Re: Floppy Discs Being Destroyed?
- From: ak621@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Richard Bonner)
- Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2006 00:28:30 +0000 (UTC)
Straydog wrote:
> On Thu, 19 Jan 2006, Richard Bonner wrote:
> > ...I encountered a problem with a computer at work. It runs
> > MS-DOS 6.2 .
> >
> > I tried to copy files to various 3.5 floppy discs but kept getting
> > errors. The discs would not read and would not allow reformating. I kept
> > getting "Invalid Media or Track `0' Bad" messages.
> > My DR-DOS laptop could not read the discs either, but it could reformat
> > them. I can take the reformatted discs and copy files to & from them via
> > DR-DOS but if I "FORMAT /Q", I get
> Can you make a DR-DOS boot disk with DR-DOS's format, chkdsk, command.com
> and use it to boot the box at work and see if there may be corrrupted code
> on the work OS's format, etc., functions?
*** I could, but it would not function because the work `FORMAT' command
is MS-DOS, not DR-DOS. I could simply restore FORMAT.com from the original
discs, but as you probably already know from reading this thread, I
solved the problem by replacing the drive. Work's FORMAT is running fine.
> If you have a disk editor (eg. Norton's for DOS, or Xtree for either DOS
> or Win3.1), can you read and compare the bit pattern over some part of the
> beginning of the first track?
*** I have Norton and PC Tools disc editors and tried Norton's. It could
not read the disc.
> I recall reading about some weird virus that re-writes the media
> descriptor so it looks like something that can't be written to and it
> drives people nuts. And, the virus can't be found with the usual AV
> packages. Just a thought.
*** I appreciate those thoughts. I did try a virus scanner, but the
likelyhood of my system contracting a virus is low because I use a shell
server. Regardless, I did download the latest signatures files (only three
days old at the time) and no virus was found.
> Keep us informed about what you find.
*** it turned out to be a faulty floppy drive.
> Another possible option: make a
> linux-on-a-floppy boot disk (I think www.tomsrtbt.com, or something like
> that) and run the linux fdisk which is much more powerful on the formated
> 3.5 disks and see if the linux fdisk can recognize the DOS
> partition/format (it should, and should report it to you).
*** I have Gnoppix on a bootable CD-ROM and could have implemented that.
Does Linux' FDISK work on floppy drives? The DOS FDISK programs only work
on hard drives.
Richard Bonner
http://www.chebucto.ca/~ak621/DOS/
.
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- From: Richard Bonner
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