Floppy drive and FAT question

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Walter Lane

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While working on my Compaq 5700t, I removed the power supply. I put it back
in, reconnected everything and had problems with the A: drive. I checked
connections and redid them. It has power now and will spin the floppy, but
it will not not read the floppy and I get a message about an FAT problem. I
checked under properties for FAT and it's just blank. Under Win98, should
this be reading FAT32? If so, how can I reset it.
Thanks,
Walter
 
Re: Floppy drive and FAT question

"Walter Lane" <lane@walterlane.com> wrote in message
news:%23RqPhrpAIHA.3716@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

> While working on my Compaq 5700t, I removed the power supply. I put it
back
> in, reconnected everything and had problems with the A: drive. I checked
> connections and redid them. It has power now and will spin the floppy, but
> it will not not read the floppy and I get a message about an FAT problem.
I
> checked under properties for FAT and it's just blank. Under Win98, should
> this be reading FAT32? If so, how can I reset it.

FAT32 is a disk file format infrastructure (set by the preparation
tool FDISK.) The Win98 DOS is capable of reading FAT16 (1990)
and FAT32 (1998) disk file formats.

Your error message most probably means either:
1. This floppy has become unusable -- easily tested by trying
a different (newer) floppy.
2. Your floppy drive has become defective and should be
replaced. No drive lasts for ever, and most floppy disks and
most floppy drives appear to wear out in 5 to 10 years.
This is one reason modern PCs have RW optical (CD)
drives and not floppy drives.

You can buy new floppy drives for $25 or less and they are
easy to replace. You just write down during disassembly:
A. Location of each screw you must unfasten;
B. Orientation of each cable connection you unplug;
-- and then put the new drive into place connected identically.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
 
Re: Floppy drive and FAT question

"Walter Lane" <lane@walterlane.com> wrote in message news:%23RqPhrpAIHA.3716@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> While working on my Compaq 5700t, I removed the power supply. I put it back
> in, reconnected everything and had problems with the A: drive. I checked
> connections and redid them. It has power now and will spin the floppy, but
> it will not not read the floppy and I get a message about an FAT problem. I
> checked under properties for FAT and it's just blank. Under Win98, should
> this be reading FAT32? If so, how can I reset it.

Most likely FAT12, however under the drive's properties it will just say FAT.

Floppys have a high failure rate. Have you tried any other floppy disks?

You might try cleaning the drive. Blow the dust out, clean heads with cleaner
disk.

You could also run scandisk on the floppy. It might fix the FAT so it's usable,
but don't expect scandisk to respect your files.
 
Re: Floppy drive and FAT question

"Walter Lane" <lane@walterlane.com> wrote in message news:#RqPhrpAIHA.3716@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> While working on my Compaq 5700t, I removed the power supply. I put it back
> in, reconnected everything and had problems with the A: drive. I checked
> connections and redid them. It has power now and will spin the floppy, but
> it will not not read the floppy and I get a message about an FAT problem. I
> checked under properties for FAT and it's just blank. Under Win98, should
> this be reading FAT32? If so, how can I reset it.
> Thanks,
> Walter

Go into the BIOS setup and make sure the floppy is set to a 1.44 megabyte,
3.5 inch drive. Be sure to save any changes when exiting. Also, check to
see if the ribbon cable is installed in reverse. Typically, the side with the stripe
goes on pin number 1.

Ben
 
Re: Floppy drive and FAT question

Thanks to all. I ended up getting another computer; I had been thinking
about it for a long time anyway.
Again thanks for the useful info.
Walter

"Walter Lane" <lane@walterlane.com> wrote in message
news:%23RqPhrpAIHA.3716@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> While working on my Compaq 5700t, I removed the power supply. I put it
> back
> in, reconnected everything and had problems with the A: drive. I checked
> connections and redid them. It has power now and will spin the floppy, but
> it will not not read the floppy and I get a message about an FAT problem.
> I
> checked under properties for FAT and it's just blank. Under Win98, should
> this be reading FAT32? If so, how can I reset it.
> Thanks,
> Walter
>
>
 
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