Reference number: CH000684

The disk in drive A is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?

Question:

The disk in drive A is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?

or

A:\ is not accessible. The device is not ready 

Answer:

When attempting to read drive A: or a floppy diskette in Microsoft Windows you receive the message "The disk in drive A is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?" or "A:\ is not accessible. The device is not ready.". 

This message is generated when Windows is unable to read the floppy diskette because the floppy diskette is bad, there is no floppy diskette in the drive, or the floppy drive is bad.

1. First check the drive to make sure a floppy diskette is in the computer. Unless a floppy diskette is in the computer, you will receive this error.
2. To determine if the floppy diskette is bad, refer to document CH000579 for troubleshooting steps.
3. Finally, to determine if the floppy drive is at fault, see document CH000277 for troubleshooting steps.