Not reading from floppy or zip disks

[Robin Gray]

My PC will not read or write to either floppy disks or Zip disks

Comes up with the error message " The disk in drive a is not formatted do
you want to format it now?"

The disk is fine and can be read in other PCs.

I have seen this before and previously had found an articel on the
knowledgebase but fro some reason can't find it now!

Any ideas

RG

 

[Kelly]

Hi Robin,

Floppy Disk is Not Accessible, Not Formatted, or Not Recognized by Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;140060

 

[Robin Gray]

Thanks for your quick reply Kelly

I read the article and have just formatted a Floppy using a windows 98SE
machine but it is still not read in the XP Machine. I should say that the
XP machine is virus free according to Norton 2004, Adaware has beeen run and
every critical patch has been applied (Though I have a sneaking suspicion
this may be part of the problem!)

Cheers

RG

 

[Kelly]

Hi Robin,

Most welcome. )

To add to the confusion, what usually works for XP users is placing the
floppy in another system and then trying it in XP. I have seen some users
that have reported to having to resort to placing/replacing the older
floppy drive itself from a previous system because of this and it worked
fine.

Good luck!

 

[Robin Gray]

Kelly

Thanks again - may try substituting the drive later on today.
Two problems with all this 1. It used to work and 2. The same problem exists
with the Zip drive (we use a 250 MB Iomega drive)

Ho Hum the joys of microxxxx

Cheers

RG

 

[Malke]

Kelly

Thanks again - may try substituting the drive later on today.
Two problems with all this 1. It used to work and 2. The same problem
exists with the Zip drive (we use a 250 MB Iomega drive)

Ho Hum the joys of microxxxx

Actually, if both the floppy and Zip drives don't work any more, you
might try opening the case and making sure the cables are secure. If
the computer was moved, the connection might have become loose. It's
pretty low-tech, but worth a try.

Cheers,

Malke

 

[Plato]

I read the article and have just formatted a Floppy using a windows 98SE
machine but it is still not read in the XP Machine. I should say that the
XP machine is virus free according to Norton 2004, Adaware has beeen run and
every critical patch has been applied (Though I have a sneaking suspicion
this may be part of the problem!)

This is NOT a virus or spyware problem. This is a feature of XP.