Basic floppy trouble shooting

A floppy drive may not work because of one or more of the following reasons.

1. Bad floppy diskette.
2. Not setup in CMOS.
3. Confliction with other hardware.
4. Not connected properly.
5. Bad drivers.
6. Bad hardware.

Bad floppy diskette.

Verify that the floppy diskette that you are attempting to read from is not write protected or bad. Verify that the diskette is not write protected by sliding the tab into the position not allowing light to shine through it. If you do not have a tab place tape over this hole.

Because of the technology of floppy diskette drives it is likely for a floppy diskettes to easily become bad. Verify that other floppy diskettes are not exhibiting the same issue.

If other floppies work it is likely that you may have a bad floppy diskette.

Not setup in CMOS.

Verify that the floppy drive is properly setup in CMOS. If the floppy drive is not setup properly you may experience read / write errors or the floppy may not work at all. Most computers need to have the floppy setup as a 3.5, 1.44MB.

Confliction with other hardware.

If you have recently physically installed any new hardware such as a tape drive or other backup medium temporarily disconnect that new hardware to ensure that it is not the cause of your floppy drive not working.

Bad drivers.

If you are not able to read or write to a floppy diskette from Windows, verify that the computer is not exhibiting floppy drivers issue by testing the floppy drive from MS-DOS. 

If you are running Windows 3.x click File and click Exit Windows to get to an MS-DOS prompt.

If you are running Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT or Windows 2000 click Start / Shutdown and restart the computer to a MS-DOS prompt.

Once at the prompt place a diskette into the floppy disk drive and type format a: if you get:

Invalid media or Track 0 Bad = Attempt to format another floppy disk.
Write Protect Error = Ensure that the disk is not write protected; by removing the floppy disk and insuring that you cannot see through both holes if you can; move the tab in the left hand side down (looking from he back of the floppy) and try again. If the disk is not write protected try another floppy disk.
Invalid drive specification = Ensure that you floppy drive is setup properly in CMOS.

If the floppy disk drive formats properly in MS-DOS however does not format in Windows it is likely that Windows or a program within Windows is preventing the floppy drive from working. Attempt to End task al running TSRs by following the step on document CHTSR. If you continue to experience the same issues we recommend that Windows be reinstalled.

Bad hardware.

If you continue to experience issues after following the above steps it is likely that hardware within the computer is bad. Attempt to replace the following hardware in the computer in the below order.

1. Replace the floppy data cable which connects the computer floppy drive to the motherboard \ I/O board.
2. Replace the floppy if the floppy data cable did not resolve your issues.
3. Replace or request that the motherboard \ I/O board be replaced

MORE INFORMATION

Safe Mode

1. Use the right mouse button to click My Computer, then click Properties on the menu that appears.
2. Click the Device Manager tab.
3. Double-click Floppy Disk Controllers.
4. Click the floppy disk controller for the drive you are having problems with, then click Properties.
5. In Windows 95, click the Original Configuration (Current) check box to clear it. In Windows 98, click the Disable In This Hardware Profile check box to select it. This disables the Windows protected-mode driver for the floppy disk drive controller.
6. Click OK.
7. Restart Windows normally.

1. The floppy disk drive controller may not be supported in protected mode.
2. There are drivers loading in the Config.sys or AUTOEXEC.BAT file that may be necessary for protected-mode access.
3. There are drivers loading in the CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT file that may be causing conflicts in Windows and need to be disabled.

1. Use the right mouse button to click My Computer, then click Properties on the menu that appears.
2. Click the Device Manager tab.
3. Double-click Floppy Disk Controllers.
4. Click the floppy disk controller, and then click Remove to remove the controller.
5. Click OK.
6. In Control Panel, double-click Add New Hardware.
7. Click Next, and then click Yes to allow Windows to detect the hardware in your computer.
8. When the Add New Hardware Wizard is finished, restart the computer and try to access the floppy disk drive again.

Device Conflicts