drive I have no used data on the drive.

I havent had the power issue that you folks are talking about as long as its connected via eSata and I still have some testing to do with regards to the usb connectivity but overall i'm very pleased with the results right now.

Thank You!!!:grin: for the tool and i'll keep you all posted if I find out anything else interesting.


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## Pizza Hut (Jan 27, 2010)

Hi, 

First and foremost- let me state that Toshiba is an absolutely HORRIBLE entity.

HORRIBLE.

HORRIBLE.

HORRIBLE.

I bought this drive yesterday, and I was impressed with the look,feel, and design. Little did I know what a horrible, horrible, wretched, f'd up drive it really was. It showed it's true colors a few minutes after I completed my first round of file transfers by automatically shutting itself off. No big deal I told myself, there must be a setting I can change to make it always stay on, but to my dismay there was none (as far as I know). So after accepting that every five minutes I'd actually have to get up from my recliner, walk over to the drive, bend down, and hit the power button on the back not once, but twice, twice each and every time I wanted to use it- I tried to keep a positive forward attitude. However after transferring several hundred gigs all at separate instances, I began to grow tired of having to f'ing get up and keep turning the g'dmn thing on. I was truly disgusted at this point.

Then if that wasn't enough- I found out that after transferring over 500 gigs that this horrible, horrible, f'ing drive was formatted in fat32 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, fat32!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you kidding me?????????????

fat32 means I can't transfer any file bigger than 4 gigs.

I'll admit I was disappointed with myself for not checking the file format before beginning my transfers, but who the f uses fat32 in this day and age on a 1tb drive?.

So, I had to reformat the drive- which obviously nixed every single one of my previous file transfers.

At this point I'm pretty worked up, talking to myself and stuff, yelling things out loud. However I calmed myself down and tried to be positive, at least now things were on the right track.

Then, ........ then of all f'ing things..... when I rebooted my computer after completing about 700 gigs of fresh transfers to this horrible, horrible drive. My computer wouldn't boot!

I was absolutely terrified, what had I done- was my PC hard drive at the end of it's life, had I somehow got a nasty virus, what the heck could I have done???

After about 10 minutes of screwing around with the bios, and restarting a half dozen times- I disconnected the USB cable from the newly installed Toshiba 1 TB hard drive, and voila- the computer booted right up. I was extremely delighted and breathed a sigh of relief. However after realizing that the new Toshiba drive was the cause, I obviously became infuriated- "it must be that f'ing virtual drive that's installed" I thought to myself. I KNEW, KNEW, KNEW that thing was bad news when I first became aware of it.

After the realization that this new Toshiba drive was at the root of my start up problems- I did a google search and landed at these forums and in the thread in which I am posting now.

I was relieved to find out I wasn't the only one who had this problem and there was a solution. So I downloaded the program that abtabdn kindly provided a link to- and gave it a try. To my utter disgust, in order to get rid of the virtual drive- all of my previous files have to be erased. That was a tough one to swallow. 700 gigs is quite a bit- took me a lot of time and effort to get them all on there, and now I have to erase them all just to get rid of the virtual drive which shouldn't even f'ing be on there in the first place?

So, I went ahead and bit the bullet and did it.

However- and I wasn't the least bit surprised at this point- after using the program provided to delete the virtual cd partition my computer wouldn't even recognize the drive anymore.

At this point, I just plain gave up. I felt I owed it to myself to not put myself through any more frustration, so after slamming the Toshiba drive on the carpet a few times and throwing my computer chair across the room, I got myself back under control and boxed the drive up, I didn't include all of the original packaging and I made sure to tie a few knots in the ac supply and USB cord and stuffed it all back in the box. I pity the poor individual who might possibly give me a hard time about returning this item.

Did I also mention- that this is my 3 third hard drive in the past 10 days?

