Windows 98 Installation & Configuration Handbook

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Installing and Configuring Floppy Disk Drives


by Rob Tidrow

Installing Floppy Disk Drives in Your Computer

If your floppy disk drives work with Windows 95, you won't need to do anything to get Windows 98 to recognize them. If you're adding a new floppy drive or having problems with a current drive, however, this chapter can help you troubleshoot many common disk drive problems and show you how to install a new drive.


NOTE: Along with the information covered in this chapter, you should follow specific instructions provided with your floppy disk drive.

To install a new floppy disk drive into your computer, follow these steps:

1. If the floppy disk drive is still in its box, check to make sure that it has the installation screws (usually four to eight or more) and a cable, if necessary (if you already have a floppy disk drive installed, you can use the existing cable). Because you'll be working near very sensitive electronic parts, wear an antistatic wristband.

2.
Turn off and unplug the computer.

3.
Find the location on the front panel where you'll be installing the drive. Note the direction of the opening (vertical or horizontal).

4.
Open the computer's case.

5.
You should see the space in the front of the chassis where the drive will fit. Slide it into place. Most new cases have what looks like a 3 1/2-inch-wide metal box beside the drive bays. This looks like a perfect place for a 3 1/2-inch floppy disk drive, but it's made for a hard drive. There is no corresponding opening in the front of the computer's case.

Lightly attach the installation screws, tightening them only when you're sure the drive's face will be flush with the front of the PC (if possible, use an existing drive as a guide). Some cases require the addition of plastic or metal rails on the sides of the drive before you can slide it in place.


TIP: You'll be attaching two cables to the back of the drive. If it looks like you won't be able to get your fingers behind the drive when it's secured, leave the installation screws off until you've attached the cables.
6. The two cables you need to attach are a ribbon cable and a power cable. If you're adding a second floppy disk drive or replacing one, you see the ribbon cable running into the back of the original drive. A few inches from the drive end of the cable, you should see another connector, which you use for the second drive (the B: drive) in the system. The end of the ribbon cable always goes to the A: drive. Slide the connector into place on the back of the floppy disk drive.

You might need an adapter to hook the ribbon cable connector to your floppy disk drive. If you want to make a 3 1/2-inch floppy disk drive (with a pin connector), for example, you need to get an edge-to-pin adapter, because the A: drive and the end of the ribbon cable are for a 5 1/4-inch drive (edge connector).


NOTE: Even though the cables are set up for your A: and your B: drive, you have to make sure that the CMOS is set up the same way.
7. Find a power lead from the computer's power supply for your drive. You should see leads going to the motherboard and any drives you already have installed, all from the same location. Find a lead that is not yet connected to a drive. If no leads are available, get a Y connector from a computer supply store to split one of the existing leads. Connect the power lead to the back of the drive.


NOTE: You might need an adapter for the power-supply lead. If the only available leads are the larger type (about 3/4-inch wide in a D shape) and you're installing a drive with a small, square power socket (like most 3 1/2-inch drives), you need an adapter. Some drives include this adapter with the mounting kit, but if you don't have this adapter, you should be able to get one at a computer supply store.

Before you replace the cover on your PC, you might want to test the new floppy drive. This way, you don't have to remove the case if you need access to the drive again. Reconnect the computer's power cable and any other cables you disconnected earlier, and then turn it back on to complete the next steps in the process.

Getting the PC to Recognize the New Floppy Disk Drive

When you turn on your computer after installing a new floppy disk drive, it might squawk, beep, and/or display error messages on the screen. This is perfectly normal; the PC doesn't know how to handle the new device until you tell it manually.

The PC's device configuration is stored in the Setup or CMOS section of the computer. The information in the Setup or CMOS sections includes the types of drives you have, the time of day, the video-controller type, and some more arcane settings. The CMOS has its own battery, which is how it retains these settings (and keeps your computer's clock running) when the computer is turned off or unplugged. When you add a new basic device (a floppy drive, hard drive, or video card, as opposed to a nonessential device, such as a sound card or CD-ROM drive), the CMOS needs to find out about the device's settings before it will work.

If the computer halts during startup after you install the new drive, it might display a message like Press Enter to run setup or Press Ctrl+Alt+Insert now (or some other keyboard sequence). If it just tells you Incorrect CMOS setup and continues to boot up normally, you'll have to turn the computer off and on to get back to the start of the boot sequence. In the early stages of the boot process, you should see a message on your screen telling you what you have to do to start the CMOS Setup program. The message might say Press Delete to run Setup (or F2, F12, or almost any other key or key combination). You usually have to press this key sequence before you see the Starting Windows 98 message.


