Problem with my Floppy Drive

Hi TomCoyote, I really hope some will be kind enough to help me with the below problem: Whenever I put a floppy disc in my FLoppy Drive, and I try to open it in Microsoft Word, I get a yellow box box up w/a red circle with a white x in it saying Microsoft Word at the top and beneath that it says: "The selected disk drive is not in use. Check to make sure a disk is inserted." then below it it has a retry and cancel options. I have retried it a # of times w/no change. I'm eager to get this fixed as I use floppy discs to save a lot of info on! I do not know how to save info using a cd burner. I have a cd burner but its used/old and I dont want to wear it out yet. Hope to hear back, Safira

Does the Floppy disk display in your Windows Explorer? Can you Copy the (file).doc that is supposedly on the Floppy to a Temporary New Folder like: C:\TempNewFolder\ Then load up Word and open the folder from there? Does the small green light come on when you insert a Floppy into the drive? How about other Floppies? Does your Floppy Drive recognize other Floppy Disks? How about checking in your Device Manager for any yellow or red warnings under Disk Drives and under Floppy Disk Controller? Does Word open other documents that are saved to your hard drive. Open a few to confirm. Open Word and Create a new document, then save it to your Hard Drive. Then close and re-open Word, Can Word open that newly saved document from the Hard Drive? If Word has trouble with the above, then you can safely Uninstall Word and then reinstall Word. Reinstallation is the first and usually sufficient trick to try with application programs. Best Regards

Hi Dough, Thanks for your speedy reply I'm not sure if I have windows explorer but if you meant Internet Explorer I have that. I opened IE but didnt know how to get the floppy disk to display in there. "Can you Copy the (file).doc that is supposedly on the Floppy to a Temporary New Folder like: C:\TempNewFolder\" ……………………………. thats a good idea. since I cannot get the floppy drive to work/open it in Word I dont know how to copy a file on the floppy yet. If you don't mind, can you please explain that, thanks ; ) Yes, the small green light comes on but not when I insert a floppy disk into the drive; it comes on when I try to open it in Word. I tried other floppies w/no luck :(. " checking in your Device Manager for any yellow or red warnings under Disk Drives and under Floppy Disk Controller?" …………………………………………..Where/how do I find the Device Manager? I did that test and Word opened the test document on the hard drive. Which is good as I cannot reinstall Word as I have no current disk for it. Someone told me there is a maybe a sensore w/an infra red LED there that detects when a disk is put in and maybe it needs to be cleaned. Is that true? Thanks again and hope to hear, Safira

I'm not sure if I have windows explorer

Windows Explorer is the utility for My Computer
It allows you to navigate through your File Structure,
Such as My Documents, My Music, and Program Files

Just Click on My Computer or go to Start - My Computer

Once My Computer opens, you will be able to see all of your drives including the Floppy, which is usually A:\

Insert the Floppy that has the .doc saved. Click on A:\ to Open the Floppy and display the contents.

Does your machine Open/Read the Floppy in your A:\ floppy drive?

If you can "see" the .doc file using My Computer, highlight the desired file, by single click of the Mouse.
Then use the Edit - Copy function in the command line at the top of My Computer.

Go Create a Temporary Folder, something like C:\Documents recovered from Floppy\
Use - File - New - Folder to create C:\NewFolder and rename it to: Documents recovered from Floppy

Paste the Copied File into that New Folder

Now see if you can Open the .doc from your Word.

" checking in your Device Manager for any yellow or red warnings under Disk Drives and under Floppy Disk Controller?"
…………………………………………..Where/how do I find the Device Manager?

To get to Device Manager
Right-Click My Computer - Hardware (tab) - Press - Device Manager
You'll see a list of your Computer's Devices.
Click on:
Floppy Disk Controllers
and
Floppy Disk Drives

If either has any problems, a yellow or red warning flag will be displayed next to it.

If you find a yellow or red warning, Double Click on it and Select - Remove
Then reboot your machine to allow Windows to "find new hardware" and "install drivers for new hardware"

Drivers do get corrupted from time to time, and the above method is the preferred method for fixing them.

I don't think there is any infrared sensor in Floppy Drives.
The Floppy is detected "mechanically". The Floppy Disk is either inserted correctly or not.
If you have physical damage to the A:\ drive slot or physical damage to a Floppy disk, it might not properly/fully insert mechanically into the drive slot.

Best Regards

Hi, thanks for taking the type to type all that out and for your suggestions I went to my computer and clicked on the A:\ and it would not open it from there I got a box popped up saying “insert disk” please insert a disk into drive a. I found the Device Manager under System Properties when I clicked on Floppy Disk Controller , the little thing came out saying Standard floppy disk controller under floppy disc drive properties box it said: general tab: device status This device is working properly. If you are having problems with this device, click Troubleshoot to start the troubleshooter." I did not find a yellow or red warning flag that I could see. Should I click Troubleshoot? Oh, there is no sensor to detect when a floppy is put in/taken out? The floppies seem to insert fully into the drive slot. I wonder if its physical damage to the A:\ drive slot. This is a used computer that was put together by hand (not from a manufacturere) so I can't call the manufacturer : ( Could it be it needs cleaning or from a loose cable? Do floppy drives wear out easily? bye for now, Safira

Floppy Drives can wear out They are relatively durable, but more likely to have physical problems than hard drives and even CD ROM drives.
Since your Device manager shows that "this device is working properly", it may be true.
However, though you did mention the item "Standard Floppy Disk Controller", you didn't mention its status.
Does that item appear in your Device Manager? click on its properties. You probably have an option to reinstall driver.

