Member Avatar for gringo

machine: hp ze5375us laptop 2.4/40ghd cd rw/dvdr 3 1/2 floppy
OS: win xp home sp1 and latest updates downloaded

Problem: floppy drive stopped reading disks. says disk needs to be formatted and then that disk cannot be formatted.

at command prompt says can't read 0 track or invalid media.

worked fine July 23rd or so. stopped later possibly after installing a usb to serial port converter on com 6.

have tried uninstalling drivers and on restart computer says hardware installed and working fine.

boot log shows that one of the drivers doesn't load.

tried resetting bios to default.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

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Dani AI

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A concise, practical checklist to isolate software vs hardware causes, expand on ’s “reseating” suggestion, and clarify when to follow ’s warranty advice.

  • Non‑invasive checks first: verify the BIOS sees the drive (enable/auto), try two different known‑good disks (different labels and ages), and test with a bootable floppy if available. If the BIOS does not detect the drive, the problem is almost certainly hardware.
  • Device Manager and logs: run devmgmt.msc, look under Floppy disk drives and Floppy disk controller for errors, uninstall the controller and reboot to force reinstall, and scan the Event Viewer for disk/controller errors to see if Windows is failing to load the driver.
  • If a recent peripheral driver was added around the time the failure began, temporarily remove that device/driver or use System Restore to a point before the install to rule out a software/resource conflict.
  • What “reseating” means (per ): power down, remove power/battery, open the panel, unplug the drive connector and plug it back in, then reassemble. This can fix a loose ribbon or connector. Do not open the case if the laptop is under warranty.
  • Cleaning and media notes: try a cleaning disk or gently blow out dust (use short bursts of canned air) and try disks of the correct density (1.44MB vs 720KB). Old media often fail before the drive does.
  • If internal hardware is suspected and the unit is under warranty, follow ’s advice and use HP service. If warranty is not an issue, an inexpensive external USB floppy is a quick workaround and a useful test to confirm internal drive failure.

These steps prioritize isolating the fault with minimal risk.

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Member Avatar for alc6379

hrm... is this laptop drive removable?

I'd try reseating it. If reseating it doesn't help, your drive is most likely bad.

Can you boot a DOS disk with it?

Member Avatar for gringo

I'm afraid I don't know what reseating is. It is built into a laptop under warranty so unlike a tower I can't just pop in and reconnect it.

I'm not sure it will boot from this because I don't actually remember and I'm currently using the computer, but I have the updated bios and I believe I tried to boot from that and it wouldn't read it.

If it's any help, the floppy I think died after I tried to hook up a IOGear USB to Serial connector to serial connect to a new computer and run "files and settings transfer wizard." The transfer never worked as the computers would not connect.

Thanks for giving this stupid little problem some thought. I don't often need the floppy and could get a usb external, but it just seems like this should be resolvable. Thanks again

Member Avatar for Puckdropper

If it's still under warranty, let HP handle it. I don't mean to drive you away from us, but they could be more helpful, especially if a return/exchange is needed.

Member Avatar for gringo

thanks. I think you're right. Close the thread.

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