My computer can't detect my 3.5" computer hard drive.
@beautyqueen26 (16030)
United States
August 9, 2007 5:49pm CST
Ordinarily, I don't care if my 3.5" hard drive is working on my computer. Except, for the fact that it's the only way to transfer files between my old Windows 98 computer and my new computer. With two very avid computer buffs in the house it's essential to use two computers, even if one is practically from the stone ages. The 3.5" slot used to be working fine and could read files, so I can't understand why it's not working anymore.
Perhaps their is some type of virus in the system that could cause a malfunction? Or, maybe the drive needs to be reconfigured? I'm not as tech savvy when it comes to trouble-shooting computers, so I'm not sure. These are just guesses on my part. If there's no easy or cheap way to fix a 3.5" hard drive to transfer files, could someone please suggest an alternate way to transfer files. Do those USB memory sticks work for this purpose? Would appreciate suggestions. Thanks!
1 person likes this
4 responses
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
10 Aug 07
If you are looking for the easy way out, I would just go with the USB drives. Right now they are on sale every where. The girl that works with me got a 2 GB for $20 from Best Buy. She uses it to transfer things she works on at work to her home computer.
1 person likes this
@Peppersquirrel (437)
• United States
11 Aug 07
I have an old computer and my 3.5" floppy hard drive had caught a fire. My CD burner cannot burn anymore CDs. My computer cannot boot up by itself, so I had to press F1 to start. It has a habit of rebooting too many times, and it has a major virus. My computer is a Windows ME, and I placed my operating system which is a Windows XP. The only way I can save my files is by the USB memory sticks. I may have to buy a new computer someday. I noticed when I went to an electronic store, they have individual hard drive, especially 3.5" hard drive. They can be expensive to buy.
@peaceful (3294)
• United States
10 Aug 07
Take a visit to Smart Computing:
http://www.smartcomputing.com/techsupport
and ask your questions there, they are certain to have the answers you are looking for! :)
Thank you for sharing this question with the MyLot community! :)
Here's a Think Free Online Office for you!
http://www.thinkfree.com
@lexus54 (3572)
• Singapore
10 Aug 07
If you can see the 3.5 inch floppy drive in Windows 98 after you boot up, then probably the drive is still configured properly and recognized. The trouble with such floppy drives is that the head needs cleaning from time to time. If the head is dirty, then even if you put in a floppy diskette, it may not read properly, resulting in error. So make sure the head is cleaned and retry if that is your drive problem.
You should try other more reliable memory alternatives like flash drives (what you call memory stick or USB drives). In the old systems when Win98 was used, USB was fairly new, and some computers may not have USB ports. But you may find 1 or 2 such ports in your computer. Assuming you do have, I know that Win98 may not have drivers for many USB drives like WinXP does, so if you try and use a USB drive, Win98 may not recognize it and may require you to explicitly load the driver for the drive before you can use it properly. Regardless, USB drives use solidstate memory and are very reliable, compared to floppy disks, so you should consider using such drive alternatives.
