MacDrive 98 Cannot Read Macintosh-Formatted Floppy Disk

ID: Q242463

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows 98

NOTE: The information in this article applies to the Japanese version(s) of Windows 98.

SYMPTOMS

When you are using MacDrive to read a Macintosh-formatted floppy disk, the following error message may appear:

The disk in drive drive letter is not formatted. Do you wish to format it right now?

CAUSE

The floppy disk driver for Japanese 3Mode/AT drives and NEC98 computers are unable to read floppy disks without a valid media byte.

RESOLUTION

A supported fix that corrects this problem is now available from Microsoft, but it has not been fully regression tested and should be applied only to systems experiencing this specific problem. If you are not severely affected by this specific problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Microsoft Windows 98 service pack that contains this fix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information on support costs, please go to the following address on the World Wide Web:

http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/overview/overview.asp

This fix should have the following file attributes or later:


   Date      Time    Version      Size    File name     Platform
   ----------------------------------------------------------------
   7/23/99    1:41p   4.10.2000   25,883  Hsflop.pdr   Japanese/NEC
   2/24/99    9:37p   4.10.1999   27,301  Hsflop.pdr   Japanese

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

When a floppy disk is formatted with the FAT file system, a media byte is written to the floppy disk. This media byte indicates to the floppy disk driver the drive geometry (the number of heads and number of cylinders). Floppy disks formatted for Macintosh do not have the media byte.

Additional query words:

Keywords : win98
Version : WINDOWS:
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb