Re: floppy disks

From: johnf (john_f_at_bigREMOVEpond.net.au)
Date: 04/12/04 

Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 22:52:21 +1000

Yep, I tried the self-same fix, but had no success to date - perhaps I'd
better read it more carefully. 

--
johnf
> This fix works for the know floppy problem, it's hard to read cause I
> sniped it. I have use the procedure on several systems and works every
> time. The fix is tords the bottom as the link to the 3mode drivers.
>
> At our school we are having all the floppy problems mentioned in this
> NG.The only one that is 100% reproducable is this: take a floppy,
> format it inWin9x, and put files on it.  Stick it in an XP PC and
> select "Copy Disk"from the A: drive context menu.  We get errors nearly
> 100% of the time. Ifound the following fix
>
at:http://discuss.extremetech.com/n/mb/display.asp?webtag=extremetech&msg=21
> 301.1 posted by someone called cluberti.  The drivers he mentions work,
> butthey leave a phantom B: 5.25 drive that needs to be
>
disabled.-------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----------------------------------I looked at everything I could find,
> and everything technically SHOULD bethe same in the way Windows 98 and
> Windows XP format and access floppydiskettes (FAT12, 512bytes/sector,
> etc).  And what did I find?  As usual,things have changed (and you
> wouldn't know it unless you dug deep).  Thefollowing is what I found
> (and how I fixed it - get this information OUTTHERE): After beating my
> head against the wall for a few weeks and polling everyoneI knew
> personally that was running Windows XP, I found that quite a few ofus
> had this problem - format and/or use a floppy in XP, it doesn't work
> inWin98 (and sometimes Windows 2000 too).  Format and/or use a floppy
> inWindows 95, 98, ME, NT, or 2000, it no longer works in XP (even if it
> workedbefore).  It seemed that the brand name PC's had this problem
> lessfrequently than a white box machine, but they were not immune
> either -especially Compaq PC's.  So, I dug around google groups for a
> while, andfound LOTS of people complaining of this particular problem.
> However, quitea few searches on Microsoft's site about floppies,
> corruption, and WindowsXP turned up absolutely nothing of value. After
> LOTS of digging, I did find this interesting Microsoft Q
> article(http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q309623)
> that I hadoriginally perused and thought of no use.  I read it again,
> very CAREFULLY,and read it over a few times more to make sure what I
> was reading was reallythere.  If you're interested, read it in all it's
> glory on the Microsoftsite and be amazed - then come back (open a new
> tab or window! :O) here forthe fix. For those of you not inclined to
> visit Microsoft.com (and you know who youare ;O), here's the
> interesting tidbit (and the root of the problem): "Windows XP supports
> formatting only the 1.44MB disk format. Three-modefloppy drives (drives
> that are capable of reading/writing with 720KB, 1.2MBand 1.44MB 3.5"
> disks) requires special driver support, and support for thisfeature is
> not included in Windows XP. Some 3mode FD drivers may be installed on
> PCs with Windows XP by OEMs,although Microsoft does not provide the
> end-user support for 3mode drivers.Please contact your OEM (Original
> Equipment Manufacturer) if you have anyquestions on 3mode drivers." Why
> did they remove something that every other version of Windows has?
> Idon't know either.  Nonetheless, support is gone in the Microsoft
> floppydriver for Windows XP. Now, I have two white box PC's - one with
> a Mitsumi floppy and one with aSony floppy disk drive.  Both drives
> support reading/writing/formatting of720K, 1.2MB and 1.44MB floppies
> (hence "3mode" floppy).  Notice in the Qarticle that if the drive
> supports formatting of anything more than 1.44MBfloppies, it isn't
> supported!  Since *most* floppy disk drives from Japanesevendors (Sony,
> Mitsumi, etc) are 3 mode, does this mean a lot of people willbe in the
> same boat?  It appears so. It so happens that my 2 machines were
> running Windows XP Pro - as previouslystated, one has a Mitsumi floppy,
> and one has a Sony floppy.  Both were quadbooting, running Debian Linux
> (Woody), Windows 98 SE, Windows 2000 (one hasSP2, one has SP3), and
> Windows XP Professional (one has SP1, one does not).Both PC's were
> basically identical in software loads, and both PC's had thesame
> problem; XP wouldn't read a floppy diskette formatted in Linux orWin98,
> and Linux and Win98 were running ON THE SAME MACHINE.  I could
> formatthe floppy to 1.44MB in Windows XP, but then I couldn't read it
> in Win98(Linux would read the floppy); swapping formatted floppies
> amongst machinesproduced the same results.  This meant that it wasn't a
