# I cannot clear a Message from my Computer **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 17, 2022, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-clear-a-message-from-my-computer/957952 "2022-01-17T21:48:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-clear-a-message-from-my-computer/957952/1 "2022-01-17T21:48:45Z")
I am using Windows 11 on my laptop. I have run all the updates. I was saving some large photos. I scanned them, put them on a USB and stuck the USB into my computer. At some point I wearied of waiting for the transfer. I probably removed the USB drive. Maybe I did something else. Now I have an error message. “WDBackup.exe - Delayed Write Failed Windows was unable to save all the data…” The message block has an X in the upper right corner. Hitting it does nothing. It also has an “OK” button. Hitting it does nothing. Restarting did not help. I have moved the message block up out of the way so I can type this, but I cannot close it. Any idea? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-clear-a-message-from-my-computer/957952/2 "2022-01-17T21:53:06Z")
Reset the computer? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-clear-a-message-from-my-computer/957952/3 "2022-01-17T21:54:32Z")
> [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](#): > > WDBackup.exe - Delayed Write Failed Windows was unable to save all the data If you ctrl-alt-del and go to task manager, does the error message show up as a running App that you can close with ‘end task’? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-clear-a-message-from-my-computer/957952/4 "2022-01-17T21:55:09Z")
Well, if “reset” means “restart,” I tried that to no good effect. Figuring it was a memory device issue, I also removed the USB and disconnected the external hard drives. No luck. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-clear-a-message-from-my-computer/957952/5 "2022-01-17T22:02:19Z")
I found the below instructions in a post on a different site. Try putting the USB stick back in and going to Device Manager in the Control Panel. Expand the “Disk drives” tree, right-click on the usb stick, select Properties. Go to the Policies tab Uncheck the box next to “Enable write caching on the device” and click OK You might have to try the same steps on one or more of those external hard drives you mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-clear-a-message-from-my-computer/957952/6 "2022-01-17T22:45:34Z")
I managed to do all that, pretty exciting stuff for me. This does not seem to clear the problem. I am going to restart again. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-clear-a-message-from-my-computer/957952/7 "2022-01-17T22:55:14Z")
> [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](#): > > I managed to do all that, pretty exciting stuff for me. This does not seem to clear the problem. I am going to restart again. > [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](#): > > WDBackup.exe - Delayed Write Failed Are you really running some backup software? How is it configured? If not, do what @Maserschmidt says and kill that process, and run your anti-virus/anti-malware tool of choice ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2022, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-clear-a-message-from-my-computer/957952/8 "2022-01-17T23:25:05Z")
Well, somehow that (plus a restart) fixed it. This technology makes me feel old. Many thanks. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-clear-a-message-from-my-computer/957952/9 "2022-01-18T00:18:50Z")
I am glad you got it sorted out. As for computer viruses, they have been around since the early 1970s, so there has been a bit of time to get used to the new reality 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-clear-a-message-from-my-computer/957952/10 "2022-01-18T00:19:32Z")
Really? A virus? It was a new USB and my own printer/scanner. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-clear-a-message-from-my-computer/957952/11 "2022-01-18T00:25:30Z")
What did the virus scan say it was? If nothing, it _could_ have been not malware but some autorunning backup utility that came with your new USB drive and tried to run itself (but normally you would see an “install me” window). If it does not come back, just forget about it, but keep your Windows Defender or similar activated. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-clear-a-message-from-my-computer/957952/12 "2022-01-18T00:33:26Z")
I don’t see this as being virus related. This was removing a usb stick while it was still writing related. Something had cached data that couldn’t be written anywhere I think. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-clear-a-message-from-my-computer/957952/13 "2022-01-18T00:34:15Z")
> [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](#): > > Really? A virus? It was a new USB and my own printer/scanner. I think you can be cool, WDBackup is not a virus, but a legit basic backup software that’s shipped with WD (Western Digital) storage devices. At least that’s what I got with my WD external HD.