Unofficial Windows XP Non-standard Floppy Formats FLPYDISK.SYS 5.1.2600.

5515 Fix

IMPORTANT:
* You may need to be logged on with Administrative/Power User privileges!
* You MUST reboot at the end of this installation so the changes can take effect!

Everything here applies to all Windows XP, XP SP1, XP SP1a, XP SP2 + XP SP3
editions.

This fix is language neutral.

FYI:
This fix/update is cumulative. This means it includes ALL BUG fixes from all
previous official + unofficial patches/(hot)fixes/updates. Do NOT replace with ANY
other older file version(s) UNLESS having problems with current file version(s).

NOTE:
Provided 'as is', without any warranties, expressed or implied.
Use at your own risk!

INSTALL:
This Fix installs modded FLPYDISK.SYS 5.1.2600.5515 into %windir%\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS
[%windir% = usually C:\WINDOWS], replacing original file of same name (if any).
Backup/restore not necessary because original file has limited capabilities.
In case you would like to restore the original FLPYDISK.SYS, it can be copied and
expanded from any Windows XP setup CD-ROM or (backup) install directory (example):

COPY \I386\FLPYDISK.SY_ %TEMP%

ATTRIB +A -H -R -S %TEMP%\FLPYDISK.SY_
ATTRIB +A -H -R -S %windir%\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\FLPYDISK.SYS
EXPAND %TEMP%\FLPYDISK.SY_ %windir%\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\FLPYDISK.SYS

CREDITS:
Based on Unofficial Floppy driver patch for Windows NT4/2000/XP:
http://alter.org.ua/en/soft/win/floppy/

DETAILS:
The original file as released by Alter (http://alter.org.ua/en/soft/win/floppy/)
does not have a "VS_VERSION_INFO" structure, so no version tab shows up in
"Properties".
I have patched in a custom version info resource created specifically for
FLPYDISK.SYS, to help in determining its presence.
Alter provides an .INF in his original package (flopx_xp_v1.rar) for installation
using the "update driver" interface, but the default FLPYDISK.INF from XP SP3 is
more complete, and, when there is already a FLPYDISK.SYS installed (which is
default on most systems), there is no need for reinstalling.
Instead (as confirmed by my tests), the driver can be installed by hand, by just
renaming (for backup purpose) and substituting the original MS FLPYDISK.SYS, and,
of course, this can be also automated, which is the reason I gave it a version
number higher than the XP SP3 standard 5512.

SUPPORT:
Windows XP original MS FLPYDISK.SYS driver supports 720k, 1.44M and DMF1/DMF2/1.68M
on 3.5" floppies, and 360k and 1.20M on 5.25" floppies.
Alter's modded version (this fix), however, supports 640k-1.74M (all reported 80-
track formats) on 3.5" floppies and 360k-1.49M on 5.25" floppies.
160k, 180k and 320k on 5.25" floppies are not tested (yet).
Alter's modded FLPYDISK.SYS seems to refuse to set "double-stepping" for 3.5" FDDs,
so it does not support any 40-track formats on 3.5" floppies (which are *very* non-
standard).
On the other hand, the default FDD driver for Win9x/ME will read and write happily
any 3.5" floppy formatted to any size, from 180k up to 1.74M, as well as any 5.25"
floppy formatted from 180k up to 1.49M, so it is more versatile.
And, of course, with a good BIOS behind it, native/true/real DOS can do the same as
Win9x/ME does [and most of those formats can only be created under native/true/real
DOS, by formatting with FDFORMAT by Christoph H. Hochstätter, or some other very
special formatting tools].
In fact, MS-DOS 7.10/8.00 will actually boot from a 1.74M floppy with the right
hardware (the only combination I've found so far that works is an Asus Eee PC 900
with a YD-8U10 Y-E Data USB FDD).
I cannot test for 2.88M capacity because I do not have either the proper FDD
hardware or the special media needed, but since it's a standard (albeit rare)
format, I imagine all the above support it OK.
I have still to test the Japanese 1.25M FDD format.
FYI, 83 tracks x 18 sectors seems to be the limit for 5.25" FDDs, and 83 tracks x
21 sectors the corresponding limit for 3.5" FDDs (trying to use more than 83 tracks
will actually break the FDD, although older drives may break with more than 82
tracks, so 83 is somewhat risky).

FLOPPY DISK FORMATS:

160K (Single-sided)
-----------------------------
Standard; Type: 5.25 Inch.
40 Tracks; 8 Sectors/Track;
1 Sectors/Cluster;
64 Root directory entries;
320 Total sectors on disk;
160,256 Bytes available for files.

