Solved Windows 11 unable to detect external floppy drive reader

hikerguy62 · Saturday at 8:42 PM

I came across some old floppy disks a few weeks ago and decided to buy an external floppy drive to see what was on them. When I plug it into MULTIPLE USB ports, I hear it trying to read the floppy disk.

When I go to Explorer, it doesn't show up there (not as A: or any other drive letter).

Device Manager does show the floppy drive under "Floppy disk drives" (with no type of "error icon"), but Disk Management does NOT show anything beyond the drive letters I know are valid and in use already.

I tried running a DOS command (can't find that command now, but think it was something like mtcd.exe???) with no change.

Went into power settings and under USB settings, I disabled "USB selective suspend setting."

As stated earlier, I have tried 3 different USB ports on my PC.

I plugged this into my wife's Win10 PC and it detected it the first time (as Drive A:). But then after unplugging and plugging it back in multiple times, it no longer detects it.

Any ideas what else I can try? I'm running Windows 11 Pro .

Win11 version 24H2

bobkn · Saturday at 9:10 PM

I have a Teac FD-05PUW USB floppy drive. I rarely use it.

I just tried it. I inserted a floppy before connecting it. The first time I plugged it into one of the front USB 2.0 ports, it wasn't recognized. I tried a 3.2 port, and it worked. Tried a 2.0 port, and it was OK.

I don't know what to suggest, but it seems that there is no fundamental issue in using a USB floppy drive on a Windows 11 PC.

Berton · Saturday at 9:11 PM

I can see a USB Floppy Disk drive in File Explorer but usually have to have a disk in it.

MS-DOS 6.21 boot disk:

hikerguy62 · Saturday at 9:14 PM

I have a floppy disk in the drive when I try to use it. Have tried two different disks with no luck (as as I noted, my wife's PC could initially see and read the data on that disk on her Win10 PC).

hikerguy62 · Saturday at 9:37 PM

After doing more digging, it appears the floppy (Sony model# MPF82E ) is only compatible with
Windows 98 SE, Windows 2000 Professional, Windows Me, or Windows XP

So, never mind. I'll have to buy a more up-to-date external floppy drive reader (I know....the irony of saying "up-to-date" when referring to anything floppy-related lol).

pseymour · Saturday at 9:39 PM

Just out of curiousity, since it's showing in Device Manager, what happens if you open a Run box and type "A:\"?

bobkn · Saturday at 11:49 PM

The manual for the MPF82E is dated 2002.

Maybe it is time to replace the reader.

Berton · Sunday at 9:40 AM

Just checked, one of my floppy drives is a TEAC in a translucent USB case and the other is a Dell in a black USB case made by TEAC. I have one in the parts bin that fits the internal 3.5" bay in a desktop but unfortunately haven't seen a motherboard in some years that has the 34-pin socket for the cable.

hikerguy62 · Monday at 4:57 PM

pseymour said:
Just out of curiousity, since it's showing in Device Manager, what happens if you open a Run box and type "A:\"?

I get a pop-up message with the following info:

A:\ is unavailable. If the location is on this PC, make sure the device or drive is connected or the disc is inserted and then try again.

MisterEd · Monday at 7:53 PM

I have a SmartDisk Verbatim Titanium 2X USB 2.0 External Floppy Disk Drive. It works fine with my laptop with Windows 11.

One quirk I found is that if I unplug it from the laptop then it won't be recognized if I plug it in again. I have to reboot my laptop for it to be recognized again.

I found I can see the drive in Device Manager and File Manager but not Disk Management.

Berton · Monday at 7:55 PM

I see similar with some devices if I don't use the Safely Remove process.

gunrunnerjohn · 2025-07-01T09:48:02-0400

I see the same issue with my USB floppy. It works fine when I plug it in, but even if I use the Safely Remove option, and unplug it, no joy. It gets this error when I plug it in the second time. Obviously, a reboot fixes it.

That appears to be an issue with Windows 11 handling of the USB floppy.

I also have a USB DVD/RW drive for the rare occasion I have a CD or DVD to process, it doesn't seem to exhibit the same behavior if disconnected and reconnected.

MisterEd · 2025-07-01T16:33:14-0400

gunrunnerjohn said:
I see the same issue with my USB floppy. It works fine when I plug it in, but even if I use the Safely Remove option, and unplug it, no joy. It gets this error when I plug it in the second time. Obviously, a reboot fixes it.

View attachment 138224

That appears to be an issue with Windows 11 handling of the USB floppy.

I also have a USB DVD/RW drive for the rare occasion I have a CD or DVD to process, it doesn't seem to exhibit the same behavior if disconnected and reconnected.

I got the same error with both my laptop and desktop running Windows 11. This makes me believe it is a Windows 11 problem.

I tried the external floppy drive with a computer with a dual-boot of Windows 7 and 10. With both Window 7 and 10 I could unplug it and plug it back in with no error. It would be recognized again and worked properly.

gunrunnerjohn · 2025-07-01T17:48:15-0400

MisterEd said:
I got the same error with both my laptop and desktop running Windows 11. This makes me believe it is a Windows 11 problem.

I tried the external floppy drive with a computer with a dual-boot of Windows 7 and 10. With both Window 7 and 10 I could unplug it and plug it back in with no error. It would be recognized again and worked properly.

Correct, this same drive has been with me from Windows 7, and it didn't have those problems until Windows 11. Since I only use it very seldom, it's not an issue as long as I can get it working enough to read a floppy.

My Lite-On portable DVD doesn't miss a beat if I disconnect and reconnect it, just the floppy.

MisterEd · 2025-07-01T20:11:57-0400

gunrunnerjohn said:
Correct, this same drive has been with me from Windows 7, and it didn't have those problems until Windows 11. Since I only use it very seldom, it's not an issue as long as I can get it working enough to read a floppy.

My Lite-On portable DVD doesn't miss a beat if I disconnect and reconnect it, just the floppy.

I bought the external floppy drive back in 2023 when I still had two desktop computers with Windows XP. I needed this drive to copy the SATA drivers onto a floppy disk. I may not use it much anymore because I retired these desktop computers in January.

The legacy floppy driver that is built into Windows is probably pretty old. I suspect a change was made in Windows 11 that broke something in it. There is a zero chance that Microsoft will fix this.

I wanted a portable DVD drive for use with my laptop computer. I bought the ASUS ZenDrive portable DVD Drive because it was made by a known company. A friend bought a cheap Chinese portable DVD Drive that only made coasters. He had no problems after he bought one like mine. I have never had a problems unplugging and plugging back in this portable DVD Drive

gunrunnerjohn · 2025-07-01T21:09:03-0400

My Lite-On portable DVD has been reading/writing since 2011, and it still works fine.

XxXxX · 2025-07-01T21:31:06-0400

i haven't used a floppy disk drive in .. i cant remember how long, but ..

i found this which maybe of help.

Yes, you can still use floppy disks with Windows 11! Here's how

If you need to, it's entirely possible to read and write to floppy disks with a modern PC or laptop. Here's everything you need to know.

www.pcworld.com

also these FDD DOS drivers.

DOS Days - Drivers

website description

www.dosdays.co.uk

unsure if the drivers will help.
best of luck, Steve ..

Solved Windows 11 unable to detect external floppy drive reader

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