Member Avatar for socksareevil

I am trying to make a driver floppy for my Western digital 80 gig sata hd, I have found the files but when i try to put them on a disk it tells me its too big... i had a floppy already but the info got corrupted and as i did not make the first disk, I'm not quite sure how it works. i know that the files used to fit,can u tell me what specific files are needed?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by jbennet

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This note addresses 's "driver floppy too big" problem and gives a concrete, safe workflow for building a minimal Windows XP-era F6 (text‑mode) driver floppy so it will fit on a 1.44 MB disk.

Steps to build a minimal floppy

  • Extract the vendor driver package into a folder and locate the controller .inf that matches the motherboard/storage controller and the OS architecture (for XP 32‑bit that will usually be an i386 folder).
  • Open that .inf in Notepad and find the filenames under the sections like [SourceDisksFiles] and any CopyFiles/DriverFile references. Those are the only files the installer actually needs: the .inf itself plus the driver binary(s) (usually .sys) and any support files the .inf names.
  • Format a fresh 1.44 MB floppy (quick format), copy only the files listed above to the root of the disk, and test it in the target machine during setup (press F6 when prompted in Windows XP text‑mode install).

Troubleshooting if the files still do not fit

  • Make sure you picked the correct architecture directory (remove x64/ia64 folders and documentation). Vendor packages often include multiple architectures and extras that bloat size.
  • If the .inf references additional helpers (.dll, .bin), include them; otherwise omit nonreferenced files.
  • If the minimal set still exceeds 1.44 MB, change the SATA mode in BIOS to "IDE/Legacy/Compatibility" for the install session or use an alternative method to supply drivers (integrated install media or later-stage driver install) — changing BIOS mode is often the fastest workaround on older installs.

Notes and cautions

  • Match the driver to the exact controller and OS build; a wrong .inf will fail or hang setup.
  • This expands on the thread discussion by focusing on how to identify and extract just the files the text‑mode installer requires rather than copying an entire driver CD.

Recommended Answers

All 9 Replies

Member Avatar for bobbyraw

Did you get a CD with the Hard Drive, it should have a section to create floppy disk with the SATA drivers

Member Avatar for DimaYasny

the drivers are not for the hard drive, but for the sata controller on the motherboatd

Member Avatar for caperjack

the drivers are not for the hard drive, but for the sata controller on the motherboatd

and the file should be on the mother board disk

Member Avatar for caperjack

the drivers are not for the hard drive, but for the sata controller on the motherboatd

a quote from you first post

I am trying to make a driver floppy for my Western digital 80 gig sata hd

Member Avatar for DimaYasny

I was referring to this:

Did you get a CD with the Hard Drive, it should have a section to create floppy disk with the SATA drivers

Member Avatar for caperjack

I was referring to this:

yeah, and i thought you post was by the original poster ,i should read more carefully i guess .lol

Member Avatar for sonny12

can anyone help me in my new 250gb hdd seagate sata..it only detects 125gb due to bios limitation, i have a seatools to set it to its maximum capacity but dont know how to do..please help me

Member Avatar for hughv

can anyone help me in my new 250gb hdd seagate sata..it only detects 125gb due to bios limitation, i have a seatools to set it to its maximum capacity but dont know how to do..please help me

You should start a new thread.
When you do, tell us why you haven't updated the BIOS.

Member Avatar for jbennet

btw, you dont need a floppy always. sometimes you can slipstream the drivers using nlite

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