I tried to make a MS Dos start up disk, and got this message:

Formatting 3 1/2 Floppy (A: )

Windows cannot format this drive. Quit any disk utilities or other programs that are using this drive, and make sure that no window is displaying the contents of the drive. Then try formatting again.

No programs were using the drive and no window was displaying contents of the drive.

If I click explore or open, I get an error message that:
Disk is not formatted. The disk in drive A is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?

I clicked yes, and got this message: Windows was unable to complete the format.

I'm running Windows XP, and am using new disks. The light comes on, and it sounds like it's working. I also used dust remover spray so the drive should be clean. Any ideas?

Here's a search:

cannot format floppies

One suggestion I see is: Can you format A in Safe Mode?

No, I can't format in safe mode. I also uninstalled my floppy driver and rebooted, but it still doesn't work. I also tried to format from DOS. No luck there either. This has me stumped! I rarely use my floppy, and my computer isn't that old!

can you read or write to the floppy without trying to format?

No. I had some old floppies, but they were probably made on Win98, and I understand that sometimes XP doesn't want to read. When I try to write I get the message that the disk isn't formatted, do I want to format now.

see any issues under device manager?

start/ run/ devmgmt.msc

floppy.

just to clarify: if you type anything into notepad (for example) you are not able to save to A?

Device manager says the device is working properly. When I tried to save something in notepad, I get an error message that The disk in drive A: isn't formatted. Would you like to format now? When I try the format, I get the message that the disk can't be formatted.

All I am doing is searching; here is another link plus one particular post:

cannot format floppy

The problem might be because of the usage of wrong media type. Trying to
format a high-density (1.44 MB) disk as a double-density (720 KB) disk, in
either a low-density or high-density drive should cause this kind of a
problem. While high-density drives are backward compatible with the
double-density format (if you use the correct parameter when formatting),
the media is not. High density media have a different formulation and
cannot be formatted to 720 KB, even on a high-density drive.

Check out the followin steps.

1. Use only double-density media if you have a double-density drive, or
when you need a 720 KB disk.
2. If you are using the right media, and you are having problems with one
disk, try another one, or another brand.
3. Make sure the floppy drive types are properly set up in the system BIOS.
Check this link
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/mbsys/bio...td_FloppyA.htm
4. If problems persist then you will need to troubleshoot the drive. Check
this link http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/comp/fdd/fail_Drive.htm

Hope this helps.

just another link i found:

Basic floppy trouble shooting.

I doubt very much that it's a problem with your disks. If you want to be sure, take one of your old Win98 disks to someone else's PC and see if they can read it.

It sounds much more like a hardware problem, even though Device Manager reckons it's OK. Have you definitely been able to use this drive in the past? Done anything inside the PC, e.g. upgrades, etc. since then?