The other two were Sea Gate 1tb drives, and after using them for an hour they began to make loud clicking noises and wouldn't allow data to be read off of them. After some research I understand this is a well know problem for Seagate- as over 20 percent of their 1tb drives fail right out of the box.

Moral of the story, don't EVER, NOT EVER on your f'ing life by a Seagate or Toshiba drive every again. Just don't do it.

I guess I'm going to give Westered Digital a try.

I've transferred/deleted/retransferred over 5000 gigs the past few days just trying to find a drive that actually f'ing works.

ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING.

Don't make the same mistake I did.


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## terrorist96 (Nov 11, 2009)

Believe me, I've gone through all of that, and more (as you can read in some of my previous posts). I made the mistake of using the useless Toshiba tools to back up my hard drive, so I could install Windows 7 7600. I backed them up, uninstalled the RC version, installed the full version I have to this day, and what do you know, I can't restore my files. They were stored in a .RIM format in a folder and the tech guy I talked to said it might be cuz I'm on a different computer, technically. I even went back and reinstalled RC just for this sole purpose and still could not get my **** off of it. Everyone down at Toshiba knows about this drive too and how terrible it is. I still have mine though but I get by. I got an internal 1 TB Seagate Barracuda and this as my external back up. The internal hasn't given me any problems really and the Toshiba I have it attached by eSATA and windows backs up my crap every night using the back up tools from Windows. I also realized it was formatted as FAT 32 when I tried to make a system image and couldn't.. so I went ahead and fixed that.. But yeah.. after all that crap, it still turns off whenever it feels like and even turns on whenever it feels like sometimes (though it doesn't turn off every 5 minutes like some other people have theirs, so I'm thankful for that). For me, it gets the job done good enough cuz I only need it on like an hour a day so it'll back up and that's it. I'm not using it as a separate drive to store different things.


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## abtabdn (Dec 11, 2009)

Oats81 said:


> Thank You!!!:grin: for the tool and i'll keep you all posted if I find out anything else interesting.


Awesome! Very glad that worked out for you, I felt partially responsible for recommending it and the tool breaking the eSATA compatibility. I got that from a tech support guy over at Acomdata named Brandon, so he's really the guy to thank here. One of the only people that actually tried to help me in all of this.

And, Pizza Hut, good luck on finding an alternative. I hear the passports are pretty solid, I wish I had bought one of those instead.


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## friends123 (Jan 29, 2010)

I have the problem too so I try to use the tools that are above. Then the problem begin the first tools is 1.07. It did begin convert and erase the cd but it show failed to update firlmware. Then I try to use 1.06 it did not even show the progess of convert, the failed to update pop up. Can anyone help me with this..........lol


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## abtabdn (Dec 11, 2009)

friends123 said:


> I have the problem too so I try to use the tools that are above. Then the problem begin the first tools is 1.07. It did begin convert and erase the cd but it show failed to update firlmware. Then I try to use 1.06 it did not even show the progess of convert, the failed to update pop up. Can anyone help me with this..........lol


From what I understand the failed firmware update doesn't hurt anything. Well, at least it didn't for me. As long as the cd drive is gone and your eSATA is working you're all good.


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## terrorist96 (Nov 11, 2009)

Hey, guys! GUESS WHAT! Just a few hours ago, my drive failed! YAY! Now I get to pay for the f'ing shipping to send it back to Toshiba so they can send me a new one.. so that one can fail in a few months (if I'm lucky) too! I can't see how Toshiba made ANY profits from this drive - if not losing so much money paying their pathetic engineers and designers, having so many drives sent back to them and them sending a new one for free since it has a 3 year warranty. (Even though when I was doing the steps for sending it back, it said it had a 4 year warranty.. they can't even be bothered to have their specifications accurate).


