Dale:
You have told us in detail about your problems
with floppy disks. You did not identify the size, but I am sure
you are referring to the 3.5" disks. These can be trouble in
many ways. They can have been formatted in a non standard
manner, which is not readable in available drives.
Also they are not a reliable storage media.
Almost half of my 3.5" disks report bad sectors
when I try to reformat them. In some cases bad sectors have
developed where data was stored and I have lost data. I now
store data on a 3.5" disk using two backup disks And have had
to use the backup disks several times.
I have found the 5 1/4" disk much more reliable but have not as yet
turned to them for storage.
Permanent Magnets will not effectively clear (demagnetize) a disk
for it to accept a new format. The magnet used in an MRI will do it.
(It will also clear the magnetic strip on your credit card). You need
a powerful electromagnet to do this. They sell some for demagnetizing
audio tape on reels and cassettes which might work with disks.
If you cannot clear your disk, you might try formatting a 1.44 Mb disk
at 720 kb (do not forget to cover the hole without the blocker).
Once you do this, it might accept a new format at 1.44 Mb.
Do not accept the first refusal. Keep asking it to try the format
again. You can wear it down to the point where it
will actually do the format for you.
Wally
On Mon, 23 Aug 2004 01:54:17 EDT [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> I just went through another huge stack of floppies that I
> found at
> Mellon a few years ago. Most were already erased and reused by me
> to hold the
> nudes I used to have on my old hard drive before I replaced it.
> Some (about a
> dozen) were just completely empty. A few had programs/software on
> them (which
> reminds me, if anyone's in need of old software, let me know, I have
> a lot of
> it. I just might have what you're looking for. I'd rather not
> erase stuff
> like that since it could be of some use to someone. Like, maybe
> someone wants
> to use them as a starter set for their kids, or maybe someone
> prefers to work
> on an older version of something than the new versions. I'd like to
> get my
> hands on an old version (from the mid `80's) of PFS Write, but all I
> can find is
> the one Spinnacker made in the early `90's and I don't like it very
> much.).
> Anyway, one of them, the last one I tried to run a directory
> on, has
> about a dozen files on it. I tried to open one to see what it was
> and glanced
> at it. It was nothing I needed, so I tried to delete the whole disc
> and use
> it as a blank. It wouldn't let me delete the first file on it
> claiming it was
> still in use (as in: I still had it open, which I didn't). So I
> backed up to
> the directory of the drives I have and tried to reformat the disc in
> A. It
> wouldn't let me because the safety was still on on the disc. I
> popped it out,
> opened the safety and put it back in. I tried to reformat again.
> It said
> there was no disc in the drive. It also said there WAS a disc in
> the drive and
> that it was not formatted (it even says on the disc's gate that it's
> formatted
> for IBM), asked me if I wanted to, I clicked yes and then it went
> back to
> telling me there's no disc in the drive again. I spent half an hour
> or better
> trying everything I could to erase it and nothing worked. I even
> pulled it out
> and ran a magnet over it for a while figuring I'd erase it by hand
> (it's the
> same as magnetic tape only in the form of a disc), and I still got
> nothing
> different.
> Any clues on how I can erase it? My next step is to just
> throw it
> away.
> Now, a few hours and at least one restart have passed since
> then. I
> get on line and get an answer from my cousin in Calif. to something
> my dad
> asked yesterday about his siblings that died whe he was still a
> baby. (My cousin
> is the family genealogist.) I copied it and pasted it to a seperate
> page
> (first in an e-mail then in MS Word) and tried to print it out so
> dad could read
> it in the morning. I click on print and the puter starts trying to
> read the A
> drive for the printer drivers!!!! Then it says I have no drivers
> and need to
> reinstall them!!! I tried it again from the Word program and I get
> the same
> things happening!! Now, what the hell is this all about??? The
> drivers have
> been on the C drive since I bought the puter and they NEVER came on
> a floppy!!
> ONLY on cd.
> I already went on a search and seisure on the third floor
> today for
> some floppies I've been looking for and STILL haven't found. If I
> knew I was
> going to need the printer drivers disc, I'd've hunted for that, too.
> I probably
> had it in my hand a few times today and didn't realize it. Then
> again,
> there's a pretty good chance I didn't.
> So won't you please, please help me, help me, help meeeee,
> oooooooooooommmm.
>
> Dale
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