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I have an older piece of hardware that requires a 3.5" Double Density
770 k floppy.

I was told that one can enter the following command of format a:/f:770
from a DOS cmomand shell and reformat an existing standard HD floppy
to DD.

However I can't do this from the DOS shell command for Windows XP. My
attempts from Windows 98 and NT machines give me the following error:

"Invalid Media or Track 0 bad disk unuseable"

Any suggestions?

Ludwig77 wrote:

> I have an older piece of hardware that requires a 3.5" Double Density
> 770 k floppy.
>
> I was told that one can enter the following command of format a:/f:770
> from a DOS cmomand shell and reformat an existing standard HD floppy
> to DD.
>
> However I can't do this from the DOS shell command for Windows XP. My
> attempts from Windows 98 and NT machines give me the following error:
>
> "Invalid Media or Track 0 bad disk unuseable"
>
> Any suggestions?

Try taping over the hole without the write protect shutter. This will
allow a format, but be aware that HD drives have heads with smaller
record gaps to allow them to write 18 sectors/track. Some 760K drives
may not be able to read floppies prepared in this way, even when they
have only 9 sectors/track. The old 760K drives also used a thicker
magnetic coating. It's worth a try!

Virg Wall
--
A foolish consistency is the
hobgoblin of little minds,........
Ralph Waldo Emerson
(Microsoft programmer's manual.)

Ludwig77 wrote:

> I have an older piece of hardware that requires a 3.5" Double Density
> 770 k floppy.
>
> I was told that one can enter the following command of format a:/f:770
> from a DOS cmomand shell and reformat an existing standard HD floppy
> to DD.
>
> However I can't do this from the DOS shell command for Windows XP. My
> attempts from Windows 98 and NT machines give me the following error:
>
> "Invalid Media or Track 0 bad disk unuseable"
>
> Any suggestions?

It's a two-step procedure:

1) Cover the square hole in the corner of the floppy with a piece of tape
(there should be two holes - you want to cover the one WITHOUT the
write-protect shutter). If you hold the disk parallel to the floor, with
the label side up and the metal shutter away from you, it will be the hole
on the right.

2) Use the DOS command "FORMAT A: /T:80 /N:9"

Windows XP doesn't even support the /F:720 switch anymore, but explicitly
defining the number of sectors and tracks works just fine. It sounds like
you're using Windows 98 or ME, so the /F:720 switch should still be
supported.

I just tried these steps again on an XP machine to make sure they worked.
Covering the second hole and using the /T and /N switches worked fine.
When I tried it without taping over the hole, I got the same "Invalid Media
or Track 0 bad disk unusable" error that you got, so I'm pretty sure taping
up the second hole is the key step.

HTH,

Scott Gardner

To answer your question, you must first have a 720 kb diskette. Do not use a
1.44 kb diskette, for it will not work. The syntax to format a 720 kb
diskette is: FORMAT A: /F:720

I have never seen a 770 kb diskette!

__________________________________

Extracted from:
http://www.computerhope.com/formathl.htm


SYNTAX
Formats a disk for use with MS-DOS.
FORMAT drive: [/V[:label]] [/Q] [/F:size] [/B | /S] [/C]
FORMAT drive: [/V[:label]] [/Q] [/T:tracks /N:sectors] [/B | /S] [/C]
FORMAT drive: [/V[:label]] [/Q] [/1] [/4] [/B | /S] [/C]
FORMAT drive: [/Q] [/1] [/4] [/8] [/B | /S] [/C]

/V [:label] Specifies the volume label.
/Q Performs a quick format.
/F:size Specifies the size of the floppy disk to format (such as 160, 180,
320, 360, 720, 1.2, 1.44, 2.8.
/B Allocates space on the formatted disk for system files.
/S Copies system files to the formatted disk.
/T: tracksSpecifies the number of tracks per disk side.
/N: sectorsSpecifies the number of sectors per track.
/1 Formats a single side of a floppy disk.
/4 Formats a 5.25-inch 360K floppy disk in a high-density drive.
/8 Formats eight sectors per track.
/C Tests clusters that are currently marked "bad."


EXAMPLES
When using the format command remember all information the drive you wish to
format will be completely erased.
format a: - Would erase all the contents off a disk. Commonly used on a
diskette that has not been formatted or on a diskette you wish to erase.

format a: /q - Quickly erases all the contents of a floppy diskette.
Commonly used to quickly erase all information on the diskette.

format c: - This would erase all the contents of your hard disk drive. In
other words unless you wish to erase all your computers information command
should not be done.

--

Jerry G. GLG Technologies GLG
==========================


"Ludwig77" <> wrote in message
news: m...
I have an older piece of hardware that requires a 3.5" Double Density
770 k floppy.

I was told that one can enter the following command of format a:/f:770
from a DOS cmomand shell and reformat an existing standard HD floppy
to DD.

