Windows 11 not detecting external floppy drive

[hikerguy62]

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

 

[hikerguy62]

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).

 

[hacxx]

Try updating or reinstalling the floppy drive’s drivers via Device Manager. Also, check if the drive needs a specific driver or software from the manufacturer’s website for Windows 11 compatibility. Sometimes Windows doesn’t assign a drive letter automatically, so manually assigning one in Disk Management (if it appears there) might help. If Disk Management doesn’t show it, try running chkdsk on the drive letter once assigned. Lastly, test the floppy disks and drive on another PC to rule out hardware failure, as older drives can be flaky, especially on newer OS versions.