After reading your recent advice on using the Windows Backup utility I decided to use the utility to create an Automated System Recovery set. All goes well until the wizard requires me to insert a floppy disk to create the recovery disk. The computer does not recognise the floppy in the drive and produces a message saying “Please insert a disk into drive A”. I have tried a number of other floppy disks and was always presented with the same message. Previously, the computer recognised floppy disks, so I do not know why this no longer works. Is there is a driver (or something) that needs to be installed for the drive? The computer is running Windows XP.

Windows XP does not require drivers for floppy drives or CD-ROM drives as these are built into Windows. In fact, you can even plug an external USB floppy drive into the computer and Windows XP will automatically recognise and install the device. Therefore, in your situation there are two likely explanations for the issue. First, the floppy drive has been disabled in the computer BIOS. Second, the floppy drive itself is faulty or there is a hardware issue. Dealing with the first possibility, somehow the floppy drive may have become disabled in the computer BIOS. This is the configuration on the computer motherboard itself which handles booting the computer before handing control to the operating system (such as Windows XP). People often disable the floppy drive at this hardware level, should they not be using the drive, as it can speed-up the boot process of the computer. To check this setting we will need to go into the computer BIOS setup. Be aware, this is a risky procedure and incorrectly configuring the BIOS could make your computer unbootable, so proceed only if you are confident. Assuming that you wish to proceed, when you initially start the computer during the power-on self-test (all the things you see on the screen before the Windows splash/logo screen appears) there should be a message saying “Press to enter setup” (or similar). Press the nominated key to enter the setup. Once within the setup check through the settings until you find one relating to the floppy drive and ensure that the drive is enabled. Unfortunately I cannot provide step-by-step instructions for this procedure, as each computer BIOS is different. If you need to change a setting, make sure you save before exiting. On the other hand, if you do not change any settings make sure you exit without saving. Once the computer reboots into Windows check whether the floppy drive works.

Should the floppy drive be enabled, then the other most likely explanation is that the drive is faulty. This does happen to floppy drives that are not used for a long period of time, given their mechanical design. In this situation you could either replace the drive with a new internal floppy drive, or alternatively purchase an external floppy drive that can connect to your computer via USB. The only caveat with the USB option is ensure that your computer motherboard supports booting from a USB floppy drive, otherwise you may be able to create the disk through Windows but not boot from the floppy when needed! If in doubt, consult the manual that came with your computer or motherboard.