USB Floppy Drive driver error

[Ben4Surf]

Has anyone else had trouble using a USB floppy drive in win7? The drive does not appear in My Computer, I have tried troubleshooting the device, uninstalling it and re-installing it and trying to install other drivers to resolve the issue (windows will not accept others as it already has the best driver apparently...). I'm at a loss now I have even tried using drivermax to correct the problem but even that does not recognise the device.

To ensure it wasn't an issue with the Floppy drive itself I have even tried using another, with the same result.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[maccamac]

Hi not sure if this is related at all but i am having similar issues with a USB memory stick, I have tried the same stick on 4 desktops and 2 laptops and only those running windows 7 do not recognise the drive. Nothing in my computer and nothing in disk management. Could this be some kind of USB security in place, but all other devices has cause no problems.

 

[Ben4Surf]

Not sure if they are related either to be honest but the Drivers sfloppy.sys and USBSTOR are installed in the directory ok, so I can only assume that there is an issue with the new WIN7 .sys files. I'm not sure either whether there are any other USB related files required to make the device operate correctly that may also be at fault. All I know is that I get error 10 "device unable to start". However if I restart the computer with a floppy in the drive it does recognise it and says it's a non system disk.
I was hoping that someone may have found a solution to the problem but I'm aware that there are few people using USB floppy drives now. My only reason for using one is because I use a DOS program that looks only for Drive A to load new files to it. Good luck with your USB pen hopefully if they are related one of us may find the solution!

 

[beavis71cox]

Me Too

I am also having the same problem. When i first received the Beta, i did a Clean install, and everything worked fine. I plugged in a USB Floppy, and it seemed to install, but then it says "Failed". I went to Device Manager, and there was the Floppy, but it had a "Code 10". So i tried to install the driver that came with it, but the system said the driver i had was "good enough" and wouldn't install another diver. So I tried a totally different Floppy drive and got the same thing. So i uninstalled Windows 7 and did a new clean install of Vista. I made sure BOTH floppies worked, then i tried an UPGRADE. Again, both floppies do not work. The system recognizes them, but they have a code 10, and will not let me install a different driver.

Just a note, I'm a PC technician, and I use the floppy drive everyday for IBM and DELL computers. IBM for updating BIOS's on older systems that don't have CD-ROM's, and DELL servers without CD-ROM's. Some of us are still required to use them in our work, and I LOVE the new Windows 7, but this has been the only problem.

 

[Ben4Surf]

No Way Out

Hi thanks for your reply, I have found out more about this now. I also deal with software and I have found out that this is an issue with the default drivers for usb devices. Because win7 is a new platform it is not supported by many manufacturers yet and is unlikely to be supported for outdated devices such as floppy disc drives. You will not find a driver that work at the manufacturers site and we will depend on the devices compatability with win7 in the future. Rolling back the drivers or using XP/vista drivers will not work either.
Unfortunately I doubt if this is a serious issue for the developers of the win7 platform, but I am hopeful that this may be addressed in the future before it's official release.
I also had trouble running MSDOS programs and despite wanting to be part of the test of this platform unfortunately I have had to go back to the useless vista, which I can at least operate the programs and hardware I need to function on a work basis.
If these "minor" issues are ironed out I will definitely be swithing to the new platform, as I was very happy with it's speed and ease of use. Although I'm sure that if, at a later date, a service pack is required these will be impaired.

By the way it took me over 8 hours to reinstall the appalling vista and updates, I could have chewed my toes off......

 

[williamjcollins]

i also use to use the floppy drive with my Sony mavica Camara to upload pics to ebay ..Now the floppy is useless in Seven .. Also My HP Touchsmart is not working ..Was one of the reasons I bought this New HP iq504.. Vista seemed Ok .. but stupid me wanting the latest OS DL ed Seven ... Now I would like to uninstall it and go back to Vista.. at least till it's finally all together.. So HOW DO I UNINSTALL SEVEN

 

[beavis71cox]

Thanks

That's exactly what I was thinking. Thanks for the reply and finding that out. Also, i might note that it first installs the generic driver with no problems, it gives a green checkmark, then 2 seconds later after installing the generic driver, it goes to load the device specific driver and this is the one that fails. Whether it was the Sony or the Y-E-Data drive, it didn't matter, i got the same failure. First driver, okay, second driver fails.
Well, it depends on how you installed Windows 7. I always just reformat. The only files you really need are in the User folder, and any extra folders you have on the drive. I also re-installed Vista, just by putting in the Vista disk, and re-installing without formatting. The Vista installation sees the Windows 7 installation as an "old windows" installation, and puts all the files in a Windows.old folder and doesn't erase them.
I'm sure they'll work the bugs out. At least they better, because Windows 7 looks extremely promising so far. Very fast and easy. I'm loving it. Good luck.

 

[justme]

I know how to make the floppy to work but you will do it at your own risk . I said "own risk" because i saw that on other windows 7 after restart the windows will crash . I have a multiboot system and i copied this file from Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 :

/Windows/System32/Drivers/sfloppy.sys
to the same path in Windows 7 and now i can see the floppy drive .

