Solution: The disks may be bad. Try them on another machine. If they work there, inspect your drive, otherwise the disks are bad and need to be replaced.
Solution: The drives read/write head may be dirty. This is especially true in dusty or smoky environments. A drive clean kit can be purchased at most computer stores to fix this problem.
Problem: You get a "General failure..." or "Invalid media..." message when you try to access or format a disk.
Solution: These usually occur when the disk is the wrong density for the drive or command. Example, a high density disk in a double density drive.
Problem: Installing software keeps asking for the same disk and several disks read as identical disks when they're really different.
Solution: Disk caching software may be caching the directory of the disk improperly. You can solve this by disabling the caching software.
Solution: The cables inside which connect the floppy drive to the disk controller may not be seated properly. Make sure they're pressed on all the way.
Problem: Other people can't read disks you've made and you have problems with disks at different times.
Solution: The drives read/write head may be out of alignment. This controls where the information is written on the tracks. A technician will need to adjust this.
Problem: The drive does not respond.
Solution: It is possible your CMOS settings have been lost and the drive is not properly identified to the computer. You will need to access your CMOS setup program to correct this problem. Refer to your computer's user manual for information.
