getting floppy to eject automatically on shutdown

[Larry]

With a Dell Dimension with Windows 98, is there a way that when I shut
down the computer, it will automatically eject any floppy diskette that
happens to be in the floppy drive?

This would avoid the annoyance of starting to boot the computer later
and then realizing that it hasn't booted because I left a floppy in the
drive.

The computer is a Dimension vccccc with 333 MH I bought in 1998.

Thanks,

Larry

[Jeff Richards]

Windows 98 doesn't have this functionality. The standard floppy drive does
not have the required mechanism.

To avoid having the system try to boot to any floppy accidentally left in
the drive, access BIOS setup and make sure that the floppy drive is not
listed before the hard drive in the boot sequence.

Because leaving a floppy in the drive is a virus risk, many anti-virus
programs have an option to warn you if you try to shut down with a floppy
still in the drive.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (DTS)
"Larry" > wrote in message
...
> With a Dell Dimension with Windows 98, is there a way that when I shut
> down the computer, it will automatically eject any floppy diskette that
> happens to be in the floppy drive?
>
> This would avoid the annoyance of starting to boot the computer later
> and then realizing that it hasn't booted because I left a floppy in the
> drive.
>
> The computer is a Dimension vccccc with 333 MH I bought in 1998.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Larry
>
>

[Larry]

> Because leaving a floppy in the drive is a virus risk, many anti-virus
> programs have an option to warn you if you try to shut down with a
> floppy still in the drive.

Ok, that would be good. The system doesn't have to eject the floppy
physically when the computer shuts down. It just needs to tell me that
the floppy is there so that I can remove it. Do you know what program
would do this?

Larry





Jeff Richards wrote:
> Windows 98 doesn't have this functionality. The standard floppy drive
> does not have the required mechanism.
>
> To avoid having the system try to boot to any floppy accidentally
> left in the drive, access BIOS setup and make sure that the floppy
> drive is not listed before the hard drive in the boot sequence.
>
> Because leaving a floppy in the drive is a virus risk, many anti-virus
> programs have an option to warn you if you try to shut down with a
> floppy still in the drive.
> > With a Dell Dimension with Windows 98, is there a way that when I
> > shut down the computer, it will automatically eject any floppy
> > diskette that happens to be in the floppy drive?
> >
> > This would avoid the annoyance of starting to boot the computer
> > later and then realizing that it hasn't booted because I left a
> > floppy in the drive.
> >
> > The computer is a Dimension vccccc with 333 MH I bought in 1998.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Larry

[Isaac]

"Larry" > wrote in news:#TZXS3vcEHA.2944
@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl:

>
>> Because leaving a floppy in the drive is a virus risk, many anti-virus
>> programs have an option to warn you if you try to shut down with a
>> floppy still in the drive.
>
> Ok, that would be good. The system doesn't have to eject the floppy
> physically when the computer shuts down. It just needs to tell me that
> the floppy is there so that I can remove it. Do you know what program
> would do this?
>
> Larry
>
>
>
>
>
> Jeff Richards wrote:
>> Windows 98 doesn't have this functionality. The standard floppy drive
>> does not have the required mechanism.
>>
>> To avoid having the system try to boot to any floppy accidentally
>> left in the drive, access BIOS setup and make sure that the floppy
>> drive is not listed before the hard drive in the boot sequence.
>>
>> Because leaving a floppy in the drive is a virus risk, many anti-virus
>> programs have an option to warn you if you try to shut down with a
>> floppy still in the drive.
>> > With a Dell Dimension with Windows 98, is there a way that when I
>> > shut down the computer, it will automatically eject any floppy
>> > diskette that happens to be in the floppy drive?
>> >
>> > This would avoid the annoyance of starting to boot the computer
>> > later and then realizing that it hasn't booted because I left a
>> > floppy in the drive.
>> >
>> > The computer is a Dimension vccccc with 333 MH I bought in 1998.
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> >
>> > Larry
>
>

Most virusscanners can do it.

[Gary S. Terhune]

"Larry" > wrote in message =
...
> With a Dell Dimension with Windows 98, is there a way that when I shut
> down the computer, it will automatically eject any floppy diskette =
that
> happens to be in the floppy drive?
>=20
> This would avoid the annoyance of starting to boot the computer later
> and then realizing that it hasn't booted because I left a floppy in =
the
> drive.
>=20
> The computer is a Dimension vccccc with 333 MH I bought in 1998.
>=20
> Thanks,
>=20
> Larry
>=20

