I cannot open a formatted disk and how do I get it to open?

[Guest]

I have a formatted disk that I have been using for quite some time and now
the computer won't let me open it. I keep getting a msg that says the disk
is not formatted or may have been made for a Mac. I have windows XP and
using Office 2003.

 

[garfield-n-odie]

You should not open a Word document directly from removable media
(floppy disk, CD, etc.). Doing so will likely corrupt the Word file or
the media itself. Instead, you should copy the Word file to your hard
drive, edit the file there, and then copy the modified file back to the
removable media.

 

[sf]

I've had the experience of trying to save a doc on a floppy that I knew
was formatted and getting that message. When I moved to a different
computer, I could save onto the disk... so what's wrong with the
computer that won't let me save to removable disk?

sf
``````````````

 

[TF]

If this was a preformatted disc, it would suggest that the drive you tried
it on is out of alignment. I expect that if you did a full format of the
floppy on that drive, I expect it would have worked. Floppies are mechanical
and very ancient technology.

However, don't do it. You should NEVER save or read a document directly
from/to a floppy. Always use the HDD and then COPY to or from the floppy.

The best solution is to throw away the floppy drive and use something
designed for the 21st Century.

--
Terry Farrell - Word MVP
http://word.mvps.org/

: I've had the experience of trying to save a doc on a floppy that I knew
: was formatted and getting that message. When I moved to a different
: computer, I could save onto the disk... so what's wrong with the
: computer that won't let me save to removable disk?
:
: sf
: ``````````````
:
:
: garfield-n-odie wrote:
: > You should not open a Word document directly from removable media
: > (floppy disk, CD, etc.). Doing so will likely corrupt the Word file
: or
: > the media itself. Instead, you should copy the Word file to your
: hard
: > drive, edit the file there, and then copy the modified file back to
: the
: > removable media.
: >
: > RockyMtnHigh wrote:
: >
: > > I have a formatted disk that I have been using for quite some time
: and now
: > > the computer won't let me open it. I keep getting a msg that says
: the disk
: > > is not formatted or may have been made for a Mac. I have windows
: XP and
: > > using Office 2003.
:

 

[Jim]

You should not open a Word document directly from removable media
(floppy disk, CD, etc.). Doing so will likely corrupt the Word file or
the media itself. Instead, you should copy the Word file to your hard
drive, edit the file there, and then copy the modified file back to the
removable media.

Which brings you back to the OP's problem: if he/she cannot access the
disk, it is impossible to "copy the Word file to your hard drive, edit
the file there, and then copy the modified file back to the removable
media."


Blessed be, for sure...

 

[Guest]

You could try and recover the files on the floppy using a utility for that
purpose, e.g. Norton Utilities. But it may not be entirely recoverable.

Never edit a document on a floppy. It's a hard lesson to learn!
Genine

 

[sf]

Terry - I have further information about the situation and this isn't
the time for sarcasm. I'm a teacher, those computers were donated
years ago and the floppy drive isn't external - do there is no option
to use something else more up to date. I am not in a position to
consider if an EXTERNAL CD-RW is the answer to my problem (or not).

YES - floppies are ancient technology, as are the computers I'm having
trouble with... does this mean you're going to donate some modern
technology to my classroom? <LOL> Then you won't need to scoff at my
situation.

FYI: I tried to reformat the floppy on the computer that didn't like
it, but it gave me a message that the floppy was a damaged. The other
two computers didn't reject the floppy, but when I transfered it to my
"new technology" computer which usually reads such old technology, the
floppy didn't have any information on it. Maybe the floppy was flawed,
but it was straight out of the same box which has produced other
floppies that worked on those computers - so maybe it's a factory
problem, maybe not. I was hoping for a little "more obvious"
information though... does this mean you think 3 computers are suddenly
out of alignment or do you mean the computer reading it is suddenly out
of alignment?



I'm unclear about what reading directly from a floppy drive means. Can
you understand that in the entire time I've used floppies I've done
that without any problem - EVER? I know what you mean by direct write,
but I'm unclear what you mean by direct read. I've never heard of
saving a file to HD before reading, but my problem was that the files
didn't appear on the floppy in the first place - so it wasn't even an
option.

Glad you brought up ancient technology though. My old/home win98
finally died this week (haven't given the HD a good, christian burial
though, because I need to recover data). Soooo looking at new comptuer
options - I see an internal floppy isn't an option in many cases. I
have lots of floppies that I need to read, so I want an internal floppy
drive, but it isn't available on a lot of the Dell options. :\

My BIG question is about the other options. I' stayong with 80 GIG.
No reason to upgrade from that - but I'm wondering if the I should
choose the DVD-RW/DVD option with appropriate software (otherwise it
wouldn't be an option). However, I need to know what situations I
would use it for.... and are they legal or illegal?

Are you up to helping me with things like selecting dual/single channel
SDRAM?

I'm thinking of selecting (OS) XP-Pro, because it would be convienent
to be able to access my work computer from home and vice versa... but I
only want "Home Office" because I need Power Point, but don't need
anything fancier than Word and Excel beyond that.

Feedback is welcome.

TIA
sf
````````