My problem is that i have a USB stick with a virtual Floppy Drive for a Password Security Program and now the program is not working because of this error :

Please insert the device or run this utility as privileged user .

This is an error from the program because floppy drive is working 100% .

Cya

PS : Sorry for my english but i`m from Romania .

 

[jgapa]

justme - your English is fine. Thanks for the tip... I just wished I had nerve enough to try it. I think that you have the solution, but the "own risk" and crash thing kind'a scares me.

 

[justme]

@jgapa

You will not loose your data(I think ) . On my laptop I had no problem but a friend of mine made the same thing and after restart there was a blue screen error at the loading screen. I turned off his computer and on again and I got the Repair Tools menu from Win 7 and I must say that they are perfect . You can choose to make a startup repair and the system will be operational after the next restart but without floppy drive .

Now I`m not sure that anyone can use the repair tools from win7 after that blue screen error that is why I said "own risk" . Win7 is beta and this is why we have to test it to see whats bad and good . My opinion is that Win7 will be the perfect Windows . Even if I get errors I still use it . I didn`t used Vista for about 2 weeks .

Cya

 

[Ben4Surf]

Hi Justme, thanks for your reply (and your excellent english too), I previously tried your solution to the floppy error before re-installing vista but it did not work for me, there is no danger of a system crash for those of you who are worried. I'm now doubting myself, because if it has worked for you then I may have not done this correctly. I'm now wondering whether to try this again. For those fo you who are going to try it I would just re-locate the win7 driver sfloppy to your documents folder and replace it with the vista sfloppy file. If anyone else has success then I will be very grateful if they could post a reply to confirm this. I will probably try it at the weekend myself anyway. I hope I got it wrong, because if this is all that is needed to recify the problem, then it is a very simple solution. Happy days

 

[justme]

It is a little tricky . I got a small program that i found on google in order to take ownership because with 1 click you will be the owner of a specific file or folder . I used that program because i saw that when i replaced sfloppy file , win7 replaced with his original one again . So i took ownership of entire folder /Drivers/ and denied all SYSTEM permissions. Then i replaced the sfloppy file with vista version and did the same thing : took ownership and denied SYSTEM permissions on sfloppy file . Next thing you have to uninstal your Floppy Drive from Device Manager and connect your Floppy Drive Again .

This is all i did to make it work .

Cya

 

[Ben4Surf]

Hi justme, I did a reinstall today after copying the sfloppy.sys file to a USB stick. Like you have described I took ownership of the file although I used dos commands "takeown" and "iclcs" to do it, I will post another reply when I have time but if you google how to take ownership you'll find out how to do it. I then deleted the file sfloppy.sys and copied the one I had saved from Vista. Low and behold it worked!! I actually took ownership of the whold drivers folder but found that the system was then unable to install other requierd drivers for other devices, so I re-did it again just taking control of the sfloppy.sys file. Thanks for your advice, I must have gotten it wrong first time and I'm glad I re-tried it again. Hopefully the other people having the same problem will be able to do the same. If anyone needs further info then I will provide it tomorrow hopefully. Cheers, Ben

 

[justme]

Happy to hear that . I discovered this by mistake . Was looking at the floppy drivers in Device Manager and i was thinking at Vista

Cya

 

[Jumme]

Yeah, worked for me.

Just zipped out the sfloppy.sys file from Vista cd, using 7zip.

Thanks u guys, that REALLY bothered me. Hopefully MS will fix the bug.

 

[grimmster]

Old post I know, but I have also just run into this. Needed to get some info from a floppy so hooked up my USB floppy and drive and no go. I am using RC1, anyone now on RTM and having the same issue?

 

[Jumme]

Just follow the steps above and you'll be fine.

 

[TOF]

I solved my issue by going to "Computer Management / Disk Management". The USB drive was there, but no drive letter was assigned to it. Once I assigned a letter, the problem was resolved.

 

[grimmster]

hmmm, so today I go to do one of the solutions. I plug it in and it's recognized and working just fine now. No idea what changed from then to now.

Thanks for all the suggestions

 

[Bob3677]

More Device Issues with Win7 64-Bit

Like other posts, not sure if this helps but wanted to offer that I am also having driver issues with my Win7 64-Bit machine.

These are my current device issues:
1) My old external Mitsumi Floppy Drive is NOT recognized by Win7 64-Bit OS, however, same device works with my Vista 64-bit machine; and

2) My new SanDisk 8GB flash drive (SDCZ36.008) is not recognized by Win7 64-Bit machine; however, same device works with my Vista 64-Bit machine.
I tried to download updated drivers from SanDisk website but site doesn't show Win7 as an OS option.

BTW, both of my machines/OS's are updated daily with Microsoft updates.


My humble opinion is, Win7 64-Bit is generally much better than all its predecessors and I will continue to be patient with Microsoft while I HOPE it is working the little/side issues.