Blinking LED and Floppy Controller Failure

[Feng]

I am facing problems with a floppy drive. While starting the computer I am getting the message of "Error reading drive A:" also the LED keeps on blinking. Also the state of the floppy drive in Device Manager as shown in MS-DOS compatibility. I have tried many ways to solve that but nothing is helping.!! So thought that you guys would help me.

[Adripathi]

Start Windows in Safe Mode and try to access the floppy drive. To start Windows in Safe Mode, restart your computer, press F8 when you see the "Starting Windows" and choose Safe Mode from the Startup menu. Do not use a disk utility that is not compatible with Windows ready for DMF disks. These utilities can damage DMF disks. The Windows ScanDisk tool recognizes and does not damage DMF disks.

[Donald]

If you can access the floppy drive, follow these steps :

• Use the secondary mouse button (mouse) to click on My Computer, and then click Properties on the menu that appears.
• Click the Device Manager tab.
• Double-click Floppy Disk Controllers.
• Click the floppy disk controller for the drive you are having problems, and then click Properties.
• In Windows XP, click the check box Disable in this hardware profile check box. This will disable the protected mode driver controller Windows for the floppy drive.
• Click OK.
• Restart Windows normally.

[Bantu]

Also you should be sure that the following conditions are true :

• The controller of the floppy drive is not supported in protected mode.
• There are drivers loading in the CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT file that may be required to access protected mode.
• There are drivers loading in the CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT file that may be causing conflicts in Windows and need to disable.

[SergioSantos]

You can follow the steps that are mentioned below for accessing the floppy drive :

1. Use the right mouse button to click My Computer, and then click Properties on the menu that appears.
2. Click the Device Manager tab.
3. Double-click Floppy Disk Controllers.
4. Click on the floppy disk controller, and then click Remove to remove the controller.
5. Click OK.
6. In the Control Panel, double-click Add New Hardware.
7. Click Next and then click Yes to let Windows detect the hardware in your computer.
8. When the Add New Hardware Wizard is finished, restart the computer and try again to access the floppy drive.