 

[sf]

Sorry if this is a duplicate... not sure if my first send post was
sent. That's what happens when posting from an internet interface.

<sigh>

Terry - this isn't the time for sarcasm. I'm a teacher and those
computers were donated years ago and the floppy drive isn't external -
do there is no option to use something else more up to date. I am too
conservative to consider that an EXTERNAL CD-RW is the answer to my
problem.

YES - floppies are ancient technology, as are the computers I'm having
trouble with... does this mean you're going to donate some modern
technology to my classroom so you won't need to scoff at my
situation?????

I tried to reformat the floppy on the computer that didn't like it and
it gave me a message as the floppy was a damaged. The other two
computers didn't reject it, but when I transfered the floppy to my "new
technology" computer that usually reads such old technology, the floppy
didn't have any information on it. Maybe the floppy was flawed, but it
was straight out of the same box that has produced other floppies that
worked on those computers - so maybe it's a factory problem, in that
case. I was hoping for a little more insight... does this mean you
think 3 computers are suddenly out of alignment or the computer reading
it is out of alignment?



I'm unclear about reading directly from a floppy drive. Can you
understand that in the entire time I've used floppies I've done that
without any problem EVER? I know what you mean by direct write, but
I'm unclear what you mean by direct read. I've never heard of saving a
file to HD before reading, but my problem was that the files didn't
appear on the floppy in the first place - so that wasn't an option.

Glad you brought up ancient technology though. My old/home win98
finally died this week (haven't given the HD a good, christian burial
though, because I need to recover data). Soooo looking at new comptuer
options - I see that an internal floppy isn't an option in many cases.
I have lots of floppies that I need to read and I want an internal
floppy drive, but it isn't available with a lot of the Dell options.
:\

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

My BIG question is about the other drive/s. I'm thinking the
DVD-RW/DVD option with appropriate software is the option I should
choose (otherwise it wouldn't be an option), but I need to know the
situations I would need it for.

Are you up to helping me with things like selecting dual/single channel
SDRAM?

I'm thinking of selecting (OS) XP-Pro, because it would be convienent
to be able to access my work computer from home and vice versa... but I
only want "Home Office" because I need Power Point, but don't need
anything fancier than Word and Excel beyond that.

Any feedback?

