drive a: error message

I have a new Dell 3000 and when using the a: drive for the first time I get this message: "A:\is not accessible. No ID address mark was found on the floppy disk." My floppy disk is four years old, and I understand this may be the problem. It will not reformat, either. Will using new floppy discs work?

 

Thanks, but I've tried a stack of older floppy disks. The same error message appears each time.

 

Hi,

I have not had that error message before.

Go to Device Manager and uninstall/remove the Floppy Disk Controller. It will automatically reinstall on reboot.

After that you will need to decide whether to get a new set of disks to try or to open the case and try reseating the cable connections or borrowing another floppy drive to try.

Either way, if you are going to store important information, get a new set of disks.

I would not expect the whole set of disks to go bad, unless they, say, have had contact with a magnetic field or been stored in hot or humid conditions, so that may point to a problem with the drivers or a problem with the drive itself. I have disks that are up to around 10 years old, occasionally they just stop working (cannot be read or formatted). The old ones I do not use for important data, just file transfers.

Matt

 

Where do I find the Device Manager?

 

If you are using Windows XP, open the Control Panel, open System, and then click on the Hardware tab. You'll see Device Manager as the top button choice.