Drive A malfunctions after installing Windows XP Professional

[Wei Shih]

Since I changed the operating system on my computer from
Windows 98 SE to Windows XP Professional. the floppy disk
drive (drive A) has been malfunctioning in the following
weird ways:
The floppy drive always shows the file names of the
floppy disk that I inserted first into the A drive, no
matter which floppy disk is actually inside the drive.
Even I know a given floppy disk is empty, it would still
show all the file names of the first disk! As such, I
have to turn off the computer before I work on another
floppy disk. Is it because the original floppy drive is
no longer compatible with the Windows XP Professional?
If so, how can I obtain a driver update via internet?
And, if not a compatibility problem, how can I resolve
the problem? Any help or suggestions would be highly
appreciated.

Thank you.

Wei Shih

 

[Vanguard]

Sounds like the change signal isn't working. Could be the floppy drive.
Could be a damaged ribbon cable. Could be a bent header pin where the
ribbon cable plugs into on the back of the floppy drive on or the
motherboard.

The change line is wire 34 of the ribbon cable (see
http://www.bbdsoft.com/floppy.html). Since it is a 34-wire ribbon
cable, this signal is on the outside of the ribbon cable. Maybe it is
rubbing against something sharp that cut through the insulation and is
causing a short, or even cut through the wire. Could be someone has
been yanking on the ribbon cable instead of the plastic bodies for the
connectors and has yanked the wire away from the connection inside the
connector.

 

[Wolf Kirchmeir]

Sounds like the change signal isn't working. Could be the floppy drive.
Could be a damaged ribbon cable. Could be a bent header pin where the
ribbon cable plugs into on the back of the floppy drive on or the
motherboard.

Until you fix the hardware, "Refresh" should be a workaround.




--
Best Wishes,
Wolf Kirchmeir, Blind River ON
"Not that brains are everything --
you'll also need a skull to put them in." (Nancy Franklin, 1997)
<just one w and plain ca for correct address>