floppy drive not working in xp

duvet77 · 18 Sep 2007 at 13:03

I can't get my floppy disk drive to work in windows xp. i stick a disk in (numerous disks in fact) and whatever i try to do with it, windows tells me there's no disk in drive a. i need to sort this as i need to make a boot disk to flash my bios.

RaiderX · 18 Sep 2007 at 13:09

is the floppy light constantly on?

duvet77 · 18 Sep 2007 at 13:33

Diggsy · 18 Sep 2007 at 13:56

Have you checked the ribbon cable is on the correct way round?

duvet77 · 18 Sep 2007 at 14:01

Diggsy said:
Have you checked the ribbon cable is on the correct way round?

yep... the cable is labeled up for numpties like myself!

windows device manager says it is working properly.... but it isn't!

Diggsy · 18 Sep 2007 at 14:08

Maybe it's just broken? Is it a new drive?

duvet77 · 18 Sep 2007 at 14:22

it's black so it must be new! :rolleyes:

its in my poota at work, so its a couple of years old. i'm trying to make a boot disk so i can flash my bios when i get home. i suppose i can just use a different computer to make the boot disk.

split · 18 Sep 2007 at 14:29

Make a bootable CD instead

Diggsy · 18 Sep 2007 at 14:31

Ah, so it's in your PC at work, then there is every chance that you are not allowed to access disks. If it is a networked PC, then there are some nifty tools that IT depts use to stop you using it.

duvet77 · 18 Sep 2007 at 14:49

split said:
Make a bootable CD instead

nice one. bootable cd is ready to rock and roll. are bootable cds reliable?

duvet77 · 18 Sep 2007 at 14:54

Diggsy said:
Ah, so it's in your PC at work, then there is every chance that you are not allowed to access disks. If it is a networked PC, then there are some nifty tools that IT depts use to stop you using it.

LOL... you've not seen our IT department!

i think its just a case of my floppy not working ....oh er missus!
i tried on someone elses and it worked.

split · 18 Sep 2007 at 15:01

duvet77 said:
nice one. bootable cd is ready to rock and roll. are bootable cds reliable?

If you make it properly yes.
That one is based on an old floppy.
See here..
Bootable Dos CD-Rom (single boot image) [updated! nov 4, 2002]

I and a few others found that it sits in your cache /temp hence I added..

Notes: It has been found by some, that adding a newer BIOS file to cds\clean\bootdisk can in some instances just make a disc with the old BIOS file on it. I recommend that you save all the files to a temp folder, and make a new bcd clean every time you make a disc.

I keep all the downloaded files in one folder, and extract to say d:\bcd

If I'm making another boot CD with different BIOS file I make a d:\bcd1 and so on.
You may try just making boot CD to boot to just to see it works, then make a bcd1 with your flash utility / BIOS file in.

duvet77 · 18 Sep 2007 at 15:26

split said:
You may try just making boot CD to boot to just to see it works, then make a bcd1 with your flash utility / BIOS file in.

yep. made the boot cd with bios on ready for when i get home. tested that it boots at work but obviously didn't run the flash utility as that would have really messed up my work computer!

i'm feeling more optimistic about getting my system up and running now... i was really fed up with it last night.