I have two computers that run W7 (one Ultimate, one Professional).Both computers have a properly working 3.5" diskette station.On one of these computers I needed to format a blank HD diskette for some upgrading purposes.I then noticed that Windows Explorer didn't list the diskette station as one of the drives in the system.The drive IS in the hardware properties list without any mark.Using "my computer" I could see the diskette station and right clicked it to start formatting the diskette.At that moment Windows Explorer showed a message that Explorer had stopped working/I could choose from "Looking for a solution at the internet and then close the program" and "Close the program".Since this happened several times, even after a restart of the computer, I moved myself to the other computer.At this computer I had the same experience as mentioned previously.I assume this is some flaw in W7.There are not many systems nowadays that need an operational diskette station, but it comes in handy at times.I therefore like to know if other people have had this experience and found a workaround to have a usable diskette station.Welmoed.

First of all, 3.5” floppy/drive is an old technical and the diskette/drive themselves may pretty old.1. “Windows Explorer didn't list the diskette station as one of the drives in the system”. Do you mean the “Floppy Disk Drive” did not show in the list under “Computer” in Navigation pane? In Windows 7, it will only show A drive in Navigation pane if there is a (readable) diskette in it.2. “Windows Explorer stop responding when try to format the diskette”. If the diskette is corrupted, the system will keep trying to read it and cause a system freeze. Can you use another diskette (another brand or a new diskette) as a test?Meanwhile, you can consider use flash disk (if your computer support Boot from USB)or CD-ROM as a substitution since diskette is very unsafe and unstable nowadays.