floppy drive does not detect disks

[tmm5899]

my floppy drive was working and all i did was install word 2003 and now the floppy drive does not detect my disks nor does it format them the operating system is windows xp pro. when i look in my computer it shows that it is there and when i look at device manager it says it is working. why does it not detect i have a floppy disk in it and why does it say it is working when it does not work i can not save anything on a floppy now that it does not work can some one tell me what to do to check to make sure that it truly is working i have tried several floppy disks and still nothing even brand new floppy disks

[Hunter484]

I had a floppy drive a few years ago, and it stopped working too.  I assumed the drive broke.

Maybe that's the problem? 

[truenorth]

tmm5899,From long ago and far away (AKA when i used to use floppies a lot). I had this problem. It turned out to be a change in the BIOS that stated something to the effect"this device is permanently disabled".Scary huh! However turns out it wasn't and could be unpermentantly disabled. Wish i could tell you how i did it. Can only say it can be done.Others may come along to tell you how to do it. I feel quite confident that is what has happened to you. goodluck,truenorth