The floppy disk drive is missing from the My Computer folder (812489)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure to back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows registry

SYMPTOMS

In Windows XP, you may experience the following issues:
  • The floppy disk drive does not appear in the My Computer folder. You may also notice that the floppy disk drive is listed as the number 37 or 39 in the Device Manager.
  • The floppy disk drive does not work in safe mode or in normal mode. The floppy disk drive is detected by Device Manager, but you receive the following error message:
    Windows successfully loaded the device driver for this hardware but cannot find the hardware device. (Code 41)

CAUSE

These issues may occur if there are corrupted or incorrect keys in the registry.

RESOLUTION

To resolve these issues, delete the corrupted or incorrect registry keys. To delete the keys, follow these steps:

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.
  1. Click Start, and then click Run.
  2. In the Run box, type regedit, and then click OK.
  3. Locate the following registry key:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E980-E325 11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

  4. In the right pane, click Upperfilters, and then press DELETE.

    When you are prompted to do so, click Yes to confirm the deletion.
  5. In the right pane, click Lowerfilters, and then press DELETE.

    When you are prompted to do so, click Yes to confirm the deletion.
  6. Restart your computer.
  7. If the issue still exists, repeate steps 1 through 6 to delete upper and lower filter entries for the following registry subkeys:
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4D36E980-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002\Control\Class\{4D36E980-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002
    Then, open Device Manager. If your floppy disk drives are still listed, remove them, and then restart the computer.

REFERENCES

For more information about missing devices, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

314060 CD-ROM access is missing and messages cite error Code 31, Code 32, Code 19, Code 39, or Code 41 after you remove Easy CD Creator in Windows XP

817196 The floppy disk drive does not appear in the My Computer folder

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:2/17/2006
Keywords:kbprb KB812489
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