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## abtabdn (Dec 11, 2009)

terrorist96 said:


> Hey, guys! GUESS WHAT! Just a few hours ago, my drive failed! YAY! Now I get to pay for the f'ing shipping to send it back to Toshiba so they can send me a new one.. so that one can fail in a few months (if I'm lucky) too! I can't see how Toshiba made ANY profits from this drive - if not losing so much money paying their pathetic engineers and designers, having so many drives sent back to them and them sending a new one for free since it has a 3 year warranty. (Even though when I was doing the steps for sending it back, it said it had a 4 year warranty.. they can't even be bothered to have their specifications accurate).


That really, really sucks. I'm sorry. To be honest I'm hoping that's just a bad apple in the bunch, because I really can't afford to lose mine or to pay the shipping. How did yours fail exactly?


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## terrorist96 (Nov 11, 2009)

It missed its backup cuz it was off (no surprise) so when I saw the scheduled backup time had passed and that the drive was still off (sometimes it turns on at the scheduled time), I turned it on manually to back up. It turned on, but it made more noise when it turns on than usual and my computer didn't detect it. I tried turning it off and on a couple more times and it still made the same excessive noise and I just didn't feel like messing around with it or restarting or whatever. I just called Toshiba and they told me how to file the acclaim so I can send it back and they'll send me a new one. I bought it on November 27. 2 months. I'm honestly surprised it even lasted this long. Can't wait to get the new one and have that fail in another few month too. Just cuz I know I'm taking from Toshiba for free (less shipping) makes me okay with it. I even told them... you know.. most companies send UPS or FedEx to your house with a box, you put the device in the box, and they come pick it up and send it to you, all for free. And they were like yeah, we do that for our laptops, but not accessories. And that I'd be responsible for the shipping, which is... whatever.. I'm not as pissed as I would have been if I had other stuff on my external HDD. It's just a backup of what's on my internal, so..... as long as my internal doesn't all of a sudden crap out on me between the time I send this piece of **** out and get the new one, I'll be fine... hopefully.


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## solomondg1 (Feb 2, 2010)

I have had some success with this drive. Before I removed the Virtual CD it worked over USB fine but if I use eSata it would freeze or just not recognize it.
Then I backed up all my data and used the removal tool (1.07) which went smoothly and removed the virtual disk. 
After this i tired eSata and it worked great, 60mb/sec constant write speed compared to like 15 usb. 
The only issue that is left is the drive going to sleep, when the light dims it cannot be accessed anymore and if I try to it shuts off. This is not a big deal because it doesnt go to sleep when its in use and there is a nice on/off switch on the back for when I want to use it.
Hopefully toshiba will release a fix for the sleep issue soon.


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## terrorist96 (Nov 11, 2009)

Well Toshiba finally received the hard drive and sent me an email saying that they'd give me a $190.39 coupon for toshibadirect.com. That's not bad considering I paid $109 ($115 with tax) for it. But now... looking at their hard drives, they only have the one 1TB. http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c...able Hard Drives&lid=TopNav_Accy_ExternalHDDs

Haha.. I'm kinda torn on what I should do. I guess I can just get the same crappy one again for $120 and still have $70 left over for when this one will break and I repeat this whole process. I think I'd eventually get to the point where I'd be able to buy two of them for free (considering they keep giving me $190.39 coupons every time I send it in.)

Actually, never mind. It seems that I can only redeem the coupon on one purchase. Good thing I didn't click submit yet haha. I'm gonna make the most of this.


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## abtabdn (Dec 11, 2009)

terrorist96 said:


> Well Toshiba finally received the hard drive and sent me an email saying that they'd give me a $190.39 coupon for toshibadirect.com. That's not bad considering I paid $109 ($115 with tax) for it. But now... looking at their hard drives, they only have the one 1TB. http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c...able Hard Drives&lid=TopNav_Accy_ExternalHDDs
> 
> Haha.. I'm kinda torn on what I should do. I guess I can just get the same crappy one again for $120 and still have $70 left over for when this one will break and I repeat this whole process. I think I'd eventually get to the point where I'd be able to buy two of them for free (considering they keep giving me $190.39 coupons every time I send it in.)
> 
> Actually, never mind. It seems that I can only redeem the coupon on one purchase. Good thing I didn't click submit yet haha. I'm gonna make the most of this.


