The symptoms to look out for are problems loading from your Start-of-day discs, difficulties copying discs, or the error messages Drive not ready or Disc has been changed (when you have not changed the disc in the drive).

If these symptoms only occur with particular discs, then the problem is probably just the disc. Make a new copy of that disc and stop using the old one. If, however, these symptoms occur with most or all of your discs, or in one drive and not another, then the problem is probably a worn or faulty drive. This sheet lists ways you can deal with a faulty 3" disc drive.

3" Drive Maintenance Kit

If you are reasonably handy with a screwdriver (or know someone who is), then there’s one inexpensive DIY possible solution - the 3" Drive Maintenance Kit. This consists of a new Drive Belt and a head cleaning pad, plus full instructions for fitting and cleaning.

The Drive Belt is essentially a very special rubber band that connects the disc drive motor to the drive spindle. When worn or old, the belt can stretch and the spindle may not spin at the correct speed. Replacing the belt can give an old drive a new lease of life, but cannot be guaranteed to solve all problems.

The head cleaning pad is designed to be used to remove any dust or other substances that may be stuck to the disc drive’s read/write head.

To use the kit you will need to remove the back from your PCW and remove the disc drive. Then you will need to open up the drive to replace the Drive Belt. This does require a steady hand and some dexterity, but does not require any special tools other than a cross-head screwdriver with a fairly long shaft and a small screwdriver. The instructions take you through the steps of removing, opening up and replacing the drive belt and the process of cleaning the drive head(s).

The 3" Drive Maintenance Kit costs just £14.95 including VAT and delivery. But as we cannot guarantee that it will work, we offer a refund of £10 against the other options below if the drive kit does not fix the drive. (This offer is limited to 30 days of purchase.)

Replacement 3.5" Disc Drive  subject to availability

If you’re not so certain about fixing your drive using the maintenance kit, or the kit fails to fix the problem, then a new drive is the next solution up in price. This too is a DIY fitting solution, but is not so fiddly as replacing the drive belt.

As 3" drives have not been made for ten years, new 3" drives are not available. Instead, we recommend fitting a 3.5" disc drive to replace your Drive A. The Drive A kits we supply are designed to be an exact physical and electrical replacement for the Amstrad 3" drives. Fitting involves simply opening up the PCW’s case unplugging and unscrewing the existing Drive A, putting the 3.5" drive in its place and then plugging the connectors back in and replacing the case.

As the new drives operate at a slightly faster speed than the 3" drives (and have a higher capacity if replacing an 8256 or 8512’s drive A), a new version of LocoScript (and CP/M if used) is required to make sure everything works correctly. If you are using LocoScript 4, this is free of charge, but for earlier versions of LocoScript you will need to upgrade to LocoScript 4. A new version of other Locomotive Software discs and CP/M is always provided free - you simply need to return any old 3" Locomotive Software master discs when ordering the drive.

Whichever drive has failed, we recommend installing a new 3.5" Drive A. Then, you will be able to update your Start-of-day discs to 3.5" for greater reliability. If you still have a working 3" drive, this can be fitted as Drive B in the righthand slot on a 9512, the bottom one on an 8256 (which may be covered by a blanking plate, which is easily removed). If the 3" drive was originally fitted in Drive A you will also need the Drive B conversion cable to use it as Drive B.

If you have any documents on old 3" discs that you will continue to need after replacing the drive, we can copy these to 3.5" discs for you. If you update to LocoScript 4 you will of course be able to use all your old documents from earlier versions of LocoScript.

The Drive A 3.5" Disc Drive Kit costs £99 and LocoScript 4 costs £39.95 (on sale at £25 during August).
Copying 3" data discs to 3.5" discs costs £2.50 per disc when you have bought the drive from us.

A LocoScript PC from £150 to £299

The final option if your PCW’s drives are proving unreliable is to move to a PC. We can supply a range of ex-Corporate PCs including LocoScript, and we can copy your 3" discs across to PC discs. So you’ll be able to continue to use the familiar LocoScript word processor and have access to all your LocoScript 1, 2 and 3 documents.

Our  top-of-the-range Loco Professional PC comes complete with Windows 95, so as well as using LocoScript you’ll be able to branch out in new ways. The specifications include Min 32MB RAM, 1GB HDD, 3.5" FDD, CD-ROM,  sound card and speakers and internal modem all prefitted so that you’ll be able to connect to the Internet and send and receive email.

We include an introduction to the machine, full documentation on LocoScript, plus an introductory guide to Windows.

The Loco Professional PC costs £299. Add an inkjet printer for just £99 if purchased at the same time or you may already have a suitable 'external' printer which you fitted to your PCW. Full details are in our Loco PC information sheet. PCW discs can be transferred at £2.50 each.

The Starter and Advance Loco PCs

We have some older PCs available. These are also refurbished, ex-corporate computers. They are excellent value from just £150, including a 14" colour monitor, base unit with hard drive, 3.5" FDD, keyboard and mouse. All Loco PCs come complete with a 3 month warranty.

The PCs come with MS DOS and LocoScript installed on  hard disc, so you can just turn on the PC and get straight to work. . We can copy your 3" discs across to PC format 3.5" discs so that you can read these in your new PC and work with your existing LocoScript 1, 2 and 3 documents. LocoScript 4 documents must be resaved as LocoScript 3 files.

The Starter PC is based on a 486 (Min 100MB HDD) whilst the Advanced PC has a Pentium processor (Min 16MB RAM and 500MB HDD) and includes Windows 3.1. The Advanced PC is more suitable for upgrading, perhaps by your local PC dealer, at a later date. Both the Starter and Advanced PCs are ideal for running LocoScript under MSDOS and Windows 3.1.

The Starter PC costs £150 and the Advanced PC costs £199. Your 3" data discs can be copied to 3.5" discs for use with the Starter PC for £2.50 each.

For further details, please contact our sales department on 08700 736427 or email us at sales@locoscript.com