Compatibility of Floppies between XP computers

[P. Jayant]

Granted that Floppy as a medium of data storage is outdated but it is very
useful for newbies for storing their work or loading their home work
problems. Unfortunately XP has problems with floppies. Data copied on
floppies from Sony's pre-formatted floppies in IBM format on one XP computer
cannot be read on another XP computer. Even data stored on a floppy
formatted on one computer by XP cannot be opened on another XP computer. In
both cases, XP says, "the floppy in a drive is not formatted; do you want to
format the floppy?"
Is there any way to overcome this problem?
P. Jayant

 

[Malke]

Granted that Floppy as a medium of data storage is outdated but it is
very useful for newbies for storing their work or loading their home
work problems. Unfortunately XP has problems with floppies. Data
copied on floppies from Sony's pre-formatted floppies in IBM format on
one XP computer cannot be read on another XP computer. Even data
stored on a floppy formatted on one computer by XP cannot be opened on
another XP computer. In both cases, XP says, "the floppy in a drive is
not formatted; do you want to format the floppy?"
Is there any way to overcome this problem?
P. Jayant

Yes - don't use floppies. They are unreliable and only hold a tiny
amount of data. Most new computers don't even have floppy drives.
Newbies should use a usb thumb drive to transfer files. You can buy a
512MB thumb drive for $10-20USD. I just bought a 2GB one for $70.

Malke

 

[Dan]

Yes - don't use floppies. They are unreliable and only hold a tiny
amount of data. Most new computers don't even have floppy drives.
Newbies should use a usb thumb drive to transfer files. You can buy a
512MB thumb drive for $10-20USD. I just bought a 2GB one for $70.

Malke

Wow, it is sad that the humble floppy does not work well in XP. I don't
remember 98SE having this many problems with floppies. Why is it that
Microsoft does upgrades and removes features that are popular with users
in previous versions of Windows and perhaps this explains why 98SE is
still so popular with users. I was posting about the lack of a startup
menu also in XP Pro. compared to 98SE where you go into msconfig and
under general tab, click advanced and enable the startup menu.
Apparently, there is no similar feature found in XP Pro. that lets users
have the startup menu each time without having to press [F8]. It can be
really useful for a power user like me to be able to start in whatever
mode that they want to start in. For example, if my computer gets
infected with spyware, adware or viruses I want to be able to use the
startup menu to boot into safe mode to help troubleshoot the problem.
If a piece of hardware is failing then it will be useful to have the
startup menu enabled to help troubleshoot the problem. The start up
menu in my opinion is critical to letting the user maintain control over
their computer. This is one area that is problematic in XP Pro. is that
it seems to treat the user as a dummy. Even with an administrator
account, it can be harder to get to the root of the problem. 98SE had a
maintenance operating system which was DOS according to Chris Quirke,
MVP. XP Pro. does have a recovery console which is useful but seems to
lack the flexibility of DOS. Anyway, I will continue to dual-boot with
98SE and XP Pro. for as long as possible since some things must be done
in XP Pro. since it is the modern operating system.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Yes - don't use floppies. They are unreliable and only hold a tiny
amount of data. Most new computers don't even have floppy drives.
Newbies should use a usb thumb drive to transfer files. You can buy a
512MB thumb drive for $10-20USD. I just bought a 2GB one for $70.

Malke

Wow, it is sad that the humble floppy does not work well in XP. I don't
remember 98SE having this many problems with floppies. Why is it that
Microsoft does upgrades and removes features that are popular with users
in previous versions of Windows and perhaps this explains why 98SE is
still so popular with users. I was posting about the lack of a startup
menu also in XP Pro. compared to 98SE where you go into msconfig and
under general tab, click advanced and enable the startup menu.
Apparently, there is no similar feature found in XP Pro. that lets users
have the startup menu each time without having to press [F8]. It can be
really useful for a power user like me to be able to start in whatever
mode that they want to start in. For example, if my computer gets
infected with spyware, adware or viruses I want to be able to use the
startup menu to boot into safe mode to help troubleshoot the problem.
If a piece of hardware is failing then it will be useful to have the
startup menu enabled to help troubleshoot the problem. The start up
menu in my opinion is critical to letting the user maintain control over
their computer. This is one area that is problematic in XP Pro. is that
it seems to treat the user as a dummy. Even with an administrator
account, it can be harder to get to the root of the problem. 98SE had a
maintenance operating system which was DOS according to Chris Quirke,
MVP. XP Pro. does have a recovery console which is useful but seems to
lack the flexibility of DOS. Anyway, I will continue to dual-boot with
98SE and XP Pro. for as long as possible since some things must be done
in XP Pro. since it is the modern operating system.

The unreliability of floppy disks has nothing to do with WinXP
and everything with the physical medium, which is something that
most power users are fully aware of. No matter what brand of
floppy disks I used, I found that after three years 40% of my
backup floppies became unreadable even though they had been
used just once. My observation was confirmed up by noticing the
same problem with numerous other people.

