Apple 9500 Series manual Your Macintosh can’t read a floppy disk

Your Macintosh can’t read a floppy disk.

If you see a message that a floppy disk is unreadable, try one of the following:

mIf the disk has never been used, you may simply need to initialize it. For instructions, see the “Disks” topic of Macintosh Guide, available in the Guide (h) menu.

mThe disk may be damaged. See “Repairing a Damaged Disk” later in this chapter for information on testing and repairing disks.

mIf the disk is a high-density disk previously used on another computer, the disk may have been formatted incorrectly as an 800K disk rather than as a 1440K (high-density) disk. If so, use the other computer to copy the disk’s contents onto a properly formatted disk.

mThe disk may have been formatted for use on another kind of computer. You may be able to use a program that lets you work with such disks on your Macintosh.

If you are trying unsuccessfully to use a DOS floppy disk, consider the following:

mMake sure Macintosh PC Exchange is installed and turned on. Macintosh PC Exchange is a control panel that allows your Macintosh to read files from DOS computers.

mWhen formatting floppy disks on a DOS computer for use in a Macintosh, you need to format standard double-sided disks as 720K disks and high- density disks as 1440K disks. Double-sided disks formatted in 1440K format and high-density disks formatted in 720K format may not work in a Macintosh.

If you think your DOS floppy disk might have a format that doesn’t work with a Macintosh, use a DOS computer to copy the contents of the disk onto a properly formatted disk.

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