Floppy drive

[B.W.]

I realise this is probably not a Win XP Home problem but thought I would
start here.

I find that when I try to either, open, explore or double clip on my floppy
drive (A) in My Computer instead of it opening to show files on it I keep
getting the message 'This disc is not formatted, do you want to format it'
Obviously I don't, but I then I can't see what's on the disc.

Can anyone help and tell me why this is happening, or as this is most likely
not the right Newsgroup for this kind of info where could I look please?

Many thanks

B.W.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I realise this is probably not a Win XP Home problem but thought I
would start here.

I find that when I try to either, open, explore or double clip on
my floppy drive (A) in My Computer instead of it opening to show
files on it I keep getting the message 'This disc is not formatted,
do you want to format it' Obviously I don't, but I then I can't see
what's on the disc.
Can anyone help and tell me why this is happening, or as this is
most likely not the right Newsgroup for this kind of info where
could I look please?

Open the computer..
Check the floppy drive connections.. make sure there are no bent pins on
the floppy drive and that the cable is hooked up correctly.

After that - put in a floppy diskette you know you can erase - format it -
put files on it.. Does that one work? If so - try the other floppy
diskettes.. Do they work? If not - it is unlikely to be the drive..

Try reading the diskettes using a macintosh.. if you can.

 

[JOSEPH HOWARD]

There are two different types of floppies, there is high density and low
density you might want to find out what works or doesn't work with your
system, also you might want to make sure it is not write protected by the
little tab at the bottom right corner.Just a thought I have had these
problems myself

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I realise this is probably not a Win XP Home problem but thought I
would start here.

I find that when I try to either, open, explore or double clip on my
floppy drive (A) in My Computer instead of it opening to show files
on it I keep getting the message 'This disc is not formatted, do you
want to format it' Obviously I don't, but I then I can't see what's
on the disc.
Can anyone help and tell me why this is happening, or as this is most
likely not the right Newsgroup for this kind of info where could I
look please?

Was this diskette created on a computer running an older version of Windows?
Read http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=140060
and http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q309623

You should be able to format a new diskette on your WIndows XP computer,
then copy the existing diskette to it on a Windows 98 computer. The
resulting diskette should be readable by Windows XP.

 

[B.W.]

I try to format the disc to start over but it gets so far then says it can't
do it. I was wondering if it had anything to do with FAT 32 and NTFS file
systems, maybe two different OS systems having used this disc? So I will
read on the MS support docs supplied by Ken. Can't say I understand much it
so far, but I will try...


Thanks

B.W.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I try to format the disc to start over but it gets so far then says
it can't do it.

Make sure the diskette isn't write protected. If you can't format the
diskette, either the diskette is bad or the drive is bad . It's not the
issue I talked about below. Try to format other diskettes. If none can be
formatted, it's the drive.

I was wondering if it had anything to do with FAT 32
and NTFS file systems,

No. The diskettes are neither FAT32 nor NTFS, but FAT12

maybe two different OS systems having used
this disc?

No. All versions of DOS and Windows handle FAT12 without a problem.

So I will read on the MS support docs supplied by Ken. Can't say I
understand much it so far, but I will try...

No, if you can't format them, that's not the issue.

 

[JOSEPH HOWARD]

Just a quick question ken would that maybe be a bios issue somehow?The
reason I mentioned the different floppies is because I read about it some
where that some machines or OS differentiate in using high density and or
low density floppies.Would appreciate your advice.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Just a quick question ken would that maybe be a bios issue somehow?

No, I don't think so.

The
reason I mentioned the different floppies is because I read about it
some where that some machines or OS differentiate in using high
density and or low density floppies.Would appreciate your advice.

Windows XP can read, write, and format all types of floppies. The only such
issue that *possibly* could be related is if he has 720KB floppies (without
the second little opening), and he's trying to format them as 1.44MB.

[/QUOTE]

 

[JOSEPH HOWARD]

Ok thanks, if the cables were loose would it come up as only an I/O error?