"Error Performing Inpage Operation"

[Dave M]

The Microsoft explanation of this error (arises trying to
copy an old WordPerfect file from a floppy) is that it
"probably" or "usually" is in fact not related to paging,
but a physical I/O error on the disk. The article doesn't
offer any help when this is not the case - can anyone
assist? (I have succesfully copied other files both to and
from the same floppy, so it seems unlikely to be a physical
error). PS I'm not at all techie - if anyone can help me
retrieve this file, please explain in lay terms. Thanks!

 

[Ndi]

The Microsoft explanation of this error (arises trying to

copy an old WordPerfect file from a floppy) is that it
"probably" or "usually" is in fact not related to paging,
but a physical I/O error on the disk. The article doesn't
offer any help when this is not the case - can anyone
assist? (I have succesfully copied other files both to and
from the same floppy, so it seems unlikely to be a physical
error). PS I'm not at all techie - if anyone can help me
retrieve this file, please explain in lay terms. Thanks!

By "Physical error" they don't mean drive error, but any error that is not
due to buffering, copy program, etc but to an actual impossibility to read
the disk.

99% of the errors I've seen with this message were, in fact, bad sectors.
And since you work on a floppy, it's more than probable to gave a bad
sector.

If the file is not critical, run "chkdsk /r a: " (or right-click on the
drive, choose Properties, Tools, Check Disk and check both boxes - fix and
recovery). It will get you a partial version, you can retype the missing
part.

If the file is critical, take the disk to an expert, it might be that a
hair or some dust accumulated on the disk. And in the future, ALWAYS have a
hard drive copy (and if possible a backup) of critical data. Floppy disks
are unreliable by design and extremely fragile. They are to be used to carry
data through short trips where compatibility is important.

 

[Dave M]

Aha - thanks for explaining this. Tried the check disk but
it couldn't do it, although will fiddle with it again when
I have a chance. Appreciate the thoughts on floppies - I
don't use them, but this is an old document I thought I'd
lost till I found this disk, which I must have used for
carrying around a copy at some stage. Will take your advice
and take it to a professional if I decide I need it, but
may at some stage either re-type it or scan and correct
(it's 15,000 words!). Anyway, thanks for the attempt to
help, much appreciated. DM

 

[Ndi]

either re-type it or scan and correct

(it's 15,000 words!). Anyway, thanks for the attempt to
help, much appreciated. DM

Note that if only one bad cluster is found, the lost data is 512 bytes. On
a Word document, that's around 3-4 lines.

If that would be MY floppy, I'd get a disk copy program, one that can
duplicate disk directly, including bad sectors (free tools everywhere on the
net - writing one is slightly more complex than a normal copy operation).
You can duplicate to a clean floppy or a disk image and floppy it later.
Once you have the copy, then attempt physical repair since a failed physical
attempt will do even more damage to the disk.

Should the repair fail, go with chkdsk. Or you can take it to a W9x or DOS
machine and get NDD to take a whack at it. IMHO NDD.exe (Norton Utilities
for DOS or Windows 9x) is by far the best recovery tool since it offers a
more visual experience and more options that "Fix".

Should everything fail, get the imaged copy of the disk and retype missing
parts.