Greetings Steve,

I know you mentioned scanning your pc for virus' already regarding this strange problem. My question, as many folks may overlook is did you update your DAT files before scanning? Just a thought...also if you are running Norton 5.0(or maybe higher), check your excluded files under the tab "exclusions". By default Norton lists about 5 Office associated files to be excluded in the scanning process. I assume this is to make scanning a little quicker than
usual...but I prefer thorough scanning myself so I remove them from the list then scan my machines. If you are using a different anti-virus program, check for similar settings.This is really a shot in the dark, but worth looking into perhaps. Especially since it seems to be happening within Office programs.

Good Luck!

Kena Seguin

Steve Polatas wrote:

> Group,
>
> This one has got me battered and bloodied. I have a Dell Optiplex running Windows 98 with Office 2000 installed. When I perform a floppy disk write from an Office app (Word or Excel), the file is written but the floppy drive is not released (drive light stays on). If you pop out the disk at this point, the drive does the "rachety grind". The only way to release the drive is to reboot the computer or remove the floppy disk controller from the device list.
>
> Here's the confusing part; if I perform a floppy disk write from a non-office app like Notepad, Wordpad, etc., the drive behaves normally. Floppy drive file access (reads) function normally (light goes off when complete) in all applications (including Office). If I boot to Safe Mode, go into Word or Excel and perform a floppy disk write, everything is fine.
>
> What I've done so far... I have scanned machine for viruses. I have performed a "repair" of MS Office (from the install screen). I have installed MS Office Service Pack 1a. I have copied from a functional PC all system files that appeared to be related to the floppy disk system including IOS.VXD. I have reinstalled Windows. I have scoured the Web for any references to similar behavior. All have got me nowhere.
>
> The only other thing that I can think of to try is an uninstall/reinstall of Office 2000, but I don't hold much hope for that making any difference in light of what I've already tried.
>
> It is with this predicament that I come to the group. Anyone out there have any ideas or insights as to a cause for this machine's strange behavior?
>
> Please respond to me directly as well as to the group with anything if you would please.
>
> Thanks, I'm going to tend to my wounds now and prepare for more battling tomorrow.
>
> Steve Polatas...
>
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