Congrats! Sounds like you came out ahead on this one. Best of luck to your future drives!


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## terrorist96 (Nov 11, 2009)

Thanks. I'll keep you guys updated here. I managed to get the drive and 3600 xbox live marketplace points with only like a dollar left on the coupon (that is expired now). I hope they keep giving me $190 whenever it breaks so I can keep doing this.


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## viir (Feb 21, 2010)

I just got this toshiba ph3100u-1exb drive a little more than a week ago and am now semi- regretting it. Yeah, I'm getting the automatic powering off problem plus the virtual cd is goofing up. The virtual cd is being recognised by windows as a cd that is "working properly" but no files or programs are accessible on it. I'm getting "unrecognised media" and "data may have become corrupted" warnings.

On the plus side, for me at least, is that I haven't stored anything on this drive that I can't delete and overwrite / security wipe.

I think these same problems affect the ph3064u-1exb, ph3200u-1exb, and ph3100u-1exbc drives as well.

I got a pop up warning after the drive turned off: 
Windows Delayed Write Failed
Windows was unable to save all the data for the file \Device\Harddisk\Volume2
The data has been lost

I don't know if that warning applied to the hdd or the virtual cd part of the toshiba ph3100u-1exb drive

I've been running an experiment while googling forums and product review user comments for fixes to these bugs.

I've had this drive connected and useable to my laptop runing a linux mint LiveCD for about 12 hours now and it has NOT powered itself off. The linux mint LiveCD also sees the virtual cd as a cd drive but reports that there is no media in it. This seems to support some posted comments that the powering off problem is in windows power management / advanced power management settings. 

Ideally, I'd like to purge this virtualcd and have just one big blank partition to use anyway I want but everywhere I've looked indicates that toshiba support is non existent. I hope my experiment might provide somebody with some clues they can use.


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## terrorist96 (Nov 11, 2009)

Only advice I can give you is to RMA that piece of crap back to Toshiba, they should give you a gift coupon for their toshiba direct store, buy something else (I just bought some xbox points and sold them - free money).

I have gone through two of these drives and I absolutely hated them. The first one broke after a few weeks. The second new one I got from them again worked with usb but not eSATA. I sent it back the same day that I got it.

Never buy Toshiba Hard Drives. I recently purchased this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284 hard drive and this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...m_re=Rosewill_RX-358-S-_-17-173-042-_-Product enclosure, together, to use as an external hard drive for backups. There's some benefit to making your own external hard drive. Plus, this one has a 5 year warranty. I'm still waiting for them to come though. Should be here by Monday. I'd suggest you chucking that drive, if you know what's good for ya.


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## viir (Feb 21, 2010)

Yeah, after trying various startup orders and cable setups, the virtualcd is dead where it fell. I'm currently wiping my data off the hdd partition prior to returning. Fortunately, I'm still well within best buys 30 day return window. I'll probably return to bb instead of rma to toshiba as I'm not sure there would be anything I would want, or TRUST, from toshibadirect.


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## terrorist96 (Nov 11, 2009)

Even better! I had to RMA it since I was past the 30 day Micro Center window.


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## abtabdn (Dec 11, 2009)

viir said:


> Yeah, after trying various startup orders and cable setups, the virtualcd is dead where it fell. I'm currently wiping my data off the hdd partition prior to returning. Fortunately, I'm still well within best buys 30 day return window. I'll probably return to bb instead of rma to toshiba as I'm not sure there would be anything I would want, or TRUST, from toshibadirect.


your best bet is to return it. but i did post some links earlier on where to get tools that should remove the virtual cd.