Larry,

As Jeff suggested, there is no way to eject a floppy disk other than =
manually. If your current antivirus scanner doesn't check for the =
presence of a floppy disk, here's a sample script to do it for you =
(probably also possible using a batch file, but I don't do batch files.) =
You'd just have to remember not to use the usual Start\Shutdown method =
(in fact, it can be disabled: see below.) I'm putting the script code =
below my signature. Just open a new text file in Notepad, make *sure* =
that Word-Wrap is turned off in the Format menu, copy the code into the =
file, then save as C:\"Shutdown.vbs". Then create a shortcut on your =
Desktop or in the Start menu. Requires Windows Scripting Host, and if =
your system is set to have EDIT as the default action for scripts, =
you'll want to preface the shortcut's command with wscript<space>:
Example:
wscript "C:\Shutdown.vbs"

Unfortunately, I don't have a Win9x system available at this moment, and =
the commands involved don't work on XP, so if there's any errors, or you =
would like it to behave differently, feedback is certainly welcome. I'm =
sending this message in MIME-QP, so that it doesn't wrap, but if you =
have trouble making a VBS file out of it, drop me an email and I'll send =
you a TXT file that you can rename. Also, the command this uses to =
shutdown/restart requires a switch to indicate what kind of shutdown. =
I've made the obvious two choices the only ones available, but you might =
be interested in the rest of the possibilities that can be programmed =
in, so here's the article on that: =
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=3D234216

To disable the Shutdown button on your system, use REGEDIT to find the =
following key:
"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Policies\Exp=
lorer"
Right-click the key, choose New, D-WORD. Name it "NoClose", then =
double-click it and change its value to "1" (one).
(I found this and other straight-forward Policies descriptions at =
http://sudhirmangla.i6networks.com/win/winsecret.htm. It's amazing how =
*not* forthcoming the MSKB is about these things!)
--=20
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP for Win9x
=20
(Copy everything *between*, but not including, the dashed lines)

-----------------Begin Script-------------------------
option explicit
dim d, dc, td, q
With CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set dc =3D .Drives
For Each d in dc
If d.DriveLetter =3D "A" Then
Do While d.IsReady
q =3D MsgBox("There is a floppy disk in drive A:\" & vbcrlf & _
"Remove floppy and click 'Retry'." & vbcrlf & _
"Click 'Ignore' to continue Shutdown, or" & _
" 'Abort' to cancel", 306, "Floppy disk present...")
If q =3D 3 Then Wscript.Quit
If q =3D 5 Then Exit Do
Loop
End If
If d.DriveLetter =3D "B" Then
Do While d.IsReady
q =3D MsgBox("There is a floppy disk in drive B:\" & vbcrlf & _
"Remove floppy and click 'Retry'." & vbcrlf & _
"Click 'Ignore' to continue Shutdown, or" & _
" 'Abort' to cancel", 306, "Floppy disk present...")
If q =3D 3 Then Wscript.Quit
If q =3D 5 Then Exit Do
Loop
End If
Next
End With
q =3D MsgBox("Restart Windows?" & vbcrlf & _
"Click Yes to Restart, No to Shutdown," & vbcrlf & _
"or Cancel to return to Windows.", 35, "Restart or =
Shutdown?")
If q =3D 2 Then WScript.Quit
If q =3D 6 Then
With WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
.Run "rundll32.exe shell32.dll,SHExitWindowsEx 2"
End With
End If
If q =3D 7 Then
With WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
.Run "rundll32.exe shell32.dll,SHExitWindowsEx 1"
End With
End If
Wscript.Quit
-----------------End Script--------------------------

[glee]

There is a small freeware to remind you:
http://www.freebyte.com/bootminder/
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP W95/98 Systems
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

"Larry" > wrote in message
...
>
> > Because leaving a floppy in the drive is a virus risk, many anti-virus
> > programs have an option to warn you if you try to shut down with a
> > floppy still in the drive.
>
> Ok, that would be good. The system doesn't have to eject the floppy
> physically when the computer shuts down. It just needs to tell me that
> the floppy is there so that I can remove it. Do you know what program
> would do this?
>
> Larry
>
>
>
>
>
> Jeff Richards wrote:
> > Windows 98 doesn't have this functionality. The standard floppy drive
> > does not have the required mechanism.
> >
> > To avoid having the system try to boot to any floppy accidentally
> > left in the drive, access BIOS setup and make sure that the floppy
> > drive is not listed before the hard drive in the boot sequence.
> >
> > Because leaving a floppy in the drive is a virus risk, many anti-virus
> > programs have an option to warn you if you try to shut down with a
> > floppy still in the drive.
> > > With a Dell Dimension with Windows 98, is there a way that when I
> > > shut down the computer, it will automatically eject any floppy
> > > diskette that happens to be in the floppy drive?
> > >
> > > This would avoid the annoyance of starting to boot the computer
> > > later and then realizing that it hasn't booted because I left a
> > > floppy in the drive.
> > >
> > > The computer is a Dimension vccccc with 333 MH I bought in 1998.
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > >
> > > Larry
>
>

[Larry]

Thanks, all. You've given me a bunch options to choose from. I
downloaded the bootminder and may try that, but the thing is, there's no
way to know if it's running or not unless you actually try to shut down
the computer with a floppy in the drive.

