non-existent floppy drive

[Guest]

My computer says that it has a floppy drive installed, but there is not one
there. When my computer turns on it gives an error message because it's
looking for the non-existent floppy drive. Under "My Computer" I have a 3 1/2
floppy drive listed. But like I said, my computer does not have a floppy
drive. I've tried uninstalling it, but when I restart it says it found new
hardware and automatically reinstalls everything. What do I need to do to
convince my computer that there is not, nor ever has there been a floppy
drive installed? I am running Windows XP Home Version 5.1 on a Dell Dimension
E521. Thank you for your help...

 

[Guest]

You may not have the floppy drive on the pc case,but you may have a
floppy drive controller on the mother board.You can,open device mgr,expand
the floppy drive tree,R.click,select disable,close out.On restart or
start-up,
enter the BIOS,disable the floppy drive controller if one exist....

 

[Guest]

when you begin to boot the computer press the F12 key (I THINK) to enter the
BIOS setting. if you are unsure of which key to press pay close attention at
the VERY first screen that appears with writting, it should say something to
the effect --- push esc for boot options or press F* for settings --- when
you enter the bios look at the first screen and you should see the drives
installed on the computer and the floppy drive. DISABLE the floppy drive.
then press F10 (Exit saving changes) and then the computer will reboot and
you should no longer have any floppy errors.
enjoy

 

[Guest]

I've tried disabling it, and it doesn't do anything, but I don't know how to
enter the BIOS. I downloaded a BIOS update hoping that might help, but it
also did nothing. I don't know how to manually access and change anything in
the BIOS though, so if that's something to try then you'll have to tell me
how...

 

[Guest]

Ok, well I didn't know that that's what the BIOS was...in that case I've
already tried that also, and it didn't work either. I disabled the floppy
drive and still got the same error message and still have the drive listed in
"My Computer". Any other suggestions?

 

[Uncle Grumpy]

Ok, well I didn't know that that's what the BIOS was...in that case I've
already tried that also, and it didn't work either. I disabled the floppy
drive and still got the same error message and still have the drive listed in
"My Computer". Any other suggestions?

Enter the BIOS and do it again. You must've done something wrong.

There may also be an option in there to check for the floppy. Disable
that as well.

SAVE whatever changes you make before exiting.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

when you begin to boot the computer press the F12 key (I THINK)

How to get into your BIOS depends, not on Windows, but on what
motherboard/BIOS you have. As a matter of fact, you have to access the
BIOS before Windows even starts to boot. The most common way is to
press the Del key (not F12) when you first power on, but that's not
necessarily right for your computer. Watch the screen carefully when
you first boot; there's often a message there telling you what to do.
If not, check your system documentation or check with your vendor.

Also look here: http://michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm Or
just try the Del key. There's a good chance that's correct for you.