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## frustrated42 (Feb 24, 2010)

This is what I did to solve it. I didn't care if I got the memory in the virtual CD back and all the links I found to the toshiba utility were dead. 
Right click on my computer
choose manage
Select Disk manage
changed the drive letter to the virtual drive to something else. (I chose M because I didn't think it would conflict with anything in the system - networked with many mapped drives)
rebooted and didn't install software again
virtual drive is gone
I then reformatted as NTFS. Probably took 10 hours

After the reformat I just left the computer alone watching for over 5 min. (Mine consistently slept after 5 min of non use) Stayed running

I've seen people complain that it was Fat32 formatted. I don't think I've ever gotten an external formated in anything other then Fat32. Not really sure why but I only need the one I travel with and use my archos to transfer files back and forth. (Portable video player)

Hoping I'm able to help others.


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## Smurff (Mar 11, 2010)

I know this is a bit of an older thread, but i'm having a similar situation.

Difference is that i've got the 1.5TB model. PH3150U-1EXB (there's nothing on toshiba's sites or anywhere except for an ebay auction) for this drive, but i got it at Office Depot, it too has the stupid CDFS partition with the toshiba tools, i tried using the Firmware tool from the 1TB model, the 1.07 and that didn't seem to do anything (i left it run for 20hrs and nothing, plus when it's running i have no status window for viewing the progress, it shows the initial are u sure screens and what not)

my main issue is that i'm trying to use this as just a plain old External HDD, and use it w/ my xbox 360 for music and videos, but, because of the Virtual CD partition being set as MBR, when i connect it to my xbox, the CD folder is the only one that is browseable...after fidgiting w/ some tools i've found that the internal drive is a Samsung Green unit. (it is not marketed as a samsung, but as a toshiba [after research it appears the companies do have a joint venture though]) dealing w/ phone support got me nowhere as they're brainless about anything pertaining to this issue it seems.

here's the SMART info for the drive. w/ serial number removed.

HDDScan S.M.A.R.T. Report 

Model: SAMSUNG HD154UI
Firmware: 1AG01118
Serial: ***********
LBA: 2930277168

Report By: HDDScan for Windows version 3.1
Report Date: 3/10/2010 11:00:32 PM


Num Attribute Name Value Worst Raw(hex) Threshold 

001 Raw Read Error Rate 100 100 00000000-0000 051 

003 Spin Up Time 078 078 00000000-1CE8 011 

004 Start/Stop Count 100 100 00000000-0030 000 

005 Reallocation Sector Count 100 100 00000000-0000 010 

007 Seek Error Rate 253 253 00000000-0000 051 

008 Seek time Perfomance 100 100 00000000-0000 015 

009 PowerOn Hours Count 100 100 00000000-0028 000 

010 Spin Retry Count 100 100 00000000-0000 051 

011 Recalibration Retries 100 100 00000000-0000 000 

012 Device Power Cycle Count 100 100 00000000-0021 000 

013 Soft read error rate 100 100 00000000-0000 000 

183 Unknown Attribute 100 100 00000000-0000 000 

184 End to End Error 100 100 00000000-0000 000 

187 Reported Uncorrectable Error 100 100 00000000-0000 000 

188 Command Timeout 100 100 00000000-0000 000 

190 Airflow Temperature 074 063 26 C 000 

194 HDA Temperature 074 063 26 C 000 

195 Hardware ECC Recovered 100 100 00000000-01FE 000 

196 Reallocation Event Count 100 100 00000000-0000 000 

197 Current Pending Sector Count 100 100 00000000-0000 000 

198 Uncorrectable Sector Count 100 100 00000000-0000 000 

199 UltraDMA CRC Error Count 100 100 00000000-0000 000 

200 Write Error Rate 100 100 00000000-0000 000 

201 Soft Read Error Rate 253 253 00000000-0000 000 


so if anyone can help  it'd be appreciated. thanks (hope it's okay to continue this topic since it pertains to the same issues)