Larry



Gary S. Terhune wrote:
> "Larry" > wrote in message
> ...
> > With a Dell Dimension with Windows 98, is there a way that when I
> > shut down the computer, it will automatically eject any floppy
> > diskette that happens to be in the floppy drive?
> >
> > This would avoid the annoyance of starting to boot the computer
> > later and then realizing that it hasn't booted because I left a
> > floppy in the drive.
> >
> > The computer is a Dimension vccccc with 333 MH I bought in 1998.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Larry
> >
>
> Larry,
>
> As Jeff suggested, there is no way to eject a floppy disk other than
> manually. If your current antivirus scanner doesn't check for the
> presence of a floppy disk, here's a sample script to do it for you
> (probably also possible using a batch file, but I don't do batch
> files.) You'd just have to remember not to use the usual
> Start\Shutdown method (in fact, it can be disabled: see below.) I'm
> putting the script code below my signature. Just open a new text file
> in Notepad, make *sure* that Word-Wrap is turned off in the Format
> menu, copy the code into the file, then save as C:\"Shutdown.vbs".
> Then create a shortcut on your Desktop or in the Start menu. Requires
> Windows Scripting Host, and if your system is set to have EDIT as the
> default action for scripts, you'll want to preface the shortcut's
> command with wscript<space>:
> Example:
> wscript "C:\Shutdown.vbs"
>
> Unfortunately, I don't have a Win9x system available at this moment,
> and the commands involved don't work on XP, so if there's any errors,
> or you would like it to behave differently, feedback is certainly
> welcome. I'm sending this message in MIME-QP, so that it doesn't
> wrap, but if you have trouble making a VBS file out of it, drop me an
> email and I'll send you a TXT file that you can rename. Also, the
> command this uses to shutdown/restart requires a switch to indicate
> what kind of shutdown. I've made the obvious two choices the only
> ones available, but you might be interested in the rest of the
> possibilities that can be programmed in, so here's the article on
> that: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=234216
>
> To disable the Shutdown button on your system, use REGEDIT to find
> the following key:
>
"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Policies\Ex
plorer"
> Right-click the key, choose New, D-WORD. Name it "NoClose", then
> double-click it and change its value to "1" (one).
> (I found this and other straight-forward Policies descriptions at
> http://sudhirmangla.i6networks.com/win/winsecret.htm. It's amazing
> how *not* forthcoming the MSKB is about these things!)

[glee]

When you install it, a shortcut to Bootminder is made in the Start Menu> Programs>
StartUp folder, and it will start with Windows. There should be no reason to see it
otherwise.
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP W95/98 Systems
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

"Larry" > wrote in message
...
> Thanks, all. You've given me a bunch options to choose from. I
> downloaded the bootminder and may try that, but the thing is, there's no
> way to know if it's running or not unless you actually try to shut down
> the computer with a floppy in the drive.
>
> Larry
>
>
>
> Gary S. Terhune wrote:
> > "Larry" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > With a Dell Dimension with Windows 98, is there a way that when I
> > > shut down the computer, it will automatically eject any floppy
> > > diskette that happens to be in the floppy drive?
> > >
> > > This would avoid the annoyance of starting to boot the computer
> > > later and then realizing that it hasn't booted because I left a
> > > floppy in the drive.
> > >
> > > The computer is a Dimension vccccc with 333 MH I bought in 1998.
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > >
> > > Larry
> > >
> >
> > Larry,
> >
> > As Jeff suggested, there is no way to eject a floppy disk other than
> > manually. If your current antivirus scanner doesn't check for the
> > presence of a floppy disk, here's a sample script to do it for you
> > (probably also possible using a batch file, but I don't do batch
> > files.) You'd just have to remember not to use the usual
> > Start\Shutdown method (in fact, it can be disabled: see below.) I'm
> > putting the script code below my signature. Just open a new text file
> > in Notepad, make *sure* that Word-Wrap is turned off in the Format
> > menu, copy the code into the file, then save as C:\"Shutdown.vbs".
> > Then create a shortcut on your Desktop or in the Start menu. Requires
> > Windows Scripting Host, and if your system is set to have EDIT as the
> > default action for scripts, you'll want to preface the shortcut's
> > command with wscript<space>:
> > Example:
> > wscript "C:\Shutdown.vbs"
> >
> > Unfortunately, I don't have a Win9x system available at this moment,
> > and the commands involved don't work on XP, so if there's any errors,
> > or you would like it to behave differently, feedback is certainly
> > welcome. I'm sending this message in MIME-QP, so that it doesn't
> > wrap, but if you have trouble making a VBS file out of it, drop me an
> > email and I'll send you a TXT file that you can rename. Also, the
> > command this uses to shutdown/restart requires a switch to indicate
> > what kind of shutdown. I've made the obvious two choices the only
> > ones available, but you might be interested in the rest of the
> > possibilities that can be programmed in, so here's the article on
> > that: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=234216
> >
> > To disable the Shutdown button on your system, use REGEDIT to find
> > the following key:
> >
> "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Policies\Ex
> plorer"
> > Right-click the key, choose New, D-WORD. Name it "NoClose", then
> > double-click it and change its value to "1" (one).
> > (I found this and other straight-forward Policies descriptions at
> > http://sudhirmangla.i6networks.com/win/winsecret.htm. It's amazing
> > how *not* forthcoming the MSKB is about these things!)
>
>

