A: is not accessible

[cstitt]

Try DIR while it displays "A:\>"

I tried it on a formatted new disk and it didn't list anything.

[truenorth]

It occurs to me as a result of noting your post "subject"  " Re: A is not accessible" and now your statement that you have "never" used A drive on these computers that we need to revise the notion that it must be the floppies that are the problem. While i do accept the improbability that all 3 computers are subject to the same problem.That would represent a very big coincidence. However coincidences do occur and need to be addressed in order to eliminate them from the equation. Because of your subject title that term is usually the result of a problem with accessing the drive itself and can be caused by a variety of faults. So now to eliminate that possibility if we can i am going to direct you to  web sites detailing the manner in which to "install" a floppy drive. It cannot hurt anything and may result in your solving your problem. I shall give you a few so you can find the one that is easiest for you to follow;
1.http://compreviews.about.com/od/tutorials/ss/DIYFloppy_4.htm
2.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQoOKPA301Y
3.http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000414.htm
good luck and please keep us informed as to your results. truenorth

[BC_Programmer]

Also, some people have reported success by reinstalling their floppy driver:

Go to Start>Control Panel>System>Hardware>Device Manager>Floppy Disk Drives.. right click>update>install from specifice location>dont search I will choose driver to install>floppy drive> install. After reinstalling floppy drive driver do a full format of your floppy disk and then try copying and pasting some file on the floppy.. it worked for me!

Seems like it's caused by some sort of NT quirk, where it looks for a specific Media descriptor byte, which would basically say "this is a DOS disk" or "this is a mac Disk" (ok,so not really a NT quirk, since it <should> be there) but some manufacturers "preformatted" disks don't have one for whatever reason, so Windows barfs out an error message. Also it seems to cause various issues with formatting those disks as well. This is also why the command prompt has no problems (being able to dir the empty floppy without issues) because command prompt I believe circumvents the particular issue. On that note you might also try formatting the disk from command prompt; from the C: prompt (might not work if it's the active drive) try

Code: [Select]

Format A:

And follow the various prompts until it formats it (if it can), then see if you can access it via windows explorer.

No idea why resetting the drivers for the floppy would fix it, but apparently it works. By the same token I don't doubt replacing the drive might solve the issue. Even if it didn't at least you'd have a backup drive for the future and you would have eliminated that as the culprit.

[truenorth]

cstitt, Just to clarify my post #16. I do not intend at this juncture that you should obtain/purchase another floppy drive. i want you to do those things that are necessary (with the one that is already in the computer) to verify that ALL the components of an "install" as if new have been done completely and properly. For instance (but not exclusively) that your BIOS settings are correct. So by following the guide of the links provided you can check that they are all done properly. By the way in "Device manager" do you show any yellow asterisks beside your "floppy disk controllers"? truenorth

[cstitt]

cstitt, Just to clarify my post #16. I do not intend at this juncture that you should obtain/purchase another floppy drive. i want you to do those things that are necessary (with the one that is already in the computer) to verify that ALL the components of an "install" as if new have been done completely and properly. For instance (but not exclusively) that your BIOS settings are correct. So by following the guide of the links provided you can check that they are all done properly. By the way in "Device manager" do you show any yellow asterisks beside your "floppy disk controllers"? truenorth

The disks were faulty, I returned them to vendor for refund.  I borrowed a floppy disk from a friend and it worked ok. 
Problem solved.

I thank everyone for there for there posts and help.
THANK YOU   

[truenorth]

You are very welcome. Sometimes the problems ARE simple. truenorth