PC floppy disk errors

Detecting and repairing disk errors
The Error-checking tool can be used to check for file system errors and bad sectors on a floppy disk or on a hard disk.
Open My Computer, and then select the local disk you want to check.
On the File menu, click Properties.
On the Tools tab, under Error-checking, click Check Now.
Under Check disk options, select both Automatically fix file system errors and Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors.

When I examine the floppy disk I notice that used
space is zero and free space is zero. Is there an
explanation?

Thank you.

Hi
More than likely, you do not have any recoverable data on the disk, but you can try reading the disk on another PC first or run a disk editing utilty to verify this.
Several things can cause data to "vaporize" on a floppy diskette. The most common is a magnet near the disk. The electronic field generated by the monitor screen, TV screen, ect. can also cause data loss. A strong electrical charge, such as a near lightning strike, can also result in data loss on your floppy diskette. There are other possibilties, but these are the most common. An old floppy that has not been accessed in a long time can lose data also. Floppies need to be "refreshed", by accessing them, preferably writing to them, from time to time to retain their data.
I hope this helps.

Hi and I agree with both the above and add that you may have a noncompatable floppy [1.2 meg or .7 meg] floppy.
The other reason is the floppy is not formated.
I did not catch the OS but I first go to "System Tools" "Scan Disk" check A: drive with "Thorough" and "Fix All Errors" checked also.
Have fun and enjoy. fred

If you can see the file but cannot open it, the diskette is damaged.

If you see the file with zero bytes, your data is gone. You can't do anything about it. The cause can be a malicious virus, insufficient diskette space because the data is too big, you accidentally remove the diskette without completely saving it.

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