Floppy drive no longer recognised.

[Guest]

A couple of weeks ago my floppy drive dissappeared.....it is no longer
possible to find it using "my computer" etc....I am not aware of any changes
being made to the computer and something similar happened (b4 Xmas) with the
cd drives (I fixed this with the help of a registry patch (obtained thru a
link in newsgroups)) but I cant find anything that applies to floppies. I run
XP home with Norton Antivirus and SP2 and am starting to think about an
electric abacus. Any helpful suggestions would be welcome.
Thanks

 

[R. McCarty]

First you need to examine Device Manager and make sure that both
the motherboard Floppy controller is present. There is a category in
DevMgr called Floppy Disk Controllers.
If the controller is present, then look for the Floppy itself, under the
Floppy Disk drive category.
In both cases make sure that each device isn't "Grayed Out". This
means the device has at one time been in the Hardware profile, but
is currently not detected or off-line.
What you describe can happen if the BIOS setup is changed and
the Floppy controller has been disabled.
As with all magnetic media, Floppy drives do occasionally go bad.
A replacement can be obtained for ~$15.00 or less.

 

[Richard Urban]

Hard drives go bad with some regularity and people accept that fact (they
may not like the idea though). Floppy drives that cost $4-5 dollars to
manufacture may/do have the same problem?

I know one fellow who builds his own computers. He has been using the same
floppy drive since 1996 on successive computers and he complained when it
went south! (-: LOL

--
Regards,

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Guest]

First you need to examine Device Manager and make sure that both
the motherboard Floppy controller is present. There is a category in
DevMgr called Floppy Disk Controllers.
If the controller is present, then look for the Floppy itself, under the
Floppy Disk drive category.
In both cases make sure that each device isn't "Grayed Out". This
means the device has at one time been in the Hardware profile, but
is currently not detected or off-line.
What you describe can happen if the BIOS setup is changed and
the Floppy controller has been disabled.
As with all magnetic media, Floppy drives do occasionally go bad.
A replacement can be obtained for ~$15.00 or less.





Thanks for the advice...have chkd dev mgr and a floppy disk controller is present and when u click on it "standard floppy disk controller " comes up; neither appear greyed out. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers, to no effect...I don't begrudge buying a new drive - I'm just very suspicious afterthw "dissappearing" cd drive incident - altho this does seem to be a far more common problem.

Thanks again for your advice.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

The Floppy Disk Drive Is Missing From the My Computer Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;812489

Floppy Disk Drive Does Not Appear in the My Computer Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;817196

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Guest]

I tried the tip from the 1st ref (I don't have flashpath monitor so 2nd didnt
seem appropriate). I found the reg key but when it came to deleting the uppr
and lwr filters, I couldn't find anything to delete. This is prob due to
operator error but I'm sure I did it right? Thanks for your time and advice.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Nick,

Was the floppy drive the A: drive?

Will this open the A: drive? Make sure you have a floppy in the drive.

Start | Run | Type: a: | Click OK
-----

Do you have TweakUI installed?

If yes, Open TweakUI
[+] My Computer
Drives

Make sure there's a check mark in A: |
Apply | OK
-----

Do you have XP Pro?

If yes, open Group Policy...

Start | Run | Type: gpedit.msc | OK |
Navigate to >>
User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows
Explorer\
Hide these specified drives in My Computer

Set to Not Configured

Hide these specified drives in My Computer
[[Removes the icons representing selected drives from My Computer and
Windows Explorer. Also, the drive letters representing the selected drives
do not appear in the standard Open dialog box.

To use this policy, select a drive or combination of drives from the
drop-down list. To display all drives, disable this policy or select the Do
not restrict drives option from the drop-down list.

Note: This setting removes the drive icons. Users can still gain access to
drive contents by using other methods, such as by typing the path to a
directory on the drive in the Map Network Drive dialog box, in the Run
dialog box, or in a command window.

Also, this setting does not prevent users from using programs to access
these drives or their contents. And, it does not prevent users from using
the Disk Management snap-in to view and change drive characteristics.

Also, see the "Prevent access to drives from My Computer" setting.]]
-----

Open the Registry Editor...
Start | Run | Type: regedit | OK |

Navigate to >>>
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
Explorer

Is there a Value Name in the right hand pane called NoDrives?

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Guest]

Thanks Wes, still no joy I'm afraid, I don't have TweakUI installed and
trying to run anything in the floppy drive results in the msg that the
location referred to (a does not exist. Once again thanks for your time.

Nick,

Was the floppy drive the A: drive?

Will this open the A: drive? Make sure you have a floppy in the drive.

