Bad Floppy Drive???

the scanning the floppy probably comes from your virus software. Check it for a setting that controlls a periodic scanning of the a: drive

I had a similar problem with my computer, here's what Compaq told me to do, I hope this helps...

If the Floppy drive is checked by the system every time you launch an
application, it could be caused by a shortcut to the floppy drive or an
application in the memory. The following are possible solutions to this
problem:

Clear the Documents menu
========================

You can do this by deleting the shortcuts present in the
C:\WINDOWS\Recent directory.

Clear unwanted entries from the Start Menu's Run Command using the
following steps:

1. Click Start and select Run.
2. Type regedit and click OK.
3. Locate

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Run
MRU.

4. Delete all the values in this key, except "(Default)."

5. Close the registry editor and restart your computer.

* Check for any viruses on your system

* Search your hard disk for all .PIF that point to programs on a floppy
drive.

* Take out LocalLoadHigh=1 from your MSDOS.SYS file. Your MSDOS.SYS file
is located in the "C:\" directory.

* Check HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID in the Registry for any references to
OCX's or DLL's referenced on the floppy.

* If you are using Norton Navigator '95, Clear Norton Navigator's Run
history (or disable the Run history all together).

Download the updates from the following website:

http://www.symantec.com

* If you notice this behavior with a particular application, you must
clear the History List for that application.

Here are lists of other applications that may cause this problem:

1. Microsoft Office 97: - Disable the Autosave feature of Microsoft Word
and other applications in the package (such as Find Fast).

2. McAfee Antivirus 95: - Disable the Access & Shutdown options in the
"Scan Floppies On" area in the Detection tab of the VShield
Configuration Manager.

Check to see if findfast is running in the background. This is installed with Office 97 and Office 2000 by default. It is uneeded and can cause your floppy drive to be accessed periodically like you have described. Go to your control panel and double click on the findfast icon and choose to disable it. Hope this helps.

I agree to Answer#2 There is a program that is running in your system and trying to access the floppy for some process or it may be a program that is load at the start up and the program location or target is A: ....it is possible....
Other thing is may me there is a some shortcut where your target is your floppy, so removed the suspected shortcut...
Also try to check the Task scheduler it is possible to load a program or execute a shortcut that the target is your floppy. Or The task scheduler is executing a program from floopy drive.

SYRUPHIN?

If there is an application icon directly on the desktop, and if that application accessed the floppy when last used, the floppy drive may seek whenever Windows refreshes the desktop. And Windows refreshes the desktop a lot. I have seen this in particular with older versions of WordPerfect.

I think you need to swap your floopy disk. and decide if your floppy disk is in good condition. I think it is a malfunctioning floppy disk.

So if not and you want to get rid of it...Make a fresh install..that's a good one...