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## manny27 (Apr 11, 2010)

OK Guys I found all your info really helpfull, and I found a solution for the "Power Saving" issue that we all hate, Atleast I do. I found in the manual a Toshiba web site for tech help: www.pcsupprt.toshiba.com , where you can enter your info for any issues and I came across a Power Saving patch that will eliminate the issue of you External HD shutting off after 5 min idle, Heres the website for toshiba downlaod : http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/...=PH3200U-1EXB&selCategory=6&selFamily=2409110 , And here is the direct download for the patch: http://download.toshiba.com/toshiba_sleep_removal_tool_v1.01.exe , I hope this helps and enjoy your hd w/out that dam feature!


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## solomondg1 (Feb 2, 2010)

I used that sleep removal tool but it only works via USB. eSata is still going to sleep and the eSata port is the reason I got this drive.


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## solomondg1 (Feb 2, 2010)

Actually the patch did work!
What happens is the light on the drive turns off as if it its off but when you access the drive there is no lag like it was on, a couple seconds later the light turns on.

Thanks for the help!


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## omegatotal (May 23, 2010)

mine (2 of the 1.5TB) has been working fine over Esata the way they shipped from the factory for 2+ months now. i have only once had any issue with the external going to sleep and disapearing till it was unplugged..

usually for me it sleeps then the light stays dim till i try and access it, and i get a 5-10 second pause till it wakes up..

keep in mind i have two of these drives



my work has 8 of them in stock, and they are $85, you cant even get the bare drive for that price from newegg!


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## jkonrad (Oct 11, 2008)

Another way of keeping the Virtual CDROM from showing up is by digging down through the drive hardware properties, selecting the Virtual CDROM drive, and deleting the the drivers.

Then, go to the device manager, where the Virtual CDROM will show up with the yellow tag, and disable it.

Or something like that. Perhaps I only disabled the driver instead of deleting it. The second part might not be exact, but I don't want to re-enable the damn thing just to figure out the exact method. All I do know is that the Virtual CD drive stays locked away in the device manager, driverless and alone. And stays that way, no matter if computer and HD are reset.


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## abtabdn (Dec 11, 2009)

jkonrad said:


> Perhaps I only disabled the driver instead of deleting it.


Yes. The virtual drive is still there. It's a fine approach if you just don't want to see it, but some people really do just need it completely removed. And the solution was provided by Toshiba some time ago.


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## Tumpster (Dec 15, 2004)

Anyone able to crack this in Linux? Ive got Oracle's Virtualbox with a booting XP partition and I've attempted to run the Toshiba Software and it just sends the setup to the toolbar and I get nothing after that. I let it sit for 8 hours and still nothing, I get all the screens that confirm what it wants to do and what I want it to do. Any help on this?!


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## pyromaniac1990 (Oct 26, 2010)

Excuse my bumping of this old topic, I bought the 2 TB version of this drive and I'm trying to remove the sleeping function of the drive. The removal tool comes up with an error that it can't find the drive. I've reformatted the drive to NTFS and transferred over about 700 gigs, as well as changed the drive name. Any ideas?

I really hope I don't have to change it back to FAT32.


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## pyromaniac1990 (Oct 26, 2010)

Just an update here, I'm probably going to return the drive. Most of my data on it is large (1 to 20 gb) .mkv video files (1080p and 720p movies and tv shows) and the drive has been losing between 1 and 5 percent of each file, making them skip around and artifact heavily when you play them. This is a huge pain, because now I have to re-torrent all of those files.


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## terrorist96 (Nov 11, 2009)

A wise decision. I'd recommend getting an internal WD Caviar Black drive and sticking it in an enclosure.


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## pyromaniac1990 (Oct 26, 2010)

terrorist96 said:


> A wise decision. I'd recommend getting an internal WD Caviar Black drive and sticking it in an enclosure.


