Windows XP Won't Recognize my Floppy Drive (1 Viewer)

[Jeff_CusBlues]

I'm hoping somebody can help me with this problem. I have just purchased a new computer. I am using some pieces from my old computer which include a hard drive, modem, CD-R/W and floppy drive. The processor is an AMD Sempron 2600+.

All of the pieces I brought over from the old computer work fine except for the floppy drive. It is an old combo (3.5 & 5.25) drive that I have used in 3 or 4 previous systems. After I hooked up the drive, Windows XP (My Computer) will not recognize it. There are no other boot problems or any other problems. The drives simply do not show up as the A & B drives in XP. I first thought I may have hooked the cable up backwards, but when I reversed it, the lights on the drives stayed on which is normally a symptom of reversed cable. I reverted to the previous cable orientation and now the lights stay off, but the drives do not appear when I look at My Computer.

Has any one else had this problem and know of a fix? I consulted the XP help file and there was a fix which suggested an edit of the register, but when I went to the area of the registry to edit, the items to delete were not there. Any help would be appreciated.

Jeff

 

[Francois Caron]

Check the computer's BIOS. The floppy drive controller (FDC) may be turned off.

 

[Diallo B]

what happened???? francois' suggestion sounded good.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

If the new machine shipped without a floppy drive (as is common these days), the connection probably is disabled in the BIOS, just as Francois suggested. So tell us if his idea worked. The suspense is kiling us.

(But seriously, dude, you still have a use for a 5.25" drive? Got any 8-track tapes or BetaMax movies? )

Regards,

Joe

 

[Mike Fassler]

personally, I would just leave the floppy drive of the system,
theres nothing you can do with it that a cd-rom wont do for you nowadays. It is easy and fast to make bootable cd's.

 

[Paul Padilla]

Most newer motherboards only have support for one floppy drive. Enabling the FDD in the BIOS might get you the 3.5" but you might be out of luck.

 

[Jeff_CusBlues]

Sorry it took me so long to update you. Francois' suggestion was right on the money. The FDD controller was turned off in the BIOS. And Paul is correct. There is only support for one hard drive in the BIOS. Turning it on did not help. I guess if I really want a floppy drive, I will need to buy another one. I really don't need it, but I have been building my own computers for about 20 years and have always had a floppy drive. The combo drive I was trying to use is about 11 or 12 years old. I can be a pack rat sometimes and still have many floppys (3.5 & 5.25) laying around. Of course, I can't remember the last time I put one in the drive (or needed an 8-track or BetaMax). I'll probably just take it out of the system. Thanks for all your help