XP can not see floppy drive

[dbMark]

This thread seems to be exactly the problem I have but no one had an answer then:
thread779-867995 - XP can not see floppy drive

(Towards the end I discover I have bootup failures, but here's what I wrote at first.)

I have a Dell XP Pro, just replaced the hard drive with new 160 GB drive. After the format and install, Windows cannot see the A: drive at all. Yet I know the drive works, as I can put in a WinMe boot disk and it boots from the floppy drive just fine. But when I start Windows, the A: drive isn't listed in Windows Explorer. From the command prompt if I try to run DIR A: I get the message "The system cannot find the path specified". Yet the WinMe boot disk is there! I even replaced the floppy drive and its cable and still no difference.

I checked Device Manager and the standard floppy drive controller is installed from C:\Windows\System32\Drivrs\FDC.SYS. I uninstalled it and rebooted, still no a: drive.

Looks like I have some sort of BIOS problems? So I upgraded the Intel BIOS from A01 to A03, no improvement. I see I get these two errors even though the drive can be read for DOS-type starts:

PXE-E23 BIS Initiialization failed
PXE-E61 Media test failure - check cable

This was a computer in use, not sure if prior user ever had a problem accessing A: but I didn't know of any problems until I got the bright idea to put in a larger drive...

Is this a bad mainboard?

dbMark

 

[karlisi]

BIOS is OK since you can boot from floppy.
Have you installed Chipset drivers from Dell? Perhaps try to reinstall them.

===
Karlis
ECDL; MCSA

 

[linney]

You could perhaps see if it visible via the Recovery Console.

HOW TO: Install and Use the Recovery Console for Windows XP (Q307654)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q307/6/54.asp

HOW TO: Add More Power to Recovery Console By Using Group Policy in Windows XP Professional

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310497

Have you tried stopping your virus scanner from checking floppy on access and shut down. Depends on virus scanner how this is achieved. Usually by unchecking a box in System Scan settings etc.

Does the floppy drive light illuminate?

 

[cupid11213]

i have had a similar problem not too long ago with the dvd burner i have, i reinstalled windows xp and it solved al my problems.

Good luck!




Luis.

Some people make things happen, some people watch things happen, while others wonder what happened.

 

[dbMark]

Now it says boot failure and prompts me to go into the System Bios Setup. No more Windows. I even put the old hard drive and and the same thing happened. Either I caught it in the process of dying or maybe the Flash went bad within hours. It did say it copied in the new BIOS 100% okay. Old was A01, new was A03, Dell 4500S with Intel 845 chipset.

It's not worth more hassle-time. I'll save the drive for another computer.

 

[linney]

One last thing you could try before you look at any motherboard replacement would be to set the Bios to its Safe Default settings?

 

[dbMark]

Dell mainboards don't have an option to reset to defaults, so I removed the board's battery for a while, effectively resetting it. But I still get PXE errors. Time for another board, but I can just imagine what Dell would charge. (Their Dell version of XP I am sure will not work on a non-Dell mainboard. That's a bummer!)

 

[captaincrunch00]

Dell boards always have a jumper to reset the board to BIOS defaults.

Go look up your computer type on their site, they should have a picture or 10 explaining it. On the newer PCs it's usually a green jumper that is on 2 out of 3 pins and it says "BIOS" right next to it.

 

[dbMark]

Fixed. How? This is one of those slim-line cases so it has a card tree for all the expansion cards. It's a small tree, so it allows only 2 cards! Turns out it wasn't seated all the way, a small unseen cable had gotten in the way when I pulled it out to change NICs. Who would have thought that would mess up the A: drive!