Error Messages While Backing Up to Some Floppy Disk Drives

ID: Q159153

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows 95
Microsoft Windows 95 OEM Service Release versions 1, 2, 2.1, 2.5

SYMPTOMS

When you are using Microsoft Backup to back up data to certain models of floppy disk drives, you may receive the following error messages:

Warning: Tape needs to be erased before operation can proceed.

Microsoft Backup unable to read from the disk or network drive. Quit and restart Backup, and then try again.

Warning: This operation has been canceled by the system.

CAUSE

Some models of floppy disk drives require specific timing and delays between disk operations to work properly. The timing implemented by the Windows 95 floppy disk driver is not sufficient for some of these drives.

RESOLUTION

A supported fix for Windows 95 and OEM Service Release 2 that corrects this problem is now available from Microsoft, but has not been fully regression tested and should be applied only to computers experiencing this specific problem. To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Technical Support to obtain the fix.

For a complete list of Microsoft Technical Support phone numbers and information on support costs, please go to the following address on the World Wide Web:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/default.asp

This fix for Windows 95 and OEM Service Release 1 should have the following file attributes (or later):


   File name     Version    Date      Time     Size
   ---------------------------------------------------------
   HSFLOP.PDR    4.00.1112  1/13/97   1:09pm   24,737 bytes
   IOS.VXD       4.00.1112  12/4/96   7:05pm   68,962 bytes
   INT13.VXD     4.00.1112  9/12/96   1:26pm   9,955 bytes
   VFBACKUP.VXD  4.00.1112  9/26/96   2:14pm   18,197 bytes
   CDFS.VXD      4.00.951   12/31/96  4:15pm   58,644 bytes
   DISKTSD.VXD   4.00.953   12/4/96   7:17pm   18,714 bytes

This fix for Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2, 2.1, and 2.5 should have the following file attributes (or later):


   File name     Version    Date      Time     Size
   ---------------------------------------------------------
   HSFLOP.PDR    4.00.1112  1/13/97   1:09pm   24,737 bytes
   IOS.VXD       4.00.1112  12/4/96   7:05pm   68,962 bytes
   INT13.VXD     4.00.1112  9/12/96   1:26pm   9,955 bytes
   VFBACKUP.VXD  4.00.1112  9/26/96   2:14pm   18,197 bytes
   CDFS.VXD      4.00.1112  12/31/96  4:12pm   59,153 bytes
   DISKTSD.VXD   4.00.1112  12/4/96   7:09pm   18,809 bytes

NOTE: If you contact Microsoft to obtain this fix, a fee may be charged. This fee is refundable if it is determined that you only require the fix you requested. However, this fee is non-refundable if you request additional technical support, if your no-charge technical support period has expired, or if you are not eligible for standard no-charge technical support.

For more information about eligibility for no-charge technical support, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q154871 Determining If Your Product Is Eligible for No-Charge Technical Support

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Windows 95 and OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2).

This issue is resolved in Microsoft Windows 98.

MORE INFORMATION

There are two separate timing issues known to relate to this symptom:

Some floppy disk drives require a specific minimum delay time after a Write operation, before a Step operation can occur.

Some floppy disk drives require a specific minimum head-settling time between a Seek and subsequent Write operation.

In each of these cases, the delay required by the drive is greater than the Windows 95 floppy disk driver implements.

For additional information about an issue related to this update, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q183720 MacDrive 95 and 98 Are Unable to Read Macintosh Formatted Disks

For additional information about Windows 95 updates, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q161020 Implementing Windows 95 Updates

Please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base concerning a problem that can occur if the update described in this article is installed:

Q197104 Error Message If Laptop Is Ejected While Copying to Floppy Disk

Keywords : kberrmsg kbhw kbpolicy osr1 osr2 win95
Version : WINDOWS:95
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb