Re: Windows XP reads floppies as blanks

From: Rich Barry (rbarry_at_NOTsocal.rr.com)
Date: 02/01/04 

Date: Sun, 1 Feb 2004 15:27:48 -0800

  Nicholas, check here. See if this fix helps
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! "Nicholas Harrison"
<npharrrison@tiscali.co.uk> wrote in message
news:86ed01c3e915$86f7fd10$a601280a@phx.gbl...
> Windows XP reads floppies as blanks and need to be
> formatted.
> I'm running XP pro, and just upgraded the motherboard.
> Had a problem with Windows not reading CDRoms and DVDs,
> but that was solved by re-installing Nero 5.5.
>
> First time that I've tried a floppy since the rebuild,
> and the floppy is treated as a blank and I'm asked if I
> want it to be formatted.
>
> Have tried troubleshooter, and looked at the device
> manager and everything appears to be reporting fine.
>
> Would a dodgy connection show up? Or is it more likely a
> software problem?
>
> Any help gratefully received.
>
> Thank you