A drive says need to format

Hi.
Ive got some floppy disks that have work on them... I tried to access them
but i get a message saying disc isnt formatted do you want to format it
now...NO i dont cos my work is on them. Is there a way that i can get my data
back off of the discs. why does it say it need to format when ive been using
them fine until now.Many thanks for any input.
Phill

The floppy drive could be going bad or have a loose connector. Try the
floppies in another machine.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
"Phill" wrote in message
news
Hi.
Ive got some floppy disks that have work on them... I tried to access them
but i get a message saying disc isnt formatted do you want to format it
now...NO i dont cos my work is on them. Is there a way that i can get my
data
back off of the discs. why does it say it need to format when ive been
using
them fine until now.Many thanks for any input.
Phill

Colin Barnhorst wrote:

The floppy drive could be going bad or have a loose connector. Try the
floppies in another machine.


good advice; If the floppy drive is external however, unplug it from the
computer and plug it in again after a few seconds.

Phill wrote:
Hi.
Ive got some floppy disks that have work on them... I tried to access
them but i get a message saying disc isnt formatted do you want to
format it now...NO i dont cos my work is on them. Is there a way that
i can get my data back off of the discs. why does it say it need to
format when ive been using them fine until now.Many thanks for any
input.
Phill


Because they are floppies. Seriously. You do *NOT* store precious data on
floppies. I have a 1GB pen drive for that and it's as hard as nails - it's
been through the wash (40°C long spin cycle) and the tumble dryer (60
minutes on high) and it survived. Just try doing that to a floppy!

Floppies are slow, unreliable, expensive (my 1GB pen drive cost me £45 -
that would buy 225 floppies-worth - 324MB -) bulky (where do you store them
all?). A pen drive is 3" long and can be attached to a keyring (OK, that's a
dangerous thing in my case - the number of times I've lost the sodding thing
down the back of the sofa).

You want to store important data? Buy a pen drive - they're indestructable
(well, most are).

Just an additional, a friend dropped his and then accidentally backed over
it with his car - it *STILL* can be written to - and read from!

The floppy is dead - long live the pen drive!

--
Facon - the artificial bacon bits you get in Pizza Hut for sprinkling
on salads.