> hardware problem, itwas an XP problem - more specifically, a driver
> problem. So I went looking for a 3mode floppy driver.  First, I tried
> the Windows2000 stock floppy driver.  No go. I tried the Windows ME
> floppy driver.Again, no go.  I tried the Windows 98 floppy driver.
> Nada. It took me a day or two more, but I found one at
> http://www.viaarena.com.This driver is for Windows XP Embedded, but
> works just fine in Windows XP.I had to force the driver in (Windows XP
> wouldn't take it using the normaldriver update process), but I now have
> no problems with my floppy drive.  Isuggest you download this before
> they pull it in violation of the DMCA orsomething ;O) Here's the link
> to the
> driver:http://downloads.viaarena.com/WinXPE/Oct02/XPe_3mflp132_v10.zip
> And here are the steps necessary to install it (make sure there isn't
> afloppy disk in the drive!): 1. Download driver. 2. Unzip the driver
> somewhere (I keep all of my drivers inC:\Drivers\<Driver>, so I
> extracted it to C:\Drivers\3mode). 3. Open Windows XP's Device Manager,
> expand the "Floppy disk controllers"heading, and double-click the
> listing for "Standard floppy disk controller". 4. Click the "Driver"
> tab, then click the "Update Driver" button. 5. Select the "Install from
> a list or specific location" radio button andclick the "Next" button.
> 6. Select the "Don't search.  I will choose the driver to install."
> radiobutton and click the "Next" button. 7. Click the "Have Disk"
> button; then, click the "Browse" button.  Browse tothe location that
> you extracted the files to in step 2 and double click the"VIA3MFPY.INF"
> file.  Then, click the "OK" button. 8. You should now have "VIA 3-mode
> floppy controller" highlighted in thedrivers list.  Click the "Next"
> button to begin the driver file copy.  Oncethe file copy is complete,
> your floppy disk drive will access 3 times(checking all 3 "modes").
> This is normal.  Click the "Finish" button whenthe driver installation
> is complete. 9a. You may, or may not, have a device labeled "Unknown
> Device" in the"Other Devices" heading in Device Manager.  If so,
> continue with step 9a.If not, skip to step 9b.  If you have a device
> labeled "Unknown Device" inthe "Other Devices" heading in Device
> Manager, right-click on it and select"Update Driver".  Follow steps 5
> through 8 to complete the installation of"Floppy disk drive" (note that
> the naming of the driver in the drivers listin step 8 may be different
> during this step - this is normal).  Once you'veclicked the "Finish"
> button, continue on to step 10. 9b. If you do not have a device labeled
> "Unknown Device" in the "OtherDevices" heading in Device Manager,
> expand the "Floppy disk drives" headingin Device Manager and
> double-click the listing for "Floppy disk drive".Follow steps 4 through
> 8 to complete the installation of "Floppy disk drive"(note that the
> naming of the driver in the drivers list in step 8 may bedifferent
> during this step - this is normal).  Once you've clicked the"Finish"
> button, continue on to step 10.
> 10. Reboot your PC.  This should let you know if all of your hard
> workREALLY paid off.  Check the Device Manager one last time to be sure
> that younow have the "VIA 3-mode floppy controller listed under the
> "Floppy diskcontrollers" heading.  Put a file on a floppy in Win98 (or
> another non-XPOS) and you should now be able to access it in Windows XP
> (and vice-versa)without issue.  You made it! Pass this
>
on!-------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -----------------------------Microsoft needs to get this fixed.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
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> "Jim Macklin" <p51mustang[threeX12]@xxxhotmail.calm> wrote in message
> news:O$qsn%23EIEHA.2064@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
>> Floppy drive are subject to wear and XP seems to be more
>> critical in tracking the floppy drive sectors on the disk.
>> Try several times to read the floppy, insert it and take it
>> out several times, also while you have the drive select in
>> Explorer or My Computer, right click and select "refresh"
>> several times, the wiper arm may detect and read the data,
>> if it does copy it to your hard drive.
>>
>> If that doesn't work I would suggest you spend $10-20 and
>> buy a new drive.
>>
>>
>> "astrph" <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
>> message news:16afc01c42047$9bf0e880$a001280a@phx.gbl...
>>> Can't open several floppy disks i previously stored and
>>> accessed files on, both at home on Windows XP and at work
>>> on Windows NT.....get error message "disk is not
>>> formatted".  desperately need the info stored, can anyone
>>> help?  Thanks, a
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