Thanks
sf
````````

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Sorry if this is a duplicate... not sure if my first send post was
sent. That's what happens when posting from an internet interface.

It is a duplicate. You are aware that you can access these groups via a
newsreader, right?
http://www.gmayor.com/MSNews.htm

 

[Graham Mayor]

The answer to the problem is to never ever read from, write to or print from
floppy with Word. This is the most certain method of ensuring document
corruption. Copy to the hard disc and work on the document from there, then
copy back to the floppy.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

 

[TF]

From your description, the floppy itself must be badly manufactured.

However, I repeat my advice, never open directly from or save directly to a
floppy. When Word opens or saves a file, it creates temporary files in the
active folder (the floppy in this instance) that it uses for building up the
file structure and for creating a windows locking file to stop other users
opening the file whilst you have it open.

If you have always done this and got away with this, you are in a vast
minority.

Terry

: Sorry if this is a duplicate... not sure if my first send post was
: sent. That's what happens when posting from an internet interface.
:
: <sigh>
:
: Terry - this isn't the time for sarcasm. I'm a teacher and those
: computers were donated years ago and the floppy drive isn't external -
: do there is no option to use something else more up to date. I am too
: conservative to consider that an EXTERNAL CD-RW is the answer to my
: problem.
:
: YES - floppies are ancient technology, as are the computers I'm having
: trouble with... does this mean you're going to donate some modern
: technology to my classroom so you won't need to scoff at my
: situation?????
:
: I tried to reformat the floppy on the computer that didn't like it and
: it gave me a message as the floppy was a damaged. The other two
: computers didn't reject it, but when I transfered the floppy to my "new
: technology" computer that usually reads such old technology, the floppy
: didn't have any information on it. Maybe the floppy was flawed, but it
: was straight out of the same box that has produced other floppies that
: worked on those computers - so maybe it's a factory problem, in that
: case. I was hoping for a little more insight... does this mean you
: think 3 computers are suddenly out of alignment or the computer reading
: it is out of alignment?
:
:
:
: I'm unclear about reading directly from a floppy drive. Can you
: understand that in the entire time I've used floppies I've done that
: without any problem EVER? I know what you mean by direct write, but
: I'm unclear what you mean by direct read. I've never heard of saving a
: file to HD before reading, but my problem was that the files didn't
: appear on the floppy in the first place - so that wasn't an option.
:
: Glad you brought up ancient technology though. My old/home win98
: finally died this week (haven't given the HD a good, christian burial
: though, because I need to recover data). Soooo looking at new comptuer
: options - I see that an internal floppy isn't an option in many cases.
: I have lots of floppies that I need to read and I want an internal
: floppy drive, but it isn't available with a lot of the Dell options.
::\
:
: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
:
: My BIG question is about the other drive/s. I'm thinking the
: DVD-RW/DVD option with appropriate software is the option I should
: choose (otherwise it wouldn't be an option), but I need to know the
: situations I would need it for.
:
: Are you up to helping me with things like selecting dual/single channel
: SDRAM?
:
: I'm thinking of selecting (OS) XP-Pro, because it would be convienent
: to be able to access my work computer from home and vice versa... but I
: only want "Home Office" because I need Power Point, but don't need
: anything fancier than Word and Excel beyond that.
:
: Any feedback?
:
: Thanks
: sf
: ````````
:
:
: TF wrote:
: > If this was a preformatted disc, it would suggest that the drive you
: tried
: > it on is out of alignment. I expect that if you did a full format of
: the
: > floppy on that drive, I expect it would have worked. Floppies are
: mechanical
: > and very ancient technology.
: >
: > However, don't do it. You should NEVER save or read a document
: directly
: > from/to a floppy. Always use the HDD and then COPY to or from the
: floppy.
: >
: > The best solution is to throw away the floppy drive and use something
:
: > designed for the 21st Century.
: >
: > --
: > Terry Farrell - Word MVP
: > http://word.mvps.org/
: >
: > : > : I've had the experience of trying to save a doc on a floppy that I
: knew
: > : was formatted and getting that message. When I moved to a
: different
: > : computer, I could save onto the disk... so what's wrong with the
: > : computer that won't let me save to removable disk?
: > :
: > : sf
: > : ``````````````
: >
:

 

