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Thread ID: 22895	2002-08-02 01:38:00	floppy disk problems	johnboy (217)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
67477	2002-08-02 01:38:00	on some floppy disks when i try to save something i get a message saying the disks needs reformatting even if it already has files on it and its not full ...then it say,s a:\is not accessable the floppydisk controller reported an error that is not recognised by the floppy disk driver .. i,m using maxell windows formatted floppy,s and running win xp	johnboy (217)
67478	2002-08-02 01:50:00	Firstly, floppy disks appear inherently unreliable these days, I believe the quality is a lot lower than a few years ago. Due to the very small quantity sold nowadays I understand there are only a few actual manufacturers (despite the different brands) The message you are getting suggests that your floppy drive may have difficulty reading the disk. This may be due to a poor quality disk, or a poorly aligned drive, or dirty heads. Some drives seem prone to errors, they may have a similar quality problem as well. If the disk was full, it would not suggest a reformat either, it would tell you it was full. I also recommend that you format all new disks (full format, not quick) before you use them even though they are pre-formatted. This may help, as the disk will be more "aligned" to any minor variances in your drive (but may give you a similar problem if you read them on another machine)	godfather (25)
67479	2002-08-02 02:07:00	can you clean the heads if so how ????? you are right about quality 4 of the pack of ten i have play up the rest are good	johnboy (217)
67480	2002-08-02 02:19:00	I had a similar problem with my drive, it was out of alignment and was cheaper to spend $39 for a new drive than to fix it, solved my problem. JJ	Jack Jackson (1052)
67481	2002-08-02 02:20:00	If its a relatively new drive, and you are using new floppies it should not need cleaning. You can get cleaning kits at Dick Smith, but in my 20 years of computers I have never needed to clean a drive. If on the other hand you are using old floppy disks they may be losing their substrate bonding and coating the heads. and cleaning would help. Its much more likely an alignment variation (dont even think about aligning it yourself!) that reformatting the disks may help with. Or a new or second hand drive, they are quite cheap. How old is the drive? If new, get it replaced under warranty. Do you read the disks on other machines or only on this one? Remember floppies are highly unreliable as backups, if data is critical.	godfather (25)
67482	2002-08-02 02:24:00	Its a good idea to have a floppy drive cleaning kit available. I think you can still get them. There is a cleaning disk plus fluid, and you exercise the floppy drive with the disk inserted. Even better is a DOS program for head polishing and burnishing for really gungy drives that works very well indeed. It's packaged as cleaner2.zip from: www.simtel.net Scroll down the page to find it. I would assume it can be run under XP, if not you will need a DOS boot disk.	Terry Porritt (14)
67483	2002-08-02 02:29:00	I brought the computer from the pc company in feb this year the disks are new too ie 3 mths old .. i have the same sort of problem with the c.d driver too .....	johnboy (217)
67484	2002-08-02 02:30:00	Take it back....if you do anything yourself to the hardware you will negate the warranty	godfather (25)
67485	2002-08-03 01:49:00	I,m only a learner on these things i wound,nt even know where to begin trying to take pc apart to fix it thats why i ask these questions ist the floppy problem only happens now and then also now and then a cd will not write i thought maybe it is the disk,s themselves rather than a fault with the drives ?????? thanks for the advice once again very very helpful	johnboy (217)
67486	2002-08-03 01:55:00	I note you have your e-mail address in your profile on the forum. This is not a good idea, as crawler programs run by email spammer companies "harvest" them from "public" sites like these. You should establish a webmail address at places like yahoo for this purpose and never post your real address in any public place. I would suggest you edit your profile and remove it	godfather (25)
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