Slot Floppies Definition
If you are experiencing issues with the floppy drive in your computer, review the troubleshooting options below to try and resolve the problem.
NoteThe troubleshooting options and details below are for floppy disk drive issues and not for issues about not being able to read one or two floppy disks. For floppy read errors see: Why can't my computer read a floppy diskette?
A floppy disk or floppy diskette (sometimes casually referred to as a floppy or diskette) is a type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined with a fabric that removes dust particles from the spinning disk. In the late 70’s, the capacity of the typical 5.25-inch floppy disk was a mere 110 KB. These disks were common for the early word processing machines and early CP/M computers.
Slot Floppies Definition Meaning
Slot Floppies like a pro. FAL not included!!!! The Bella+Canvas 3001 t-shirt feels soft and light, with just the right amount of stretch. It's comfortable and the unisex cut is flattering for both men and women. A flexible plastic disk coated with magnetic oxide and used for data entry to a computer; a slot in its protective envelope or housing, which remains stationary while the disk rotates, exposes the track positions for the magnetic read/write head of the drive unit. Also known as diskette.
Bad floppy diskette
Verify the floppy diskette you are attempting to read from is not write protected or bad. Verify the diskette is not write protected by sliding the tab into the opposite position, preventing light from shining through it. If you do not have a tab, place tape over this hole.
Because of the technology of floppy diskette drives, the floppy diskettes ist most likely bad. Verify that other floppy diskettes are not exhibiting the same issue.
If other floppies work, you may have a bad floppy diskette.
Not setup in BIOS
Verify the floppy drive is properly configured in BIOS setup. If the floppy drive is not set up properly, you may experience read/write errors or the floppy may not work at all. Most computers need to have the floppy setup as a 3.5, 1.44 MB.
Eliminating possible conflicts with other hardware
If you have recently installed any new hardware, disconnect it temporarily to ensure that it's not causing the floppy drive not to work.
Not connected properly
- Power down, unplug, and open the computer, being aware of ESD and its potential dangers.
- Verify the floppy connection is connected to the motherboard FDD connector. If it is connected, disconnect and reconnect the cable to verify the cable is seated properly.
- Verify the floppy cable coming from the motherboard is connected to the back of the floppy drive. If connected, disconnect and reconnect the floppy drive cable to verify it is seated properly.
- Verify a power cable is connected to the back of the floppy drive.
- If your floppy cable has more than one connection, verify it's connected to the appropriate connection. The above picture illustrates where each drive is connected.
Bad drivers
If you are not able to read or write to a floppy diskette from Windows, verify the computer is not exhibiting floppy driver issues by testing the floppy drive from MS-DOS.
If you are running Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000, or Windows 2000, click Start, Shutdown, and Restart the computer to an MS-DOS prompt.
If you are running Windows 3.x, click File and select Exit Windows to get to an MS-DOS prompt.
Once at the prompt, place a diskette into the floppy disk drive and type format a:.
If you receive any of the following errors when trying to format the floppy disk:
Invalid media or Track 0 Bad - Try formatting another floppy disk.
Write Protect Error - Ensure the disk is not write protected by removing the floppy disk and verifying you cannot see through both holes. If you can see light, move the tab on the left side (when looking from the back) to the down position and try again. If the disk is not write protected, try another floppy disk.
Invalid drive specification - Verify the floppy drive is configured properly in BIOS setup.
If the floppy disk drive formats properly in MS-DOS but does not format in Windows, Windows or a program within Windows is preventing the floppy drive from working. End task all running TSRs and background programs. If you continue to experience the same issues, we recommend Windows be reinstalled.
Bad hardware
If you continue to experience issues after following the above steps, hardware in the computer is bad. Replace the following hardware in the computer in the below order.
- Replace the floppy data cable that connects the computer floppy drive to the motherboard.
- Replace the floppy drive if the floppy data cable did not resolve your issues.
- Replace or request that the motherboard be replaced.
Additional information
- See our floppy disk and floppy drive definitions for further information on each of these terms.
Alternatively referred to as a floppy or floppy disk, a floppy diskette is a type of storage media capable of storing electronic data, like a computer file. The floppy diskette was first created in 1967 by IBM as an alternative to buying hard drives, which were extremely expensive at the time.
The picture shown on this page is an example of a 3.5' floppy diskette, one of the most commonly used floppy diskettes, capable of storing 1.44 MB of data. To read and write to this diskette it would be inserted into a floppy drive.
How were floppy disks used?
Early computers did not have CD-ROM drives or USB, and floppy disks were the only way to install a new program onto a computer or backup your information. If the program was small (less than 1.44 MB for the 3.5' floppy disk), the program could be installed from one floppy disk. However, since most programs were larger than 1.44 MB, most programs required multiple floppy diskettes. For example, the diskette version of Windows 95 came on 13 DMF diskettes and had to be installed one disk at a time.
Floppy disks were also a common place for users to store and backup their files. For example, a word processing file could be copied to a floppy disk and opened on another computer or stored as a backup.
Are floppy diskettes still used today?
There are still a few diehards who are still using floppy diskettes, some governments still even use 8' floppy diskettes. However, since the early 2000s, computers began no longer shipping with floppy disk drives as users moved to CD-R and Zip drives to store their information. All the latest versions of Microsoft Windows also no longer have support for internal floppy drives since no new computers come with floppy drives.
TipIf you have a new computer and want to read old floppy diskettes, purchase a USB floppy drive that works with all the latest computers.
How does a floppy disk store data?
A floppy disk is a magnetic media and stores and reads data on the floppy disk using a read head. When a 3.5' floppy diskette is inserted into the drive, the metal slide door is opened and exposes the magnetic disk in the floppy diskette. The read/write head uses a magnetic polarity of 0 or 1. Reading this as binary data, the computer can understand what the data is on the platter. For the computer to write information to the platter, the read/write head aligns the magnetic polarities, writing 0's and 1's that can be read later.
The history of the floppy disk and drive
Below is a brief history of each of the three major floppy diskettes.
8' floppy disk
The first disk was introduced in 1971. The disk was 8' in diameter with a magnetic coating, enclosed in a cardboard case with the capacity of one megabyte. Conversely to hard drives, the heads touched the disk, like in a cassette or video player that wears the media down over time.
5.25' floppy disk
The 5.25' floppy diskette first started development in 1976 and later became a standard in 1978, these disks were first released with only 160 KB of disk space. These diskettes were commonly used in the 1980s and stopped being used in the early 1990s. See our 5.25' floppy diskette definition for further information, pictures, and related links.
3.5' floppy disk
The 3.5' floppy was created by IBM in 1984 and were first introduced with a total capacity of 720 KB. The 1.44 MB floppy diskettes were used widely in the 1990s and were seldom found or used by 2000. See our 3.5' floppy diskette definition for further information, pictures, and related links.
Slot Floppies Definition Dictionary
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