Can a 3 1/2" non-formatted disk be opened?

[sunnyone]

Greetings,

I copied some information to a 3 1/2" disk on one computer. I am now at another computer and am trying to open it. There is an error message that appears that the disk has not been formatted. I guess I did not format the disk before I copied the information over.

Is there a way for me to open this non-formatted disk? - I desperately need the files off of it. It appears that if I choose to 'format it now' I will loose all the information currently on the disk.

Regards,

sunnyone

[Rob Pomeroy]

You wouldn't have been able to copy anything to the disk if it hadn't already been formatted.  So something has gone wrong during or after the copying.  You either have a faulty floppy disk, or one of your drives is faulty.  It might be as simple as them needing a clean, but it has been along time since I've seen any floppy drive cleaners, with the format becoming more and more obsolete.  If you can get hold of some, try that first.

I presume you still have the original data somewhere?

[sunnyone]

Thank you. Not sure how long it's been since this floppy has been used...so I am guessing a cleaning is a good route. Yes, I have the original data, but it's on a computer 1/2 hr. drive from me.

Thank you so much for your response. I'll try a little cleaning and then get in the car and hope another copy of the data works on this dinosaur of a machine! Thanks again...what a great site.

[Rob Pomeroy]

No problem!  Incidentally, if I'm ever forced to use floppies to transport something, I always use three...  For all three to malfunction would be seriously bad luck, right?  

[jackpkmn]

True then I have really bad luck, well anyway your floppy is bad. I work with floppy disks all the time and encounter this problem with disks that have been excposed to high magnetic radiation for a long period of time. It reshapes and difforms the sectors of the disk makeing it possible for the computer to write on the disk but as soon as the head is removed the sectors return to thier deformed shape. This can be caused by an number of things includeing but not limeted to: Sitting out in the sun to long, siting ontop of or under a monitor, sitting next to an electric drier(guilty), being left near a TV or taken unprotected near a powerplant. Also something as simple as the transformer outside your house blows up will do it. WARNING! You canot simply format a disk on a mac then use it in a PC if this is the case I will provide a utility that will allow such a thing to happen.

[GX1_Man]

There also can be issues with a floppy formatted on a Winn98 machine not being readable onn XP machines, due to differences in the formatting processes in the OS. Is this the case with the floppy in question?

[sunnyone]

Thanks for the information everyone. It's PC to a PC. Need to check if the 'from' computer is XP or 98 - mine is XP - this could be the problem if it is 98.

Tomorrow I go to get the data and will try again. If I have no more trouble, I will know it was the disk. If I still have trouble, I'll be back online for help!

Regards,

sunnyone

[GX1_Man]

If so, take an XP formatted floppy and copy the data to it on the 98 machine. No problems going this way that I am aware of.