Cannot Access Floppy Drive When Backup Program Is Running

 Last reviewed: May 8, 1996
Article ID: Q139474
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows 95

SUMMARY

When you are running Microsoft Backup (or another 32-bit Windows-based backup program) you may receive the following error message if you try to access a floppy disk drive from My Computer or Windows Explorer: 

   <drive>:\ is not accessible
You may also receive the following error message: 

   device is not ready
These error messages can occur even if there is a formatted disk in the drive.

In addition, if you are performing a backup, restore, or compare operation, the operation may be canceled if you try to access the floppy disk drive from a command prompt.

MORE INFORMATION

This behavior occurs when you have a tape drive connected to the same floppy disk drive controller as the floppy disk drive you are trying to access.

When a 32-bit Windows-based program is accessing one of the drives connected to the floppy disk drive controller, all other drives on the controller are unavailable. When you attempt to access a floppy disk drive from a command prompt, any active backup, restore, or compare operation is canceled because Windows 95 cannot prevent floppy disk drive access from occurring when the drive is accessed from a command prompt.

KBCategory: kbtool kberrmsg
KBSubcategory: win95 mwbackup
Additional reference words: 95

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Last reviewed: May 8, 1996
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