Would it be possible to use an internal diskette drive on another PC?

[bob bobato]

Very quick question. Would it be possible to 'harvest' a diskette drive from an old computer and somehow use it on a newer PC?

 

[Aramazd]

Yes, you should be able to.

 

[Souron]

Yes. I've done it.
But you will have to reinstall windows on it if you use it as your boot drive.

 

[bob bobato]

Yes. I've done it.
But you will have to reinstall windows on it if you use it as your boot drive.

So how would I then? Take it out and plug it in to computer, externally? Or take open the PC and put it in (I think I could, my PC has built in space for extra drives). But to do that, I would have to reinstall windows?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I think you can get cases for making an internal drive into an external one.

 

[Cutlass]

if you have windows installed on the drive that the new pc already has, then just plug the old drive into the new pc and you can copy files. then you can wipe out the old drive and use it as just additional storage.

 

[Zelig]

By "diskette" drive, do you mean floppy drive?

If so, you'd connect it internally using the same connectors as it had in the old computer, no need to reinstall windows, just make sure floppy drive is enabled in the BIOS.

But honestly, who still uses floppy drives?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

But honestly, who still uses floppy drives?

People who have old programs? (I have an old version of MS Office -- I never use it but I still have it.)

Or if you have a bunch of files on floppies, you might want to tranfer them to CD.

 

[Zelig]

People who have old programs? (I have an old version of MS Office -- I never use it but I still have it.)

Or if you have a bunch of files on floppies, you might want to tranfer them to CD.

There are no programs on floppies worth using on new computers, you can download better ones for any functions you may want to do.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Except for those old DOS games. I still play some of them.

Well, any decent DOS game is already available for download, so....

 

[Souron]

So how would I then? Take it out and plug it in to computer, externally? Or take open the PC and put it in (I think I could, my PC has built in space for extra drives). But to do that, I would have to reinstall windows?

Which ever you prefer. You will only have to reinstall Windows if you want to use the drive that you move to boot from.

 

[Quintillus]

There's a somewhat easier way than physically moving it if what you want to do is be able to access floppy disks from the newer computer. That solution is to set up a home network (go to the Network Setup Wizard under the Control Panel to start on this - the key is to use the same name on both computers), and then to turn on sharing on the floppy drive.

To turn on the sharing, go to My Computer, right-click on the floppy drive, choose "Sharing and Security" from the context menu, say that you understand the risk (only an issue if someone hacks into your network - then they'd be able to see what's on the floppy drive), and then check the "Share this folder on the network" box and give it a name such as "Floppy disk drive". Check the modify box if you want to be able to modify files on the floppy disk remotely.

To access the floppy drive from the newer computer, then, just go to My Network Places and it should show up under Local Network as whatever you named it.

You do have to have both computers on a network to do this, of course. But so long as you won't be swapping floppies alot, it may be simpler to just set up network sharing rather than to physically move the drive.

The instructions are assuming you're running XP. It shouldn't vary too much on different versions of Windows. I don't have a copy of Vista available, so you'll have to interpret accordingly if you're running Vista.

 

[kuukkeli]

There are no programs on floppies worth using on new computers, you can download better ones for any functions you may want to do.

There might be. Updating motherboard BIOS may still require floppy to do safely. From personal experience I know that at least Abit broke the USB boot in some of their mobos forcing one either to update from Windows or with floppy (I was adventurous and updated in Windows, succesfully).

 

[bob bobato]

There's a somewhat easier way than physically moving it if what you want to do is be able to access floppy disks from the newer computer. That solution is to set up a home network (go to the Network Setup Wizard under the Control Panel to start on this - the key is to use the same name on both computers), and then to turn on sharing on the floppy drive.

That wouldn't be possible- the old computer is dead in a closet. But I know all the cd/diskette drives are fine.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

There might be. Updating motherboard BIOS may still require floppy to do safely. From personal experience I know that at least Abit broke the USB boot in some of their mobos forcing one either to update from Windows or with floppy (I was adventurous and updated in Windows, succesfully).

Most manufacturers will provide BIOS updates that you can use off a cd. Installing RAID drivers in XP though may still require floppy drives though.

 

[Turner]

Depends on the computer. I've done it with USB, but I've also had to dig up my floppy drive to get the drivers installed on there.

 

[Perfection]

But honestly, who still uses floppy drives?

I use it at work. It's how our spectrum analyzer saves data.

 

[El Koeno]

Most manufacturers will provide BIOS updates that you can use off a cd. Installing RAID drivers in XP though may still require floppy drives though.

I found out about this after buying a new pc and deciding not to get a floppy drive... turned out I had to copy drivers from a cd, to a floppy, and then use the floppy in the XP installation...

But really, just take out the floppy drive from the old computer and plug it into the new one, the cable will only fit in the right place, so it's pretty easy. And if you're planning to use the drive only once you don't even have to properly fix it into the new computer. Just plug it in, leave it lying on top of the computer or wherever while you use it, and unplug it and close the computer when you're done.

 

[lndm]

There are no programs on floppies worth using on new computers, you can download better ones for any functions you may want to do.

I used to rely on them as boot devices until recently.


@O/P Yes, the diskette drive (floppy) should go straight in. Don't touch windows. At the most you might need to tweak the BIOS but probably not.