180K (Single-sided)
-----------------------------
Standard; Type: 5.25 Inch.
40 Tracks; 9 Sectors/Track;
1 Sectors/Cluster;
64 Root directory entries;
360 Total sectors on disk;
179,712 Bytes available for files.

320K
-----------------------------
Standard; Type: 5.25 Inch.
40 Tracks; 8 Sectors/Track;
2 Sectors/Cluster;
112 Root directory entries;
640 Total sectors on disk;
322,560 Bytes available for files.

360K
-----------------------------
Standard; Type: 5.25 Inch.
40 Tracks; 9 Sectors/Track;
2 Sectors/Cluster;
112 Root directory entries;
720 Total sectors on disk;
362,496 Bytes available for files.

640K
-----------------------------
JPN Standard; Type: 3.5 Inch.
80 Tracks; 8 Sectors/Track;
2 Sectors/Cluster; 360 rpm
112 Root directory entries;
1,280 Total sectors on disk;
649,216 Bytes available for files.

720K
-----------------------------
Standard; Type: 3.5 Inch.
80 Tracks; 9 Sectors/Track;
2 Sectors/Cluster; 360 rpm
112 Root directory entries;
1,440 Total sectors on disk;
730,112 Bytes available for files.

1.20M (1200K)
-----------------------------
Standard; Type: 5.25 Inch.
80 Tracks; 15 Sectors/Track;
1 Sector/Cluster;
224 Root directory entries;
2,400 Total sectors on disk;
1,213,952 Bytes available for files.

1.25M (1232K)
-----------------------------
JPN Standard; Type: 5.25 Inch.
77 Tracks; 8 Sectors/Track;
1 Sector/Cluster; *1024 bytes/sector*;
224 Root directory entries;
1,232 Total sectors on disk;
1,249,280 Bytes available for files.

1.28M (1280K)
-----------------------------
JPN NonStandard; Type: 5.25 Inch.
80 Tracks; 8 Sectors/Track;
1 Sector/Cluster; *1024 bytes/sector*;
224 Root directory entries;
1,280 Total sectors on disk;
1,298,432 Bytes available for files.

1.44M
-----------------------------
Standard; Type: 3.5 Inch.
80 Tracks; 18 Sectors/Track;
1 Sector/Cluster; 360 rpm
224 Root directory entries;
2,880 Total sectors on disk;
1,457,664 Bytes available for files.

1.49M
-----------------------------
NonStandard; Type: 5.25 Inch.
83 Tracks; 18 Sectors/Track;
1 Sector/Cluster;
224 Root directory entries;
2,988 Total sectors on disk;
1,512,960 Bytes available for files.

DMF1 (1680K)
-----------------------------
NonStandard; Type: 3.5 Inch.
80 Tracks; 21 Sectors/Track;
2 Sectors/Cluster; 360 rpm
16 Root directory entries;
3,360 Total sectors on disk;
1,714,176 Bytes available for files.

DMF2 (1680K)
-----------------------------
NonStandard; Type: 3.5 Inch.
80 Tracks; 21 Sectors/Track;
4 Sectors/Cluster; 360 rpm
16 Root directory entries;
3,360 Total sectors on disk;
1,716,224 Bytes available for files.

1.68M (1680K)
-----------------------------
NonStandard; Type: 3.5 Inch.
80 Tracks; 21 Sectors/Track;
1 Sector/Cluster; 360 rpm
224 Root directory entries;
3,360 Total sectors on disk;
1,702,400 Bytes available for files.

1.72M (1722K)
-----------------------------
NonStandard; Type: 3.5 Inch.
82 Tracks; 21 Sectors/Track;
1 Sector/Cluster; 360 rpm.
224 Root directory entries;
3,444 Total sectors on disk;
1,745,408 Bytes available for files.

1.74M (1743K)
-----------------------------
Very NonStandard; Type: 3.5 Inch.
83 Tracks; 21 Sectors/Track;
1 Sector/Cluster; 360 rpm.
224 Root directory entries;
3,486 Total sectors on disk;
1,765,888 Bytes available for files.

2.88M (requires special floppies and special FDDs)

-----------------------------
Standard; Type: 3.5 Inch.
80 Tracks; 36 Sectors/Track;
2 Sector/Cluster; 360 rpm
240 Root directory entries;
5,760 Total sectors on disk;
2,931,712 Bytes available for files.

MORE INFO:
* Floppy Disk:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk
* Modded FLPYDISK.SYS had CRC headers corrected using ModifyPE command line tool
[free]:
http://unattended.msfn.org/unattended.xp/view/web/64/
* This patch was downloaded from the MDGx website:
https://www.mdgx.com/xp.htm#PSP3
http://web.archive.org/web/20210506113111/https://www.mdgx.com/files/FLPYDISK.EXE