About your gripe with the various startup modes of WinXP:
While it is true that the Recovery Console leaves a lot to be
desired, a dual boot WinXP/Win98 is hardly the answer
since it leaves you out on a limb with NTFS partitions. Make
yourself a Bart PE boot CD, then turf out Win98!

 

[Yves Leclerc]

Granted that Floppy as a medium of data storage is outdated but it is very
useful for newbies for storing their work or loading their home work
problems. Unfortunately XP has problems with floppies. Data copied on
floppies from Sony's pre-formatted floppies in IBM format on one XP computer
cannot be read on another XP computer. Even data stored on a floppy
formatted on one computer by XP cannot be opened on another XP computer. In
both cases, XP says, "the floppy in a drive is not formatted; do you want to
format the floppy?"
Is there any way to overcome this problem?
P. Jayant

I find the majority of floppy problems come from the physical floppy drive
hardware. It seems that most (if not every) PC manufacturer has stop making
floppy drives and the ones that are available may not complete be compatible.

I have yet the encounter a truly bad floppy disk that I can not re-format so I
can use on my XP systems.

Pre-formatted floppies can experience a bad format, depending how they were
"treated" during the shipping / storage after leaving the factory.

 

[JS]

Either the floppy disk is bad (no name manufacture have high failure rates)
or the Floppy Drive in your PC has gone bad or may need to be cleaned (blow
out the dust bunnies and if you can still find them buy a floppy disk
cleaning kit).

JS

 

[GTS]

Floppies are not, inherently, highly reliable, but there are a few issues
specific to XP -

This may be applicable since you're using pre-formatted diskettes -
Floppy Disk is Not Accessible, Not Formatted, or Not Recognized by Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/140060/en-us

Per some reports, it may be best to just replace a '2mode' floppy drives
(explained below)
Floppy Disk Formats That Are Supported in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;309623

 

[Cari \(MS-MVP\)]

Alternatively purchase a USB floppy drive and when switching PCs, take it
with you. This way it's the same floppy disc and the same floppy drive and
head alignment issues should not happen.

 

[djs0302]

Granted that Floppy as a medium of data storage is outdated but it is very
useful for newbies for storing their work or loading their home work
problems. Unfortunately XP has problems with floppies. Data copied on
floppies from Sony's pre-formatted floppies in IBM format on one XP computer
cannot be read on another XP computer. Even data stored on a floppy
formatted on one computer by XP cannot be opened on another XP computer. In
both cases, XP says, "the floppy in a drive is not formatted; do you want to
format the floppy?"
Is there any way to overcome this problem?
P. Jayant

That's weird. I've never run into that problem. I originally had
a computer that ran Windows 95. Anything I wanted to save got saved on
floppies. When I decided to build a computer to run Windows XP I made
sure to include a floppy drive so I could transfer the files and
settings I wanted from my old computer to my new XP computer. The
floppies worked without a hitch. Since then I've bought an additional
computer that runs XP. I bought a USB floppy drive for it and I have
no problems with it not being able to read floppies that have been
formatted on my other computer.
I don't rely on floppies as my only source of backup media. The
main reason I wanted one on each computer was because the stuff I had
saved on the Windows 95 computer was saved on floppies. Now when I
save stuff I'll save it on a USB thumb drive, a cd, and if the file is
small enough, a floppy. That may be overkill but if two of the devices
fail I still have the tird alternative. If all three backups fail then
I guess I'm just SOL.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Wow, it is sad that the humble floppy does not work well in XP.

No, it's not at all true that floppies work any worse in Windows XP than in
any other operating system.

Floppies are far from the most reliable of media (although they are usable
for short-term storage or transfers between machines) and so small these
days as to be much less useful than they used to be, but that's not Windows
XP's fault. Those are characteristics of the floppy medium itself, not of
Windows XP. Although it's true that most new computers no longer come with
floppy drives, personally, I have a floppy drive on all of my computers
(except my laptop) and always choose to buy them that way. I use floppies
very seldom, but there is an occasional situation where one is needed or
convenient, and for the extra $10 or so a floppy drive costs, I splurge.

I
don't remember 98SE having this many problems with floppies.

It didn't and neither does Windows XP. There's only one issue I'm aware with
regarding floppies and Windows XP, and that's the media descriptor byte
issue. But that's an issue with the media itself, not the operating system.
Read here for a description of that issue:
http://support.microsoft.com/Default.aspx?kbid=140060

