cat /dev/floppy > /test1 cat: /dev/floppy: Input/output error -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 18432 May 3 02:09 test1 Bad floppy right ? So time for dd, noerror tells it not to quit sync tells it not to aggregate a short read with the good ones, but to fill the remainder of the short read with zeros so ... dd conv=sync,noerror if=/dev/floppy of=/test2 ( bs=defaults to 512) -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1474560 May 3 02:18 test2 and we have the whole image of the proper size but including bad sectors filled in with zeros Raymond