Cannot open floopy disk in Word

[Emrys Davies]

Why do you think this is a bad idea? The AutoRecovery backups are saved to
the HD regardless of the location of the file itself, and the more often
they are made (up to a point), the better.

Suzanne

It was something I read somewhere as to the merits of AutoRecover and I
just needed reassurance, which is what you have given me.

Another point which is fooling me somewhat: I know that I must not save
directly to a floppy from Word or open it directly from Word. I accept
that, but if I attempt to open a floppy indirectly from Windows Explorer
I do not have access to 'Files of type' which is such a useful tool when
trying to ascertain which files are held on a floppy. I note that
WordPad is limited in that respect. Would you advise me on that aspect
please as this is totally new ground for me?

Regards,
Emrys Davies.

 

[CyberTaz]

The options available in the Files of Type list vary depending on the
capabilities of the program involved. A program like WordPad is quite
limited in what file types it can open so the list is restricted to those
types only. Word, OTOH, is capable of opening a wider range of file types so
the list will be more extensive.

Since Windows Explorer is simply a navigation tool provided by Windows - not
an application program - it doesn't have a list of file types, per se.
Instead, opening a file from an Explorer window causes the appropriate
program to be launched based on the file's association with that program.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac



On 10/31/07 9:24 AM, in article (e-mail address removed),

Why do you think this is a bad idea? The AutoRecovery backups are saved to
the HD regardless of the location of the file itself, and the more often
they are made (up to a point), the better.

Suzanne

It was something I read somewhere as to the merits of AutoRecover and I
just needed reassurance, which is what you have given me.

Another point which is fooling me somewhat: I know that I must not save
directly to a floppy from Word or open it directly from Word. I accept
that, but if I attempt to open a floppy indirectly from Windows Explorer
I do not have access to 'Files of type' which is such a useful tool when
trying to ascertain which files are held on a floppy. I note that
WordPad is limited in that respect. Would you advise me on that aspect
please as this is totally new ground for me?

Regards,
Emrys Davies.

 

[Terry Farrell]

Well that is not quite accurate either Bob.

Windows Explorer has options to arrange the folder contents (in this case
the floppy contents) in several different orders. The useful one in this
instance would be to select the 'group by type' option which means that the
docs will be grouped together.

However, as a final bit of advice, I would quite soon move all your old
files off floppy disks completely. Floppies are ancient technology, prone to
corruption, prone to physical damage and slow. I don't believe that anyone
sells computers fitted with floppy drives as standard any more either. Far
better to burn the archives to CDR or DVDR (using the verification process)
and use the burning utility to create covers that list the contents.

 

[Emrys Davies]

Many thanks everyone. You have been very very helpful and it is much
appreciated.

Regards,
Emrys Davies.

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Terry -

Please help me understand where the inaccuracy is. Although your suggestion
is certainly helpful *sorting* the listed files by type isn't the same as
*limiting* the list to display files of only a *certain* type... Which
seemed to be what the OP was looking for and (AFAIK) can't be done in an
Explorer window, whereas when using the Open or Save As dialog windows from
within an application the Files of Type list does enable that constraint.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

To add to what Bob and Terry have said, you don't want to open the file on
the floppy directly from Windows Explorer, either, as that amounts to the
same thing as opening it from Word (since Word will start and open it).
Instead, you need to use Windows Explorer to copy the file to the HD (to My
Documents or an appropriate subfolder within), then open it from within
Word.

 

[Terry Farrell]

Well it doesn't 'limit' to display only a file type, but by grouping it by
type, you can limit yourself to looking at just that one group of docs or
dots - which is virtually the same thing.

Terry

 

[Emrys Davies]

To add to what Bob and Terry have said, you don't want to open the file on
the floppy directly from Windows Explorer, either, as that amounts to the
same thing as opening it from Word (since Word will start and open it).
Instead, you need to use Windows Explorer to copy the file to the HD (to My
Documents or an appropriate subfolder within), then open it from within
Word.

Suzanne,

You have made that so clear. Now, having done exactly what you have
outlined, I take it that from within Word I can now open the file saved
in My Documents and at the same time safely use the 'Files of type'
menu, which prompted me to ask my question.

Thanks,
EmrysDavies.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Exactly.

 

[Morettina]

My parents are also encountering problems opening Word files on a new Vista
PC. These files were saved on a Windows 98 PC onto floppies using Word.
What is strange though is that even in the Vista Windows Explorer, the files
don't even show up! If they put the floppy in the Win98 PC, the files
they've saved on the Vista PC don't show up, and vice versa.

I have to say that they (and me too) have often saved files to floppy as a
backup (or to take on the road) from inside Word and never had problems with
them. I guess we've been lucky.

But what I'm stumped with is that Vista doesn't seem to even see the files
that were saved on the Win98 PC. Is there something different between the 2
operating systems that is causing this?

Marie

 

[Eric P.]

My parents are also encountering problems opening Word files on a new Vista
PC. These files were saved on a Windows 98 PC onto floppies using Word.
What is strange though is that even in the Vista Windows Explorer, the files
don't even show up! If they put the floppy in the Win98 PC, the files
they've saved on the Vista PC don't show up, and vice versa.

I have to say that they (and me too) have often saved files to floppy as a
backup (or to take on the road) from inside Word and never had problems with
them. I guess we've been lucky.

But what I'm stumped with is that Vista doesn't seem to even see the files
that were saved on the Win98 PC. Is there something different between the 2
operating systems that is causing this?

Marie

I don't have Vista myself but Windows XP has the same problems.
Apart from loose cables, defective floppy drives or misaligned floppy
disks which are sure reasons to fail there maybe reasons by changes in
XP and Vista.

Firstly every floppy should have an ID byte (like F0 or F9) in the
bootsector.
This ID byte depends on the floppy size, it is F0 for an 1.44MB floppy.
Not every program that formats floppies did enter the by XP and Vista
now required ID byte that was ignored by Windows 98.
This was especially many times the case with the commercially
preformatted floppies many people bought in the past.

Secondly the floppy driver inside Windows XP and Vista was redesigned to
not accept all old floppy sizes for writing or sometimes also reading.

Info from the MicroSoft Knowledge Base

Article ID : 309623
Windows XP supports the following floppy disk formats: • 1.44 megabyte
(MB) 3.5" floppy disk (read, write, format)
• 720 kilobyte (KB) 3.5" floppy disk (read, write only)
• 1.2MB 5.25" floppy disk (read, write, format)
• 360KB 5.25" floppy disk (read, write, format)

Article ID : 140060
The following table lists the most common media descriptor bytes:
Byte Capacity Media Size and Type
-------------------------------------------------

F0 2.88 MB 3.5-inch, 2-sided, 36-sector
F0 1.44 MB 3.5-inch, 2-sided, 18-sector
F9 720K 3.5-inch, 2-sided, 9-sector
F9 1.2 MB 5.25-inch, 2-sided, 15-sector
FD 360K 5.25-inch, 2-sided, 9-sector
FF 320K 5.25-inch, 2-sided, 8-sector
FC 180K 5.25-inch, 1-sided, 9-sector
FE 160K 5.25-inch, 1-sided, 8-sector
FE 250K 8-inch, 1-sided, single-density
FD 500K 8-inch, 2-sided, single-density
FE 1.2 MB 8-inch, 2-sided, double-density
F8 ----- Hard disk

Best is to try the floppy in a computer using Windows 98.
If the floppy is readable transfer the data to a medium that works in
Vista like an in Windows Vista formatted floppy or memory stick that
also works in 98(SE?).