TIP: Some systems don't display any message at all, so you might have to refer to your PC's documentation or manufacturer.

When the Setup program appears on your screen, read its instructions carefully. It might offer you a menu of basic and advanced options. Choosing the floppy drive is usually in the basic section. When you get to the correct screen, you should see a list of drives--usually two floppy disk drives and two hard drives--and some other information about the date, time, and other devices. Instructions on this screen show how to go from section to section. In some Setup programs, for example, you use the arrow keys to move around and Page Up/Page Down to change the settings, whereas other programs have you use Tab or the space bar for these functions.

Move to the correct section (usually, Floppy A or Floppy B) and change it until it correctly identifies your new drive. The program should run through a list of standard drive types (both types of 3 1/2-inch drives, both 5 1/4-inch drives, and None, which you can use to disable a drive).

After you select the correct drive, exit the CMOS Setup program (usually by pressing Esc, Enter, or F10) and make sure you save the settings. You'll probably see a menu with options to ignore the changes or save them, with Ignore as the first option. The computer should start up normally after you exit Setup.

Installing Floppy Disk Drive Controllers

After you start Windows 98, your new floppy drive should be accessible via My Computer, Explorer, and other disk-accessing programs. If you cannot locate your new floppy drive, however, run the Add New Hardware Wizard to manually install your floppy disk driver controller under Windows 98. Your new floppy disk drive then should work. Chapter 5, "Installing and Configuring New Hardware and Software," covers using the Add New Hardware Wizard to install new hardware.


NOTE: Windows 98 includes a new floppy disk drive device driver named Windows 98 HSFLOP.PDR designed to improve floppy disk drive performance. This device driver replaces the old HSFLOP.PDR file in Windows 95 and is located in the WINDOWS\SYSTEM\ IOSUBSYS folder. You should not have to ever change this driver unless Microsoft releases a newer version at a later date.

Understanding Floppy Disk Drive Installation

After you have the floppy disk drive controller installed under Windows 98, the only place Windows 98 really has an effect on floppy disk drive installation is in diagnosis. It can't change the drive's settings (at least not in legacy drives); it can tell you only whether the drive works properly.

To make sure the drive is properly installed and identified in the CMOS setup, follow these steps:

1. Choose Start, Settings, Control Panel, and double-click the System icon. The System Properties dialog box appears.

2.
Select the Device Manager page.

3.
Click the plus sign next to the Disk Drives icon, as shown in Figure 11.1. The available drives are displayed under it.

FIG. 11.1 You can use the Device Manager to view the available drives on your system.

4. Double-click the drive you want to check. The General page of the Properties dialog box tells you whether the drive is working properly or whether Windows 98 has detected a problem. See Figure 11.2.

FIG. 11.2 The General page lets you see the working status of your floppy disk drive.


NOTE: If you select the Settings page and you have a legacy drive, you'll see most of the options grayed out, as shown in Figure 11.3. Current Drive Letter Assignment is one option that looks changeable but isn't. To change the drive assignment, you'd have to switch the cable connections between the floppy drives and then rerun the CMOS setup.

FIG. 11.3 The Settings page includes handy options if your floppy disk drive is Plug and Play-compatible; otherwise, most options are not available.

5. Click OK twice to exit the Device Manager.

Testing and Troubleshooting Floppy Disk Drive Installation

Before you put the cover back on your computer, make sure the floppy disk drive works properly. Because the medium is notoriously susceptible to dust and other contaminants (specifically because of its "open air" design), testing floppy disk drives can be a little taxing. It's all too easy to believe that the newly installed drive isn't working when the real problem is a dusty disk--or a stray strand of hair in the drive. So, before you count out your floppy disk drive, test it thoroughly.

The cardinal rule when testing floppy disk drives is to test the drive on an entire disk. This assures you that the drive heads can access the entire disk's surface, not just part of it. Viewing a directory of the disk in Windows Explorer, for example, isn't a reliable test, because the directory is stored on a very small section of the disk. To verify the drive's operation across the entire disk, try any of these tests:

FIG. 11.4 ScanDisk checks the entire surface of a floppy disk for errors.

If your drive can successfully complete one or both of these tests, it's a pretty safe bet that the drive is installed correctly. If your drive fails these tests, you can do several things to track down the problem.

