It's the software that's problematic. I know this for two reasons:
1) The floppy disk question mark is very common; operating systems build up tiny bits of data from normal use after a while, and it builds up so much that slower performance and the floppy disk question marks occur. I've seen this in a couple of my Macs that a simple reinstallation fixed right up.
2) While it remains a possibility that the hard drive is to blame, you could remove your Color Classic's hard drive and you could still run the computer from the system floppy disk! Hard drives, while certainly facilitating and speeding up data and OS storage, are not 'absolutely necessary' to run a Mac in the most basic form. Of course, if you want to install programs, you'll need a working HDD to store the OS so that your floppy drive's free, but you could still run your Mac solely off of a system floppy. In fact, for the earlier compact Macs, you had to run it off of a floppy, as they had no internal hard drives!
So try and get ahold of a system floppy disk and see if your HDD will accept an installation. The chances are high that an OS reinstallation will fix it right up.
Keep us posted,
-Apostrophe
1) The floppy disk question mark is very common; operating systems build up tiny bits of data from normal use after a while, and it builds up so much that slower performance and the floppy disk question marks occur. I've seen this in a couple of my Macs that a simple reinstallation fixed right up.
2) While it remains a possibility that the hard drive is to blame, you could remove your Color Classic's hard drive and you could still run the computer from the system floppy disk! Hard drives, while certainly facilitating and speeding up data and OS storage, are not 'absolutely necessary' to run a Mac in the most basic form. Of course, if you want to install programs, you'll need a working HDD to store the OS so that your floppy drive's free, but you could still run your Mac solely off of a system floppy. In fact, for the earlier compact Macs, you had to run it off of a floppy, as they had no internal hard drives!
So try and get ahold of a system floppy disk and see if your HDD will accept an installation. The chances are high that an OS reinstallation will fix it right up.
Keep us posted,
-Apostrophe