[sf]

The answer to the problem is to never ever read from, write to or print from
floppy with Word. This is the most certain method of ensuring document
corruption. Copy to the hard disc and work on the document from there, then
copy back to the floppy.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

 

[sf]

The answer to the problem is to never ever read from, write to or print from
floppy with Word. This is the most certain method of ensuring document
corruption. Copy to the hard disc and work on the document from there, then
copy back to the floppy.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

 

[sf]

The answer to the problem is to never ever read from, write to or print from
floppy with Word. This is the most certain method of ensuring document
corruption. Copy to the hard disc and work on the document from there, then
copy back to the floppy.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

 

[sf]

The answer to the problem is to never ever read from, write to or print from
floppy with Word. This is the most certain method of ensuring document
corruption. Copy to the hard disc and work on the document from there, then
copy back to the floppy.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

 

[Charles Kenyon]

It doesn't matter whether you have the option of using something else. When
within Word, you _must_ act as if the floppy drive does not exist.
Otherwise, you are throwing away your work! You can save to the hard disk,
even if to a temporary folder that gets emptied everytime the computer is
restarted. Then, from outside Word, copy between the hard drive and the
floppy drive. If you use Word with files on a floppy drive you will lose the
files (and perhaps everything on the floppy).
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

 

[Charles Kenyon]

If the disk cannot, indeed, be read from Windows, this is a problem. The
problem reading the disk may or may not be just from within Word. The OP
indicates that another computer can read it. The problem begins, though,
with using Word with anything on removable media.
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

 

[sf]

Sorry about those empty posts. Don't know how they happened - Google
"groups" is a dark and mysterious process. I'm posting from Google
because my home computer died and I haven't decided on the options I
want for my new one.

If anyone is in the mood to b helpful, I need advice about basic things
like dual channel SDRAM.
:/
I know what SDRAM is but why would "dual channel" be something I might
need/want?

TIA
sf

 

[TF]

Simple answer: because it doubles your memory speed.

Explanation: memory chips are pretty much limited to running at 200MHz. By
some clever architecture changes made my the RAM manufacturers, it is
possible to both write and read in the same clock cycle, so the memory
modules effectively run at 400MHz. This is still half the speed of the
processor bus (800MHz) and is a bottleneck to processor performance. So by
changing the method of addressing the memory, it is possible to run two
memory modules on a single 800MHz bus, alternately addresses each module per
clock cycle - Dual Channel!

What's it worth in raw performance: 12% for very little additional
investment (if you want dual channel 512MB memory, you have to have 2 x
256MB modules which are just a little more expensive that a single 512MB
module). The processor also costs a little more but also get hyperthreading
enabled on the processor which is worth up to 8% depending on what you are
running.

You may not think that you need all that extra power, but think two or three
years ahead and you may find that the extra 12% wards off yet another
replacement PC for an extra year.

--
Terry Farrell - Word MVP
http://word.mvps.org/

: Sorry about those empty posts. Don't know how they happened - Google
: "groups" is a dark and mysterious process. I'm posting from Google
: because my home computer died and I haven't decided on the options I
: want for my new one.
:
: If anyone is in the mood to b helpful, I need advice about basic things
: like dual channel SDRAM.
: :/
: I know what SDRAM is but why would "dual channel" be something I might
: need/want?
:
: TIA
: sf
:

 

[Amedee Van Gasse]

RockyMtnHigh shared this with us in microsoft.public.word.newusers:

I have a formatted disk that I have been using for quite some time
and now the computer won't let me open it. I keep getting a msg that
says the disk is not formatted or may have been made for a Mac. I
have windows XP and using Office 2003.

<BOFH>
Usually a screwdriver with a flat tip does the trick. You should be
able to pry it in the side, and then slide downwards to the square
holes at the bottom. Apply some force to rip off the metal or plastic
cover at the top.

However, I cannot imagine why someone would want to OPEN a disk - after
this manipulation you cannot use it any more for reading/writing
computer data.
And you can't use it as a coaster either - CDs are much better for that
purpose.
</BOFH>