Micrografx Windows Draw 3.0 720K Disks Unreadable

• Microsoft Windows NT operating system version 3.1
• Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server version 3.1

SYMPTOMS

When trying to view any of the 720K disks included with Micrografx Windows Draw version 3.0, the error messages described below may appear.

• If one of these disks is in a floppy disk drive and you use a DIR command from the Command Prompt, the following error message occurs:

        The volume does not contain a recognized file system...
  

• If one of these disks is in a floppy disk drive and you try to open the floppy disk drive window in File Manager, the following error message occurs:

        Disk is not formatted, format it now?
  

CAUSE

These errors occur because the disks from Micrografx do not strictly adhere to the FAT standard. In particular, the media byte in the BIOS parameter block (BPB) and in the FAT do not agree. Windows NT adheres more strictly to the floppy disk FAT standard than MS-DOS in order to protect against foreign programs, such as a virus. Other products that do not adhere strictly to the floppy disk FAT standard may have the same problem.

WORKAROUND

There are two workarounds that allow Micrografx Windows Draw version 3.0 to be installed in Windows NT. It is necessary to be able to boot into MS-DOS; without MS-DOS, it is not possible to install Windows Draw.

Procedure 1

Using MS-DOS, copy all the disks into a directory on the hard drive, restart Windows NT, and run the install program from the hard drive.

Procedure 2

Using MS-DOS, format 10 720K disks and copy all the corresponding files on each Windows Draw disk to a blank disk. You should not use DISKCOPY or IMAGE, because they would also copy over the incorrect BPB.