Start | Run | Type: a: | Click OK
-----

Do you have TweakUI installed?

If yes, Open TweakUI
[+] My Computer
Drives

Make sure there's a check mark in  A: |
Apply | OK
-----

Do you have XP Pro?

If yes, open Group Policy...

Start | Run | Type: gpedit.msc | OK |
Navigate to >>
User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows
Explorer\
Hide these specified drives in My Computer

Set to Not Configured

Hide these specified drives in My Computer
[[Removes the icons representing selected drives from My Computer and
Windows Explorer. Also, the drive letters representing the selected drives
do not appear in the standard Open dialog box.

To use this policy, select a drive or combination of drives from the
drop-down list. To display all drives, disable this policy or select the Do
not restrict drives option from the drop-down list.

Note: This setting removes the drive icons. Users can still gain access to
drive contents by using other methods, such as by typing the path to a
directory on the drive in the Map Network Drive dialog box, in the Run
dialog box, or in a command window.

Also, this setting does not prevent users from using programs to access
these drives or their contents. And, it does not prevent users from using
the Disk Management snap-in to view and change drive characteristics.

Also, see the "Prevent access to drives from My Computer" setting.]]
-----

Open the Registry Editor...
Start | Run | Type: regedit | OK |

Navigate to >>>
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
Explorer

Is there a Value Name in the right hand pane called NoDrives?

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

I tried the tip from the 1st ref (I don't have flashpath monitor so
2nd didnt seem appropriate). I found the reg key but when it came to
deleting the uppr and lwr filters, I couldn't find anything to
delete. This is prob due to operator error but I'm sure I did it
right? Thanks for your time and advice.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Nick,

Maybe it's worth a shot to install TweakUI and check the setting.

Download TweakUI here >>>

Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp

Tweak UI
TweakUI.exe
===

Tweak UI for Windows XP Guide
http://www.winxpsolution.com/Tweakuixppro.aspx

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

Thanks Wes, still no joy I'm afraid, I don't have TweakUI installed
and trying to run anything in the floppy drive results in the msg
that the location referred to (a does not exist. Once again thanks
for your time.

Nick,

Was the floppy drive the A: drive?

Will this open the A: drive? Make sure you have a floppy in the
drive.

Start | Run | Type: a: | Click OK
-----

Do you have TweakUI installed?

If yes, Open TweakUI
[+] My Computer
Drives

Make sure there's a check mark in  A: |
Apply | OK
-----

Do you have XP Pro?

If yes, open Group Policy...

Start | Run | Type: gpedit.msc | OK |
Navigate to >>
User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows
Components\Windows Explorer\
Hide these specified drives in My Computer

Set to Not Configured

Hide these specified drives in My Computer
[[Removes the icons representing selected drives from My Computer and
Windows Explorer. Also, the drive letters representing the selected
drives do not appear in the standard Open dialog box.

To use this policy, select a drive or combination of drives from the
drop-down list. To display all drives, disable this policy or select
the Do not restrict drives option from the drop-down list.

Note: This setting removes the drive icons. Users can still gain
access to drive contents by using other methods, such as by typing
the path to a directory on the drive in the Map Network Drive dialog
box, in the Run dialog box, or in a command window.

Also, this setting does not prevent users from using programs to
access these drives or their contents. And, it does not prevent
users from using the Disk Management snap-in to view and change
drive characteristics.

Also, see the "Prevent access to drives from My Computer" setting.]]
-----

Open the Registry Editor...
Start | Run | Type: regedit | OK |

Navigate to >>>
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
Explorer

Is there a Value Name in the right hand pane called NoDrives?

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

I tried the tip from the 1st ref (I don't have flashpath monitor so
2nd didnt seem appropriate). I found the reg key but when it came to
deleting the uppr and lwr filters, I couldn't find anything to
delete. This is prob due to operator error but I'm sure I did it
right? Thanks for your time and advice.

:

The Floppy Disk Drive Is Missing From the My Computer Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;812489

Floppy Disk Drive Does Not Appear in the My Computer Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;817196

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In Nick <[email protected]> hunted and pecked:
A couple of weeks ago my floppy drive dissappeared.....it is no
longer possible to find it using "my computer" etc....I am not
aware of any changes being made to the computer and something
similar happened (b4 Xmas) with the cd drives (I fixed this with
the help of a registry patch (obtained thru a link in newsgroups))
but I cant find anything that applies to floppies. I run XP home
with Norton Antivirus and SP2 and am starting to think about an
electric abacus. Any helpful suggestions would be welcome.
Thanks