:( I am having a problem with my A: drive. The computer doesn't seem to recognise the disk when I insert it into the drive, at the light doesn't come on. I have looked at the Device Manager which gives me the following message: the driver is either missing or corrupt.It was working fine until a few days ago. Can anyone help me please? I am running Windows XP. Please let me know if you need further details.

Can anyone please help!?! :confused:

Thanks

Sarah

Hi sairsh1982, another Derbyshire member, welcome to PC Guide.

Check that the power and IDE cables are secure and pushed into the floppy drive and the motherboard, if that doesnt work try a new floppy IDE cable and or a new floppy drive.

Well in my opinion somtimes parts just go bad... but to give you peace of mind you can try a couple of things that include opening your case and making sure none the cables going to the floppy drive didn't come loose. Or you can attempt to roll back the driver. to do this you open device manager double click on your floppy disk drive. When the floppy drive properties box pops up click on the driver tab and click on the rollback driver button. If no drivers have been backed up for this device a dialog box will pop up and tell you. But just keep in mind if your floppy did just go kapoooot then you can pick up a new one for $25 anywhere. Hope this helps

I would agree, check the cables especially with no power light flashing on when it is being polled during boot up...

If the computer has a couple years on it there's a chance that some oxidation might have occurred. I would suggest plugging and unplugging the power cable a number of time to assist in cleaning the contact pins...

Thanks for your replies.

I hope I don't sound like a complete fool Jiggy but what are IDE cables? I am assuming you mean the cables that plug into my system. I have checked they are secure, but I haven't taken them out to give them a dust. I will try that shortly. Also what isa motherboard?

Terminus69 - I have attempted to roll back the driver but there is nothing to roll back too - as I suspected, but I tried it anyway!

Whyzman - The computer isn't that old, it is still under guarantee, but I suspect it is about 3 years old so I will try that too.

In the meantime, I have posted the error message from within device manager in case there is anything else:

"Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39)

Click Troubleshoot to start the troubleshooter for this device."

I have tried the troubleshooter but I am not comfortable enough with my PC to mess about too much

Regards
Sarah

If the computer is still under warranty, I would suggest contacting the manufacturer before you do any tinkering under the hood...

Oft times the manufacturer will have stickers or hot glue dawbs that if torn or disturbed void your warranty...

Like Whyzman said get intouch with the company you got it from and explain your problem to them, if you need more please post back.

Could be a software problem:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;%5BLN%5D;817196
... requiring a regedit maybe??

... or a system restore??

With a floppy drive, you'll have no drivers to rollback too, simply remove it from device manager and reboot. Windows should find and reinstall it automagically.

IDE cable: Ribbon cable that carries data to and from the drive. Usually gray, about 2" wide with a plastic connector on each end. Hard drives use IDE cables, floppy cables are very similar but slightly narrower and usually just called floppy cable or ribbon cable.


Motherboard: The main circuit board of a computer, with a socket for the CPU (processor), slots for RAM chips and connectors for the IDE and floppy cables. It will be the largest circuit board inside the case, you can't miss it. You'll find pictures of several Here (http://www.motherboards.org/)

Don't even think about a system restore or fiddling about in the registry unless it is absolutely necessary.

Don't even think about a system restore or fiddling about in the registry unless it is absolutely necessary.
I agree that registry editing requires care and Microsoft always warns users when it suggests such actions - as in the link I posted or in the MSKB 812489 Floppy Disk Drive Does Not Appear in the My Computer Folder (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/812489/EN-US/). The earlier link MSKB 817196 does quote the specific error message and I though it thus worth posting.

In Device Manager, the device status for the Floppy Disk Drive returns the following error message:
Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39)

CAUSE
This behavior occurs because the SmartDisk FlashPath Monitor from Synchronized Technologies, Inc. is installed. When you start the computer, this program typically loads automatically and changes the registry settings that belong to the floppy disk drive.

I thought a System Restore woud have been a safe way of restoring the registry if that is where the problem lies - and particularly since it is a reversable process (space being availabe) if you try it out.

Paul:

I have no problem with you posting those suggestions, but as always, I consider reinstalling a last resort only, and with someone who has indicated a very limited knowledge of computers, editing the registry should be avoided if possible too. Your advice was good, and accurate, but involves advanced techniques best left alone except in last resort cases.

Also, nobody had suggested simply removing and reinstalling the floppy drive, which is probably the best chance of an easy solution. If that doesn't work, then we might have to dig into things such as your suggestions. I'd rather save that for last, though. No need to defend yourself, you were on the right track, just a bit ahead of the game.

Whyzman - The computer isn't that old, it is still under guaranteeIf this is indeed the case, I would pursue the manufacturer first for a possible solution so as not to void the warranty by swapping parts without their permission.

Could be some crossed wires coz I never suggested reinstalling. Confusion between restore disks and a system restore maybe. ;)

My apologies, I thought you meant reinstalling.

Whyzman: I agree completely, as I'm sure you already know. If the warranty is available, by all means use it.

He He :D No problem Pete - it began to dawn on me that must have been where there was misunderstanding.