File won't copy to USB zip Drive

mwda · 2nd February 2002

We are using Win98SE on a "HP Vectra VL 5/200 Series 5"
computer with 128mg of ram and a 3GB hard drive.
We updated to "Iomegaware" ver 3.1 and to intel "infinst"
ver 3.20.1008 in hopes of solving the problem but it did
not work. The USB Hardware version is 001.

The problem is that while I am copying a file to the USB zip
drive the computer does not finish the copying process and
stops working.
The problem is intermittent and their for seems to be
related to what I am backing up.
It is consistent to some files but not to all files.

I have used two programs now, "MSBackup"
and "MyOwnBackup", and they both have this intermittent
problem. The "MOB" program uses a zip archive type. I have copied a zip archive file to the USB Zip Drive that is 28,555 KB and I have been able to copy a file that is 83,509 KB with out a problem however one zip archive file that is 72,437 KB crashes the computer every time I try to copy it to the USB drive. I have re-made this file
several times with the same results. The computer stops
copying to the USB Zip drive in the middle of the file thus
causing the computer to crash. Once I reboot and scan the
zip disk, that I was putting the file on , I have a large
Lost cluster on the zip disk. The only error message I get
is when I try to shut down using the "Start>Shut Down"
selections and that error says "Windows is currently Working
with a File. Either wait for Windows to finish or close it
before you quite Windows" leaving me no option but to turn
off the power or wait forever. It seems to make no sense to
me. It is as if their is something wrong with that file
though in this situation all 3 files are made with the same
program. The problem I had with MSBackup was the same, that is, some times a file, it created, could not be copied to a zip disk. I stopped using MSBackup because I thought the program was making bad files intermittently.

So the problem seems to be unrelated to the
Program I am using to backup the data or the archive format.
Iomega has already replaced the drive so I am sure it is
not the drive. I have run scandisk on all the "bad"
files and copied them from one part of the Hard Drive to
another with out any problem. The problem occurs only when
I try to copy some of my backup files to the USB Zip drive
and when I have a bad file it forces me to shut down my
computer even though I get no blue screen or any other error
message with the exception of what was noted above. If I
try to access the zip drive when a file has not finished
copying to the drive then I get a blue screen telling me
that the system has become unstable but ultimately I still
have to shut off the power for even "Ctrl+Alt+Delete" will
not reboot.

Any Help would be most appreciated
Marshall W. D'Arcy

mwda · 4th February 2002

It seems upon further research that the problem is related to ".pdd" files which will not be copied in any number with out causing a crash. I do not know why such files should have such a problem. They are connected with the program "Adobe Photo Deluxe". Even though they are but part of an archive they seem to cause problems at least to a USB zip Drive. Does any one know why such files are harder to archive then other files? I eliminate those files and the archive copies with out any problem. I include those files and the archive crashes while copying.

Any help would be appreciated
Marshall W. D'Arcy