Writewatch registry value in WinXP?

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Sir Fredrick

Guest
Oct 14, 1999
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Under HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
There is a value called writewatch, which is set to 1. Does anyone know what this does?
 
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sean2002

Golden Member
Apr 9, 2001
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I searched every engine I know of and no information is on this. I do know on a clean install it is not there, only after doing windows updates does it show up, which update I do not know
 
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Sir Fredrick

Guest
Oct 14, 1999
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Well, sean2002, that's the most information I've heard about it so far. I'm tempted to try changing the value to see what happens, but I think I'm a little too chicken.
 
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prosaic

Senior member
Oct 30, 2002
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I've seen the term WriteWatch used in include files used for building file system filter drivers for NTFS. Do you suppose this setting shows up in the registry when a FAT32 partition gets converted to NTFS? I just looked on two WinXP systems, one of which was a clean install to a partition which was initially formatted NTFS. That system doesn't show the setting in its registry. The other system is my little Toshiba Libretto with an image that was Ghosted onto it from a PCMCIA-card-connected CD-ROM drive, hence the OS partition was converted to NTFS after the OS was installed to FAT32. That machine has the WriteWatch setting in the aforementioned registry location.

- prosaic
 
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prosaic

Senior member
Oct 30, 2002
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Hmmm. So maybe the theory still applies, sort of. Perhaps it's placed in the registry any time the OS is installed on a FAT32 partition for the eventuality of a conversion to NTFS? That would still fit what I'm seeing. The only time I've seen the term used was in the building of file system filters used by *.nix systems for reading NTFS partitions. I'll try to find a reference if you like, but I suspect that it still won't tell us what the term is doing in the Windows XP registry.

- prosaic

PS: I notice the WriteWatch setting under CurrentControlSet as well as under the 001 tree on my CONVERTed machine.
 
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prosaic

Senior member
Oct 30, 2002
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Uh, okay, I just went back to the fresh install machine and I see the WriteWatch entry in the ControlSet locations of the registry. All of them. Was I high on something when I looked in there before? (I had been exposed to a generous sprayout of MEK in the lab just before I joined this thread.)

I installed the very latest critical updates (three of them) on both machines BEFORE I was even aware of this thread. It's my habit to hit these two machines with everything that Microsoft puts on the update site just so that, if there's something loopy about an update or patch, I'll have a chance to notice it before the problem pops up elsewhere.

Surely that data was there this morning. I can't figure out why I didn't see it -- unless maybe I had left-clicked on a sub-key in the left pane without noticing. I was using the systems in very poor light conditions at the time and might not have noticed what was highlighted in the left pane.

I feel dumb. :eek:

I'm sorry for the misleading observation. Now back to the puzzle. If I find one of the references I've seen on file system filters (something I just gave passing notice a few weeks ago) I'll post a link. It may have nothing to do with this, but it's the only lead I can think of.

- prosaic
 
LuckMan212

LuckMan212

Member
Jan 21, 2005
30
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8 years old and still no answer?

now running 64-bit Win7 SP1, still wondering about the function of this registry value
 
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