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3.5 Inch Floppy Drive Problems

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gramirez
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20 Jan 2010, 12:02 pm

I use floppy drives every day. There's nothing wrong with them.


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greengeek
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20 Jan 2010, 1:39 pm

Some old computers can only transfer data using a floppy disk. I have an Apple IIe with two 5.25" Disk II drives. It also has jacks on the back so you can use standard audio cassettes with Data on them. That was the only way you could store data on an Apple IIe before they introduced the Floppy Drive.


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pakled
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20 Jan 2010, 3:09 pm

not to worry; if you want to use floppies, use floppies.
I had boxes of 5.25" that I transferred to 3.5", then transferred again to 2 CDs...;)
Actually, there are some boot utilities and diagnostics that still use floppies; it's just the drives themselves that no longer seem to be installed (heck, it's getting to where desktops seem to be getting scarce...;)


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alex
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20 Jan 2010, 3:27 pm

Vashna wrote:
I am currently having a problem with my 3.5" Diskette drive. It doesn't seem to want to write to a disk after a certain point, and I've gotten everything from a 'sector not found' error to a 'file permission' error. I've tried a number of diskettes, so I am pretty sure the disks aren't the problem. Is the drive dirty? Worn out?

Thanks so much!

- John


what is this? 1990? why do you have a floppy drive on your computer still?



lau
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20 Jan 2010, 7:51 pm

alex wrote:
Vashna wrote:
I am currently having a problem with my 3.5" Diskette drive. It doesn't seem to want to write to a disk after a certain point, and I've gotten everything from a 'sector not found' error to a 'file permission' error. I've tried a number of diskettes, so I am pretty sure the disks aren't the problem. Is the drive dirty? Worn out?

Thanks so much!

- John


what is this? 1990? why do you have a floppy drive on your computer still?

I have several computers (about a dozen, or so). Offhand...

Three have USB.
One has a DVD writer (but I also have a USB DVD writer).
One has a CD writer.
One has a CD reader.
One has SSD.
Six have one or more HDDs.
Seven have one or more 3.5 FDDs.
One has two 5 1/4 FDDs.
Several have tape drives, of three sorts.
Most have some form of network capability (but only four-ish have Ethernet)

I think I have about 500 3.5 floppies and about 50 5 1/4.


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roadracer
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20 Jan 2010, 9:56 pm

I have two computers, that are not that old, that I built that have 3.5" floppy drives in them because on those computers they are needed to update the bios and raid drivers, and to run HDD diagnostic program. The computer I am typing this on does not have a floppy because with this MB I can do all that stuff with a thumb drive or update the bios from the OS (with asus bios update utility).
This is why floppy drives are still being made/sold, because there is still somewhat of a need for them



sinsboldly
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20 Jan 2010, 10:27 pm

alex wrote:
Vashna wrote:
I am currently having a problem with my 3.5" Diskette drive. It doesn't seem to want to write to a disk after a certain point, and I've gotten everything from a 'sector not found' error to a 'file permission' error. I've tried a number of diskettes, so I am pretty sure the disks aren't the problem. Is the drive dirty? Worn out?

Thanks so much!

- John


what is this? 1990? why do you have a floppy drive on your computer still?


wow, that is pretty harsh! But to answer your question, it's because new computers cost money, Alex. Money that some of us don't have.

did you really have to be told? sheesh


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pakled
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21 Jan 2010, 12:55 pm

actually, I have 2 PCs, and 1 still has a 3.5"...;)
Better to have a drive and not need it, than need a drive and not have it...;)


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nodice1996
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21 Jan 2010, 3:41 pm

I don't use floppy disks often(I haven't in the past 6 months), but when I do, for whatever reason, they are needed. Booting to DOS is somewhat important occasionally. I have a USB floppy drive though.


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