Error Code 41 for Floppy Drive -- Request more help

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Guest

The beginnings of this problem started as described in my 3/29/07 post. See
below:
=============================
3/29/07: "Windows Explorer does not see the drive. However, when
rebooting, if I leave a non-system floppy in the drive, the green light goes
on briefly then the message "Non-system disk or disk error. Replace and press
any key..." I checked inside the box and all cables seem to be plugged in OK.
"Also the Device Manager sees "Standard Floppy Disk Controller" and
"Floppy Disk Drive", however there is a yellow ball with and exclamation
point on the latter.
"When I try updating the driver I get: "Windows successfully loaded the
device driver for this hardware but cannot find the hardware device. [Code
41]." When I try "Troubleshoot" I get in a dead end.
"One more thing: the last time(?) I remember using the drive, I was
saving a
small Excel file to a floppy (from the Excel application -- not Win
Explorer). Then I put in a different floppy and tried to save the some file
to the 2nd floppy. If I remember right, the save hung and I had to
Ctrl+Alt+Del to reboot. Did this fry the drive?
"4-year old Dell 8250, Pentium 4 - 2.53 GHz, 1.5 GB RAM, WinXP Home
SP2, BIOS version A02."
=============================
The replies advised that I buy a new floppy drive. I installed a new floppy
drive.

However, after installing the new drive, and doing all the same checks
listed in the original post, the problem is exactly as before, except now, if
I leave a non-boot floppy disk in the drive at boot, the light goes on
breifly, but I no longer get the "Non-system disk or disk error. Replace and
press any key..." notification.
I have tried additional diagnostics since installing the new drive.
Here are my findings:
1. In System Information > Software Summary > Software Environment >
System Drivers, I note that flpydsk.sys shows Start as 'No,' and Start Mode
as 'Manual.'
2. In System Information > System Summary > Hardware Resources >
IRQs, Standard floppy disk controller is assigned IRQ 6, with Status showing
OK. No other hardware is assigned IRQ 6.
3. System Information > System Summary > Components > Problem
Devices, 'Floppy disk drive' is listed as a Problem Device, showing PNP
Device ID: FDC\GENERIC_FLOPPY_DRIVE_\5&351C866&1&0, Error Code 41.
4. At support.microsoft.com/kb/310123, for the Code 41 error, it says
"A driver was loaded but Windows cannot find the device. This error occurs
when Windows does not detect a non-Plug and Play device." and gives a
'Recommended Resolution.' Those resolutions did not work.
I have been thru the Add Hardware and Troubleshooting wizards several
times, with same results as in original 3/29/07 post.
Would appreciate any ideas as to how to proceed. Thx in advance for
any help.

-- Wayne
 
I also noticed that my floppy drives no longer worked. When I checked the drives in Device Manager, I saw TWO drivers - flpydisk.sys and VetFddNT.sys. The latter seems to be causing the problem. It was written by Computer Associates and I believe that it was loaded when I installed Zone Alarm Internet Security Suite. This same driver also gets loaded to a USB floppy when I attach it, after which I can't access that drive either.

Removing references to that driver in the registry hasn't solved the problem and I'm continuing to investigate. My floppy drives were working until recently - I think until I installed the Zone Alarm package. I can still boot from them, so I know it's only a problem within Windows.

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Bill wrote: " It was written by Computer Associates and I believe that it
was loaded when I installed Zone Alarm Internet Security Suite."

Nonsense. CA and ZA are direct competitors; neither shares code with the
other.
Steve
 
After further investigation, it appears that it is vsdatant.sys - the TrueVector device driver from Zone Alarm that is causing the problem.

Are you using Zone Alarm? I never had this problem with the free version or earlier versions of the paid version.

EggHeadCafe.com - .NET Developer Portal of Choice
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Oq/Steve:

Hello again. Thanks for the post. I think Bill got confused between Computer
Associates and Check Point, which did acquire Zone Labs a while back, I
believe.
============================================

Bill . . .

Thanks for the replies, although I am sorry to hear you have a similar
problem to mine

For over a year, I have been using Zone Alarm Internet Security Suite
(ZAISS). The floppy drive problem did not arise because of the ZAISS install
-- not for me at least. Although it could have been caused by a recent update
from ZAISS -- I don't know. The floppy drive problem COULD have been caused
by a recent update from one of many different sources -- LOL -- as it seems
that I am being prompted for an update from one source or another every time
I turn around.

Have been out of town for a while so have not been able to work on my floppy
drive problem. I wll watch here for further suggestions from you or anyone
else. Also I will post back here during my journey towards a solution.

Again thanks, guys, for the replies. Any help is appreciated.

-- Wayne
 
Nonsense. CA and ZA are direct competitors; neither shares code with the
other.
Steve

----------------------------------------
Surprised me, too.
However, CA is identified in Device Manager as the driver provider.

Bill

EggHeadCafe.com - .NET Developer Portal of Choice
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Hi Carl . . .

Thx for posting. I will give it a try. I am busy backing up everything in
case I make a mistake and screw up my registry. I have never yet edited my
registry. Have always been to afraid of messing up. But I am ready to give it
a shot to fix this aggravating problem.

I will post back after I get done with my backups, and I get the time to
give your solution a try. I will let you know let you know what happened.
-- Wayne
 
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