First, find the general location of the problem. It could be any of the following:

If the drive doesn't appear in the My Computer or ScanDisk window, for example, the problem is probably not the disk itself. If the drive shows up in these windows, you know the power cable is connected; Windows wouldn't know the drive was there if it didn't have power. This process often is called the long-knife approach, because each question eliminates a large chunk of the problem.

When you have shortened the list of suspects enough, eliminate each variable until you find the culprit.


TROUBLESHOOTING: When I launch My Computer or Windows Explorer, my floppy disk drive always checks to see whether a disk is inserted. How can I turn this off? Choose Start, Settings, Control Panel, and double-click the System icon. Select the Performance page on the System Properties dialog box. Click File System to display the File System Properties dialog box and select the Floppy Disk page. Clear the Search for New Floppy Disk Drives Each Time Your Computer Starts check box.

Checking for a Faulty Disk

If the disk itself could be the problem, try to read it in another computer. If the disk works in other computers, the disk probably is not at fault. Verify this by trying other disks in the problem drive. If other disks work, the first disk might be incompatible with the drive (the wrong size, for example).


TIP: If you have access to CompuServe, the Internet, or another online source, look for the freeware program DRIVTY or DRIVTYPS. When you run it from the MS-DOS command line, it tells you whether your disk drive(s) can accept high-density disks.

In rare cases, the alignment of a drive's heads allows it to read and write disks that can't be used on other computers. If you need to share disks with other computers and no one else seems to be able to use disks from your computer, try a different drive.

Checking for Faulty Cables

When you turn on the computer, watch the light on the drive. It should light up for about one second, and you should hear the drive's motor spinning or "cranking." If it doesn't light up at all (or if it stays lit all the time), you probably have a problem with your cables.

If your drive does nothing, check the power cable. Disconnect it and reconnect it to make sure it's seated correctly. If that doesn't work, check another of your power supply's leads.

If the drive light is always on, the culprit is probably the ribbon cable. Although most drives only allow you to put the cable on one way, some can be connected upside-down (especially edge connectors). See whether you can flip the ribbon cable's connection, either on the drive end or the card end--but not both. If the connectors will only go one way, check the pin connectors for folded (bent) or broken pins.

If all the connectors look to be in working order, the problem might be a short in the ribbon cable itself. Try a different cable. If possible, try the ribbon cable on a different computer to see whether it works. This could point to a faulty drive or controller.

Checking for a Faulty Drive

If all the cables and disks check out, the problem could be in the drive. If you can, try the drive in another computer with a working disk drive of the same type. If you don't have a spare computer for testing, see whether you can try another drive in its place. You might have to take the computer in to a computer repair shop for testing.

Before you give up on the drive, try a commercial drive-cleaning kit (about $10 to $15 from any computer store), which can help eliminate dust and other contaminants from the drive heads.

Checking for a Problem in the Controller

If you've eliminated every other possibility, the controller could be at fault. If possible, try a different controller in its place, or try it on a different machine. Even if your disk controller is on the motherboard, you should be able to disable it and try a different controller--but only after you've disabled the onboard controller. To disable it, you'll probably have to reset a jumper on the motherboard. Some motherboards clearly label the jumper you'll need to switch, such as FDD or FD CNTRL (Intel motherboards are a good example), but others have cryptic labels that you'll need a manual or technical support person to decode.


TIP: Some jumper settings for drives and motherboards are available online. Check the manufacturer's World Wide Web site. You also can visit an online search engine (such as Yahoo! at http://www.yahoo.com) to search keywords related to your disk drive's company (such as Intel or Sony) or device type or topic (such as disk controller or CD-ROM drive).

If you've installed a new drive controller on a PC that already has a controller installed (either on the motherboard or on another card), you might run into a conflict (as viewed in the Device Manager) if the earlier controller isn't properly disabled. Check the jumpers and documentation for the card to make sure it's disabled.


TROUBLESHOOTING: I receive a disk-write error when I try to copy some files to a 360KB floppy disk. What can I do to make Windows 98 copy files to my disk? Disable the 32-bit protected-mode disk drivers by choosing Start, Settings, Control Panel, and double-clicking the System icon. Select the Performance page on the System Properties dialog box. Click File System to display the File System Properties dialog box and select the Troubleshooting page. Click the Disable All 32-Bit Protected-Mode Disk Drivers option. Then click OK twice.


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