However I can't do this from the DOS shell command for Windows XP. My
attempts from Windows 98 and NT machines give me the following error:

"Invalid Media or Track 0 bad disk unuseable"

Any suggestions?

"Jerry G." <> wrote in message
news:cbgbb6$74r$...
> To answer your question, you must first have a 720 kb diskette. Do not use
a
> 1.44 kb diskette, for it will not work. The syntax to format a 720 kb
> diskette is: FORMAT A: /F:720
>
> I have never seen a 770 kb diskette!


Never seen a 1.44kb diskette either.

Scott Gardner <> wrote in message news:<YwKCc.20907$cj3.11723@lakeread01>...
> Ludwig77 wrote:
>
> > I have an older piece of hardware that requires a 3.5" Double Density
> > 770 k floppy.
> >
> > I was told that one can enter the following command of format a:/f:770
> > from a DOS cmomand shell and reformat an existing standard HD floppy
> > to DD.
> >
> > However I can't do this from the DOS shell command for Windows XP. My
> > attempts from Windows 98 and NT machines give me the following error:
> >
> > "Invalid Media or Track 0 bad disk unuseable"
> >
> > Any suggestions?
>
> It's a two-step procedure:
>
> 1) Cover the square hole in the corner of the floppy with a piece of tape
> (there should be two holes - you want to cover the one WITHOUT the
> write-protect shutter). If you hold the disk parallel to the floor, with
> the label side up and the metal shutter away from you, it will be the hole
> on the right.
>
> 2) Use the DOS command "FORMAT A: /T:80 /N:9"
>
> Windows XP doesn't even support the /F:720 switch anymore, but explicitly
> defining the number of sectors and tracks works just fine. It sounds like
> you're using Windows 98 or ME, so the /F:720 switch should still be
> supported.
>
> I just tried these steps again on an XP machine to make sure they worked.
> Covering the second hole and using the /T and /N switches worked fine.
> When I tried it without taping over the hole, I got the same "Invalid Media
> or Track 0 bad disk unusable" error that you got, so I'm pretty sure taping
> up the second hole is the key step.
>
> HTH,
>
> Scott Gardner

This worked. Now, will I have to leave the tape on for the disk to be read?

Ludwig77 wrote:

> Scott Gardner <> wrote in message

>> I just tried these steps again on an XP machine to make sure they worked.
>> Covering the second hole and using the /T and /N switches worked fine.
>> When I tried it without taping over the hole, I got the same "Invalid
>> Media or Track 0 bad disk unusable" error that you got, so I'm pretty
>> sure taping up the second hole is the key step.
>>
>> HTH,
>>
>> Scott Gardner
>
> This worked. Now, will I have to leave the tape on for the disk to be
> read?

That, I'm not to sure about. I suspect you will have to leave it on. Try
removing the tape, saving a file to the diskette, and then reading the file
from the diskette. That should give you a definitive answer.

Scott

On 25 Jun 2004 07:40:35 -0700, (Ludwig77) wrote:

>This worked. Now, will I have to leave the tape on for the disk to be read?

Yes. The drive reads the floppy differently with the hole plugged.
It thinks its a DD disk. A HD disk has holes on each side. A DD disk
has a hole on only one side.

Or...

You can go out and buy an old IBM PS/2 computer. lol It can format
both ways.


Have a nice week...

Trent©

Follow Joan Rivers' example --- get pre-embalmed!

I don't know if this would work but you might try going into bios and
changing the floppy drive to accomadate 770k disks if that option is in your
bios.
"Ludwig77" <> wrote in message
news: m...
> I have an older piece of hardware that requires a 3.5" Double Density
> 770 k floppy.
>
> I was told that one can enter the following command of format a:/f:770
> from a DOS cmomand shell and reformat an existing standard HD floppy
> to DD.
>
> However I can't do this from the DOS shell command for Windows XP. My
> attempts from Windows 98 and NT machines give me the following error:
>
> "Invalid Media or Track 0 bad disk unuseable"
>
> Any suggestions?

Scott Gardner wrote:
>
> Ludwig77 wrote:
>
> > Scott Gardner <> wrote in message
>
> >> I just tried these steps again on an XP machine to make sure they worked.
> >> Covering the second hole and using the /T and /N switches worked fine.
> >> When I tried it without taping over the hole, I got the same "Invalid
> >> Media or Track 0 bad disk unusable" error that you got, so I'm pretty
> >> sure taping up the second hole is the key step.
> >>
> >> HTH,
> >>
> >> Scott Gardner
> >
> > This worked. Now, will I have to leave the tape on for the disk to be
> > read?
>
> That, I'm not to sure about. I suspect you will have to leave it on. Try
> removing the tape, saving a file to the diskette, and then reading the file
> from the diskette. That should give you a definitive answer.

yes leave it on