I was actually planning on going with this one: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Western+Digital+-+WD+Elements+2TB+External+USB+2.0+Hard+Drive/9693904.p?id=1218150607338&skuId=9693904

It has very good reviews compared to the one I have now, and I've never had a WD drive go bad on me.


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## terrorist96 (Nov 11, 2009)

That doesn't look bad. No eSata cable is a dealbreaker for me though.


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## pyromaniac1990 (Oct 26, 2010)

terrorist96 said:


> That doesn't look bad. No eSata cable is a dealbreaker for me though.


It would be for me if my laptop even had an eSata port. USB is fine for what I use it for, just storage of movies/tv shows and a backup drive.


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## terrorist96 (Nov 11, 2009)

Yeah, I just mine as just a backup. Good luck with yours.


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## abtabdn (Dec 11, 2009)

Hey, guess who's back. Long time no see.

As I may have mentioned, I removed the virtual cd partition completely, a while ago. But, I noticed Toshiba released a fix for the sleep function as well, so I ran that program. Well, as it turns out, that re-enabled the virtual cd but I didn't notice until recently. There is a new tool out that removes both the sleep function and the virtual cd partition on Toshiba's website, however I've got 700gb of stuff I really don't want to format, and I don't have any alternatives to backup.

So, back to the drawing board. Any new solutions to removing a virtual cd completely without formatting my drive?


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## TorinoJazz (Sep 15, 2011)

Hi Guys

I had the same issue with this Toshiba 1TB external drive. Although I came across a tool that works for 1 gen Toshiba (apparently Toshiba remove the Virtual CD. & Power Saving mode) You can download the tool and follow the instructions from the following link 
Content Details

Ciao
TorinoJazz


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## Cannadoux (Oct 22, 2011)

Hi everyone,

I just bought yesterday a usb 3.0 500 G STOR.E ALU 2S (PA4236E-1HE0) and I was very surprised to see that virtual CD **** coming up.
I've searched the web for a solution, but found none.

I've tried to run the http://download.toshiba.com/toshiba_drive_converter_v1.10.exe on this page but it couldn't find the drive (as this tool is obviously designed for other models).

So before I try the "partition-driver disable/remove-etc" solution and risk ending with a screwed device, I'm begging for help to someone who might have found a way to get rid of that ****.

BTW : the virtual cd is there only to provide a crappy .pdf manual of 6 MB... Can you believe that???!!!

Thanks in advance.


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## abtabdn (Dec 11, 2009)

what's the device's vid/pid? you can look up how to tell on your own or use my basic instructions
go to your device manager, go to the harddrive, go to properties, go to details, just relay whatever the information says back here

this is a good place to start.


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## TorinoJazz (Sep 15, 2011)

Hey Cannadoux

Try this tool out. It seem to work with other people that I chated with whom have same USB external drive. 

DuraMicro_release-20110808_VCD_Remove_and_Format_tool

Download
kostenlos Dateien hochladen bei File Upload X

Ciao 
TorinoJazz


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## Cannadoux (Oct 22, 2011)

Well guys, thanks for your help but ... I gave up!

I simply disabled the CD drive on my computer so it won't annoy me anymore and I guess I'll have to live with it when I'll plug my hard drive on another computer...
It's however a very bad point for Toshiba, and I'll certainly won't recommend their drives to anyone! (well, to anyone I like -razz


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## erikviii (Oct 25, 2012)

Toshiba has still not come up with a solution. A business I perform IT work for bought this drive (on the advice of someone who works with me) so returning it is not possible. The removal tool Toshiba supplies does not work (No Toshiba drive plugged in). The work around software isn't acceptable. This is the HDWC130XK3J1 3TB (which isn't even listed on their tech support site). Has anyone found a solution to the sleep/spindown removal yet? I believe this is in the firmware and you can temporarily disable the spin-down (with Linux or Cygwin using hdparm) but it comes back after reboot.


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