Question How do I get my Windows program to think there is a floppy disk available for read/write activity using Parallels? Background I have a Windows program that requires the ability to read/write to a floppy. In Boot Camp I used the "SUBST" DOS command to redirect any read/write activity from the A:\ drive to a folder within the "My Documents" folder. However, in Parallels, that same command returns "Invalid parameter - A:". Using Disk Utility.app on the Mac side, I then tried creating a disk image, "erasing" it in MS-DOS format and mounting it to the desktop. I then copied the necessary files to the mounted DMG, closed it and renamed it with a FDD extension. However, when trying to connect to that image with Parallels, I get the message "Cannot open ... Invalid floppy disk image." I searched but did not find anything that resolved my issue. System Info Parallels Build 3036 (using Boot Camp virtual hard disk option) 20" iMac C2D w/2GB RAM Mac OS X 10.4.8 Windows XP Home SP2B
SOLUTION I did some more searching and ultimately I disabled the floppy drive in the Configuration Editor, which allowed me to use the SUBST command.
Unfortunately the solution didn't really answer the question if you want to create an .fdd file! In case anybody else is looking at just how to create an .fdd file here is an easy way: Parallels includes a floppy image file: /library/parallels/vmtools.fdd. You can just make a copy of this file, connect to it and reformat it.
