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A disk is stuck in the drive and will not eject

Explanation: You are trying to eject a disk (usually a 3.5" disk) from the floppy disk drive but it is stuck. Usually this means that you press the eject button, the disk pops up and starts to eject, but then falls back in place into the drive.

Diagnosis: This is usually caused by the metal slider on the disk coming loose and snagging on something inside the drive. If it happens often then it may be the brand of disks you are using, or it could be the drive.

Recommendation:

  • Turn the power off to the PC. Then, using a long, thin screwdriver or knife, carefully pry the disk out of the drive. You want to try just to push out of the way whatever is getting stuck, without moving or damaging anything in the drive. This whole process sounds complicated but is in fact quite easy to do.
  • If the problem occurs a great deal and you are using only one type of media, try another.
  • If the problem occurs even with different types of disk media, the drive probably needs to be serviced or replaced.

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