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