File on floppy disc not working!!

[1977Nicky]

I have a floppy disc that I have been using for years. It has 3 files on it, 2 Excel spreadsheets and a word file. I can still open the floppy disc and can open the Word document successfully, however the 2 Excel files will no longer open. The error message that comes up is: "The file cannot be accessed. The file may be read only, or you may be trying to access a read only location. Or the server the document is stored on may not be responding." I have tried copying it to another location, it starts to copy then comes up with the error "The drive cannot find the sector requested". I desperately need the info in the file - is there anything else I can try or is this data lost forever :-( Thank you!

[ChuckFickens]

try it in as many floppy drives as you can.. you may be lucky and find one that can get the info off... if not it's probably lost, don't tell me the only copy of an important file you had was on a floppy disk!!

Oh and stop using floppy disks.. you are lucky it's lasted as long as it has if you've had it years! if you need to transfer stuff between computers get a USB flash drive, they are fairly cheap, must faster, can hold loads more and are much more reliable than floppy disks

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h_/202-5 151552-1831836?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-ke ywords=flash+drive&x=0&y=0

[kujawski]

sometimes works- but not recommended,

manually open the flap and blow hard, on the disk that is, or try and get a cleaning disk fro the drive, might be a dirty head ( but i doubt it)
other than that, sorry sounds like your stuffed


sorry

[beso]

I have wiped off the disk on floppies with some success.

However I would have to wonder why you would keep important files on the worlds most unreliable media. The fact that you have been using it successfully for years is a miracle in itself.

[1977Nicky]

I know I am an idiot for keeping an important file on a floppy disc but the USB ports at work are disabled for security reasons - I would never usually do this!

I have tried it in 2 floppy drives and the blowing trick to no avail. I sometimes get another error now which is the infamous 'cyclic redundancy error'

Beso - what do you mean about wiping off the disc? Thanks for the answers guys, I do have a backup but from 6 months ago ... again, I am an idiot! :-(