Re: floppy disks

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From: Nick Burns (thedoc_at_hotmail.com)
Date: 04/13/04 

Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 09:58:43 -0500

This is the link to the drivers if you cant find them in the snip.
http://downloads.viaarena.com/WinXPE/Oct02/XPe_3mflp132_v10.zip

"angie" <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:18d7601c4210c$6865e950$a601280a@phx.gbl...
> Haven't tried it yet, but thanks so much for letting me
> know i wasn't just retarded....you may have just saved my
> thesis :-)
>
> >-----Original Message-----
> >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_3mf
> lp132_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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