If Windows suddenly can no longer read a floppy disk and asks to format it, don't format it just yet! 

Don't format a suddenly unreadable floppy right away.  If the floppy contains important data, there might still be a way to recover the data in that floppy.  Read on...

The HD-Copy floppy utility featured in the Tip and Suggestions on "Archiving Floppies" has still another function for which it was not designed, but we found it could do -- salvage an otherwise "unreadable floppy".  Once in a while, you may have experienced trying to read a floppy and Windows popped up instead a message asking if you want to format the floppy.   For a situation as this, you can try using HD-Copy to Read the corrupted (damaged) "unreadable" floppy and later Writing it back to a new floppy disk. 

HD-Copy will probably report the first (few) sector(s) of the floppy as bad, but it will still attempt to read the rest of the floppy and rebuild the  file allocation tables when it writes the data to a new floppy disk.  If HD-Copy reports the very first sector as bad, it is the floppy's boot block that is corrupted (damaged.)

In fact, floppies have two copies of the file allocation table ("FAT").  The second is a fall-back copy should the first one get damaged. The  "FAT" or a file in a floppy disk is typically damaged when the floppy disk is removed prematurely from the floppy drive during a floppy write/save (i.e., removed the floppy before the floppy drive lamp turned off.)  In any case, HD-Copy tries to rebuild the file allocation tables, so the recovery of such an "unreadable"  floppy may be possible.  

HD-Copy can also put a "new boot block" into a floppy so if it is the first (boot) sector that has been corrupted, the boot sector can be repaired.  To repair the boot block, you select the Special Menu  option, and then select the Eliminate virus (new boot block) option.   This operation will not necessarily make the floppy bootable again (if it were originally a boot floppy), but it can make a floppy readable again.

More than 10 years ago, much of the viruses where spread through floppies and files within them.  The so-called "boot virus" would reside in the boot sector of floppies and they were spread through the use of such floppies.  Boot viruses are no longer widespread so there is less need for eliminating boot viruses.   But the "Eliminate virus (new boot block)" function of HD-Copy remains useful for recovering an unreadable floppy due to a corrupted first sector. 

Once the directory structure of a floppy disk is readable, you can also do a "chkdsk" DOS command on the floppy to recover corrupted files in them (if not the whole file, at least portions of the file.)

This tip only works if  the floppy disk is not physically, but only "logically" damaged. Strong magnetism or excessive humidity (spilled coffee, persperation, etc.) can render a floppy disk unrecoverable.  [go to "Archive Floppies"]

---

When trashing floppies, some important data may still be contained in them. or may even be "recoverable" by others.   To make sure that the data in floppies will not fall into crooked hands, you can wipe a floppy clean by simply letting a strong magnet touch (brush over) the plastic case of the floppy which you wish to discard.

This tip works for most removable magnetic or opto-magnetic storage media.  It is virtually instant compared to the slow, but also sure, gdisk* "diskwipe" operation.  Strong magnets may render a disk totally unusable and not even a format will work on them anymore.  But even if a format does work on them later, data previously stored in them will have been totally deleted.

The next question would probably be... where do I get a strong magnet for this purpose?  You can try to disassemble a discarded hard disk.  Any hard disk has two very strong magnets in it.   we find such magnets very useful and versatile.

*Gdisk is a DOS utility for managing hard disks bundled with Symantec Ghost (hard disk backup software.)  More information can be had at symantec.com .

---