[Larry]

I just tried it: stuck a floppy in the drive and did shut down, and got
that little dialog box telling me there was a floppy in the floppy
drive. That's just what I wanted. Computers should have this utility
as a built-in feature.

Thanks.

Larry





glee wrote:
> When you install it, a shortcut to Bootminder is made in the Start
> Menu> Programs> StartUp folder, and it will start with Windows. There
> should be no reason to see it otherwise.
>
> "Larry" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Thanks, all. You've given me a bunch options to choose from. I
> > downloaded the bootminder and may try that, but the thing is,
> > there's no way to know if it's running or not unless you actually
> > try to shut down the computer with a floppy in the drive.
> >
> > Larry
> >
> >
> >
> > Gary S. Terhune wrote:
> > > "Larry" > wrote in message
> > > ...
> > > > With a Dell Dimension with Windows 98, is there a way that when
> > > > I shut down the computer, it will automatically eject any floppy
> > > > diskette that happens to be in the floppy drive?
> > > >
> > > > This would avoid the annoyance of starting to boot the computer
> > > > later and then realizing that it hasn't booted because I left a
> > > > floppy in the drive.
> > > >
> > > > The computer is a Dimension vccccc with 333 MH I bought in 1998.
> > > >
> > > > Thanks,
> > > >
> > > > Larry
> > > >
> > >
> > > Larry,
> > >
> > > As Jeff suggested, there is no way to eject a floppy disk other
> > > than manually. If your current antivirus scanner doesn't check
> > > for the presence of a floppy disk, here's a sample script to do
> > > it for you (probably also possible using a batch file, but I
> > > don't do batch files.) You'd just have to remember not to use the
> > > usual Start\Shutdown method (in fact, it can be disabled: see
> > > below.) I'm putting the script code below my signature. Just open
> > > a new text file in Notepad, make *sure* that Word-Wrap is turned
> > > off in the Format menu, copy the code into the file, then save as
> > > C:\"Shutdown.vbs". Then create a shortcut on your Desktop or in
> > > the Start menu. Requires Windows Scripting Host, and if your
> > > system is set to have EDIT as the default action for scripts,
> > > you'll want to preface the shortcut's command with wscript<space>:
> > > Example:
> > > wscript "C:\Shutdown.vbs"
> > >
> > > Unfortunately, I don't have a Win9x system available at this
> > > moment, and the commands involved don't work on XP, so if there's
> > > any errors, or you would like it to behave differently, feedback
> > > is certainly welcome. I'm sending this message in MIME-QP, so
> > > that it doesn't wrap, but if you have trouble making a VBS file
> > > out of it, drop me an email and I'll send you a TXT file that you
> > > can rename. Also, the command this uses to shutdown/restart
> > > requires a switch to indicate what kind of shutdown. I've made
> > > the obvious two choices the only ones available, but you might be
> > > interested in the rest of the possibilities that can be
> > > programmed in, so here's the article on that:
> > > http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=234216
> > >
> > > To disable the Shutdown button on your system, use REGEDIT to find
> > > the following key:
> > >
> >
"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Policies\Ex
> > plorer"
> > > Right-click the key, choose New, D-WORD. Name it "NoClose", then
> > > double-click it and change its value to "1" (one).
> > > (I found this and other straight-forward Policies descriptions at
> > > http://sudhirmangla.i6networks.com/win/winsecret.htm. It's amazing
> > > how *not* forthcoming the MSKB is about these things!)

[Larry]

I posted a message yesterday but it got crossed out for some reason. I
wanted to tell you that the Bootminder works fine. Thank you.

Larry

[glee]

I saw the message....thanks for the feedback.
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP W95/98 Systems
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

"Larry" > wrote in message
...
> I posted a message yesterday but it got crossed out for some reason. I
> wanted to tell you that the Bootminder works fine. Thank you.
>
> Larry
>
>