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

Why is
it that Microsoft does upgrades and removes features that are popular
with users in previous versions of Windows and perhaps this explains
why 98SE is still so popular with users. I was posting about the
lack of a startup menu also in XP Pro. compared to 98SE where you go
into msconfig and under general tab, click advanced and enable the
startup menu. Apparently, there is no similar feature found in XP
Pro. that lets users have the startup menu each time without having
to press [F8]. It can be really useful for a power user like me to
be able to start in whatever mode that they want to start in. For
example, if my computer gets infected with spyware, adware or viruses
I want to be able to use the startup menu to boot into safe mode to
help troubleshoot the problem. If a piece of hardware is failing then
it will be useful to have the startup menu enabled to help
troubleshoot the problem. The start up menu in my opinion is
critical to letting the user maintain control over their computer. This is
one area that is problematic in XP Pro. is that it seems to
treat the user as a dummy. Even with an administrator account, it
can be harder to get to the root of the problem. 98SE had a
maintenance operating system which was DOS according to Chris Quirke,
MVP. XP Pro. does have a recovery console which is useful but seems
to lack the flexibility of DOS. Anyway, I will continue to dual-boot
with 98SE and XP Pro. for as long as possible since some things must
be done in XP Pro. since it is the modern operating system.

 

[JS]

Just for the record I have backed up more than 550 3.5 inch floppy disks to
my hard drive and then burned to CDs.
Out of this number only 3 or 4 disks had a bad file or two. They go all the
way back to 1987 with most in the early to mid 90's.
The bad floppies I mentioned above were from purchased software
applications.

JS

 

[Dan]

P. Jayant wrote:

Granted that Floppy as a medium of data storage is outdated but it is
very useful for newbies for storing their work or loading their home
work problems. Unfortunately XP has problems with floppies. Data
copied on floppies from Sony's pre-formatted floppies in IBM format on
one XP computer cannot be read on another XP computer. Even data
stored on a floppy formatted on one computer by XP cannot be opened on
another XP computer. In both cases, XP says, "the floppy in a drive is
not formatted; do you want to format the floppy?"
Is there any way to overcome this problem?
P. Jayant
Yes - don't use floppies. They are unreliable and only hold a tiny
amount of data. Most new computers don't even have floppy drives.
Newbies should use a usb thumb drive to transfer files. You can buy a
512MB thumb drive for $10-20USD. I just bought a 2GB one for $70.

Malke

Wow, it is sad that the humble floppy does not work well in XP. I don't
remember 98SE having this many problems with floppies. Why is it that
Microsoft does upgrades and removes features that are popular with users
in previous versions of Windows and perhaps this explains why 98SE is
still so popular with users. I was posting about the lack of a startup
menu also in XP Pro. compared to 98SE where you go into msconfig and
under general tab, click advanced and enable the startup menu.
Apparently, there is no similar feature found in XP Pro. that lets users
have the startup menu each time without having to press [F8]. It can be
really useful for a power user like me to be able to start in whatever
mode that they want to start in. For example, if my computer gets
infected with spyware, adware or viruses I want to be able to use the
startup menu to boot into safe mode to help troubleshoot the problem.
If a piece of hardware is failing then it will be useful to have the
startup menu enabled to help troubleshoot the problem. The start up
menu in my opinion is critical to letting the user maintain control over
their computer. This is one area that is problematic in XP Pro. is that
it seems to treat the user as a dummy. Even with an administrator
account, it can be harder to get to the root of the problem. 98SE had a
maintenance operating system which was DOS according to Chris Quirke,
MVP. XP Pro. does have a recovery console which is useful but seems to
lack the flexibility of DOS. Anyway, I will continue to dual-boot with
98SE and XP Pro. for as long as possible since some things must be done
in XP Pro. since it is the modern operating system.

The unreliability of floppy disks has nothing to do with WinXP
and everything with the physical medium, which is something that
most power users are fully aware of. No matter what brand of
floppy disks I used, I found that after three years 40% of my
backup floppies became unreadable even though they had been
used just once. My observation was confirmed up by noticing the
same problem with numerous other people.

About your gripe with the various startup modes of WinXP:
While it is true that the Recovery Console leaves a lot to be
desired, a dual boot WinXP/Win98 is hardly the answer
since it leaves you out on a limb with NTFS partitions. Make
yourself a Bart PE boot CD, then turf out Win98!

Thanks, Pegasus! I have not had problems with floppies in the past so I
did not realize they were so unreliable.

 

[Dan]

No, it's not at all true that floppies work any worse in Windows XP than in
any other operating system.

Floppies are far from the most reliable of media (although they are usable
for short-term storage or transfers between machines) and so small these
days as to be much less useful than they used to be, but that's not Windows
XP's fault. Those are characteristics of the floppy medium itself, not of
Windows XP. Although it's true that most new computers no longer come with
floppy drives, personally, I have a floppy drive on all of my computers
(except my laptop) and always choose to buy them that way. I use floppies
very seldom, but there is an occasional situation where one is needed or
convenient, and for the extra $10 or so a floppy drive costs, I splurge.




It didn't and neither does Windows XP. There's only one issue I'm aware with
regarding floppies and Windows XP, and that's the media descriptor byte
issue. But that's an issue with the media itself, not the operating system.
Read here for a description of that issue:
http://support.microsoft.com/Default.aspx?kbid=140060

Thanks for your input, Ken.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thanks for your input, Ken.

You're welcome, Dan. Glad to help.