It is possible that the Floppy Drive is not enabled in your BIOS.
(For others reading this, it may seem "obvious" that since the A:\ is recognized in Windows Explorer and Device Manager, that it is "recognized" in the BIOS. However, some BIOS offer the setting to "disable seek/read" on the Floppy.)

It is "possible" that who ever built this machine used a "very old" Floppy Disk unit that is not capable of the required rotation/read speeds necessary with current machines. (This possiblility is "terribly remote" since Floppy Drives have been standardized for many years. But it's possible)(This condition would probably result in "the Floppy Drive has 'never' worked' properly)

Has the Floppy Drive in this machine "ever worked"?

If the Floppy has worked in the past but fails now, it is 'very' possible that dirt, dust, and debris has been sucked into the Floppy Drive case and has fouled the drives mechanical components.
You may be able to clean it out with a can of compressed air.

If the Floppy has worked in the past but fails now, it is "very" possible that dirt, dust, and debris has been sucked into the Floppy Drive and fouled the "sensors" that read the floppy disk. Again, you can use a can of compressed air in hopes of dislodging any large pieces of lint/dust accumulation. There are also Floppy Disk Drive "Cleaners" which are specialized diskettes that can be inserted which gently rub against and clean the sensors. These specialized cleaners are of "various quality" and don't always help.

If the Floppy has worked in the past but fails now, then it could be that the IDE ribbon to it is not fully inserted/seated or has jiggled loose. Press it in.
If the Floppy has worked in the past but fails now, it is possible that the power connecter is not fully inserted/seated or has jiggled loose. Press it in.

If the Floppy has worked in the past but fails now, it is possible that wear and tear has caused the Seek/Read/Write sensors to become mechanically out of alignment (not pointed at the correct spot on the disk) and therefore not working. Sometimes a disk created on another machine will be correctly read, sometimes not. Sometimes a disk created on a mis-aligned drive will read on the mis-aligned drive but not on a "good" drive on another machine. (Correcting the alignment of a Floppy Disk drive is beyond the scope of this Forum - instead you'd be better off replacing the drive)

If the Floppy has worked in the past but fails now, it is possible that wear and tear has caused problems in the mechanical functioning of the floppy drive. (Repairing the mechanical components of a floppy drive is beyond the scope of this forum - instead you'd be better off replacing the drive)

Replacing the Floppy Drive - Could be an excellent option for you if none of the above has helped.
Floppy Drives will probably cost you between $15 and $25 (US) and can be easily installed using the instructions included with the purchase. The Drive will probably come with a new connector ribbon - use it, since the problem could actually be in the present connector ribbon or connector socket that plugs into the Floppy Disk drive.

It is important that you plug the connector into the Floppy Drive correctly and not "force" it. It is possible to plug this connector in "backwards" causing failure. Connecting the floppy disk cable connector will feel "firm" but no tools will be necessary to add "force" to insert the connector.

Before "buying" a new Floppy Disk drive, I'd try to clean it with compressed air, and possibly with a Floppy Disk Drive Cleaner Diskette (if it was cheap enough)

Before "buying" a new Floppy Disk Drive, I'd disconnect the IDE and power connector and boot the machine without the Floppy Drive connected. Then I'd power off again, use compressed air to clean the connector ends and re-connect the Floppy Drive, then boot again, allowing Windows to "find new hardware" and "install drivers for new hardware". That might fix you up.

If not, consider purchasing a new Floppy Drive unit.

PLease let us know how you are progressing.

Best Regards

Hi and sorry this reply is late…im just now getting online. Thanks again. Standard Floppy Disk Controller did appear in the Device Manager once I single clicked on Floppy disk controllers. I did not see any red or yellow warning flag there when I clicked on it once if thats what you meant by the status. Stander Floppy Disk Controller Properties box under the General tab said: Location: on SIS PCI to ISA bridge Device status: This device is working properly. If you are having problems w/this device, click Troubleshoot to start the troubleshooter. Under the Driver tab it said: Driver Provider: Microsoft Driver Date: 7/01/2001 Driver Version: 5.1.2600.0 and little boxes that said Driver details, Update driver, Roll back driver and Uninstall I did not see the reinstall option. Should I click on troubleshoot or update driver? "It is possible that the Floppy Drive is not enabled in your BIOS." ………….. Should I check this? i dont know how to. This floppy drive has worked well for at least 3.5 years. Unfortunately, I am no longer in communcation w/the person who put together this machine so I dont know how old the drive unit is. I had no problems w/it until a couple weeks back. Do you know where I can purchase the Floppy Disk Drive Cleaner diskette you mentioned? "the IDE ribbon (and power connecter) to it is not fully inserted/seated or has jiggled loose. Press it in." ………………..I dont know what/where those 2 items are , can you please tell me, thanks. Is there a way I can check to tell if those sensors have become out of alignment? How hard is it to replace the floppy drive? I get confused easily . Does this mean I have to actually open the computer tower? Ive never done that before. Yes, ill try cleaning it first! I don't know how to disconnect the IDE/floppy drive/power connector. Where are the connector ends? Maybe i should buy a floppy disk cleaner first if cleaning it by compressed air means i have to phycically do something w/the drive. Thanks for your time. bye for now, Safira