bogus win 2k error

If the floppy works when booted to safe mode, but not when booted normally.... then some other device or driver is interferring with it. Try removing the floppy drive from device manager and rebooting and see if windows detects and reinstalls thedrivers. test.

If still a problem, then go down to minimum hardware. Remove network adaptor, modem or any daughterboards (except video)... boot to normal mode and see if the floppy drive works with that floppy. If yes, then reinstall one device and then test the floppy. Keep doing this until everything is installed and you should be able to see which device is causing the problem.

If minimal configuration does not solve the problem... the

I hate to tell you this, but this problem, in its various forms, goes back all the way to Win95.
The problem lies in a bug in the way drives are assigned in Windows. This problem is not common anymore, but it still happens.
The usual solution is to tell the OS that the "Last Drive" is at least two more than are actually installed .
You may have to temporarily disconnect the other IDE devices above C: to get the OS to realise that A: is a floppy drive. (The OS is so confused that it thinks A:is a HD, thus the format message.)
This error will not show in the device manager.
A Lovely Bug!
Regards, Chris

If it is a blank disk it may not be formatted. Try formatting the disk in Win 2000. If it has data written to it try removing the floppy disk using device manager and restarting the PC. Window should recognize the device and reinstall it.

I ran into this problem myself with one of my users' computers. I did all the things suggested by the other answers and tried several different disks. The solution to the problem was actually a simple one (although obviously the one that nobody wants to hear), which is I replaced the floppy drive and all problems disappeared. I'd say that in your case this might be the answer. You can get a floppy drive for around $20 or less these days and if you can install it yourself then it's a relatively cheap fix to an aggrivating situation. I may be wrong and there could be a "software" solution to this problem, but in the end if none of the obvious things work then what is the most cost effective? I hope this helps.

This is an OS problem.
It does not matter if the PC is a desktop or a laptop.
Disabling does not do it.
The devices must be physically disconnected.
At this point the simplest solution is to reload Windows.
If the OS (Windows) sees the floppy in safe mode, there is about a 90% chance the floppy drive is good, so reload the OS.
That is also the cheapest test.
Regards, Chris

I found the answer!!!! IBM has a server/client software by the name of IBM Director. This software enbales me to manage my workstations from a central location. Kinda of like a pumped up PCAnywhere. When the agent was installed, the floppy error occurred! After uninstallation the floppy worked fine! I have never personally seen a application cause a device conflict (per say).
Go figure.

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