IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry.
Before you edit the registry, you should first make a backup copy of the
registry files (System.dat and User.dat). Both are hidden files in the
Windows folder.
RESOLUTION
To prevent this problem from occurring, use one of the following methods.
Write-Protect the Disk
If you do not need to write to the floppy disk, set the disk's write-
protect tab. On write-protected disks, Volume Tracker caches the disk's
label, serial number, and BIOS Parameter Block (BPB), instead of writing
to the boot-sector OEMName field.
Add Boot-Sector ID to the NoVolTrack Registry Key
NOTE: For information about how to edit the registry, view the Changing
Keys And Values online Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe). Note
that you should make a backup copy of the registry files (System.dat and
User.dat) before you edit the registry.
WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that
may require you to reinstall Windows 95. Microsoft cannot guarantee that
problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be
solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
If your hardware vendor or program writes a unique string to the boot
sector to identify the disk, add the string and boot-sector offset
location to the following registry key:
HKey_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem\
NoVolTrack
To accomplish this, add a binary value (use the hardware vendor or program
name for the value name) to the registry key with the value data in the
following format:
<xx> <yy> <zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz>
where <xx> <yy> is the offset in the boot sector where the vendor-specific
string is located (written in reverse-byte format), and <zz zz zz zz zz zz
zz zz> is the vendor-specific string in hexadecimal.
For example, if the vendor-specific string is "PVBACKUP" at offset 0003h,
<xx> is 03 and <yy> is 00 (because 0003h is written 03 00 in reverse-byte
format). In this case, the value for <zz zz zz zz zz zz zz zz> is 50 56 42
41 43 4b 55 50 (the hexadecimal equivalent of "PVBACKUP").
NOTE: The "PVBACKUP" string in this example is already included in the
default NoVolTrack key created by Windows 95 Setup.
Volume Tracker scans the NoVolTrack key and does not write to the boot-
sector OEMName field of floppy disks specified in the key.
Note that you can create a text file with a .reg extension that includes
the appropriate settings to add to the NoVolTrack key. You can merge
the .reg file into the registry using Regedit.exe or batch Setup
(Msbatch.inf). This can be helpful when you need to add a NoVolTrack
entry on multiple computers.
The contents of the .reg file should be
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\control\FileSystem\
NoVolTrack]
<VendorName>=hex:<xx>,<yy>,<zz,zz,zz,zz,zz,zz,zz,zz>
where <VendorName> is the manufacturer name and <xx>, <yy>, and
<zz,zz,zz,zz,zz,zz,zz,zz> are as defined above.
NOTE: The registry key should be on one line. It appears on two lines
above due to limited space.
For IBM Flash BIOS Update Disks, the following .reg file should be merged:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\control\FileSystem\
NoVolTrack]
"IBM flash disk"=hex:03,00,49,42,4d,20,35,20,33,66
NOTE: The registry key should be on one line. It appears on two lines
above due to limited space.
Use Only MS-DOS Mode to Access the Disk
Do not access the floppy disk from Windows. If you need to access the
floppy disk only in MS-DOS mode, specify MS-DOS mode in the program
information file (PIF) that runs the program you use to access the disk,
or boot to a command prompt to access the disk. Windows does not
perform volume tracking in MS-DOS mode.
WARNING: This resolution assumes that you will never access the disk, or
view its contents, from Windows (using Windows Explorer, a command
prompt, or another program). If you do, the OEMName data will be
overwritten for Volume Tracker.