USB Floppy Drive Suggestions

[iceblade2097]

My dad has several boxes of old floppies he would like me to go through. As such I am looking for suggestions for a USB external floppy drive for the smaller 3.5‑floppy variety and if I need to wipe them clean any suggestions on the best method to wipe them securely. I tried looking online and mostly found brands I have never heard of and their reliability seems very sketchy at best based on the reviews.

USB interface would be preferred for ease of use.  Though had seen some older threads indicating people were using an adapter that goes from the older split cable to USB due to the reliability issues.

OS Environment: Windows 10 64 bit

 

[WhitetailAni]

I recommend using a USB to floppy adapter over a USB floppy drive - old 3.5" floppy drives are significantly more reliable than newer USB drives.

Here's a link:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/283228590717?epid=9020180466&hash=item41f1bd527d:g:z-4AAOSwQg9b0m-t
And in case you can't dig up an old 3.5" floppy drive from a corner store or an electronics recycling dump, here's a drive to buy:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/144279578465?hash=item2197bba761:g:7yMAAOSwTqFhhr~Z
It might not look pretty but it'll do the job.

Side note, do your disks look like this:

Spoiler

Or like this:

Spoiler

Or a mix of both?
If you have any that look like the second, you'll need to get yourself a computer with a floppy controller and get it a 5.25" floppy drive. They sadly can't be driven by the USB adapters.

[iceblade2097]

14 hours ago, FakeKGB said:

I recommend using a USB to floppy adapter over a USB floppy drive - old 3.5" floppy drives are significantly more reliable than newer USB drives.

Here's a link:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/283228590717?epid=9020180466&hash=item41f1bd527d:g:z-4AAOSwQg9b0m-t
And in case you can't dig up an old 3.5" floppy drive from a corner store or an electronics recycling dump, here's a drive to buy:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/144279578465?hash=item2197bba761:g:7yMAAOSwTqFhhr~Z
It might not look pretty but it'll do the job.

Side note, do your disks look like this:

  Hide contents

Or like this:

  Hide contents

Or a mix of both?
If you have any that look like the second, you'll need to get yourself a computer with a floppy controller and get it a 5.25" floppy drive. They sadly can't be driven by the USB adapters.

Thanks for the prompt response. As for your question the bulk are in the first picture.  I am sure there a box of the 5.25 floppy's that will eventually make its way for me to check out as we had a few.  Good to note about the the 5.25, I think we might have an old Windows XP computer with an ECS motherboard with a floppy disk port on the mother board..  If memory serves we had a few zip disks as well.  Anything I need to about getting those to read as well?

 

[WhitetailAni]

13 minutes ago, iceblade2097 said:

If memory serves we had a few zip disks as well.  Anything I need to about getting those to read as well?

For those a USB Zip drive will work fine. I’d recommend getting a 750MB drive but know that 750MB drives can only read 100MB disks, they can’t write to them. You can check to see which disks you have though.

First, figure out what color they are. If they’re bluish gray, they’re 750MB. If they’re gray, they’re either 100MB or 250MB. To figure out which, flip the disk over. There will be a little triangle shaped cutout in the shell. 100MB disks have a plastic prismatic insert, and 250MB disks have yellow paper.

 

Hope this helps! If you need clarification I’ll do my best.

[jec6613]

16 hours ago, iceblade2097 said:

if I need to wipe them clean any suggestions on the best method to wipe them securely

Ideally, a degausser/bulk wipe machine.  Though any strong magnet will do, if you have a Magsafe iPhone that will happily wipe the floppies.

 

Aside: I just bought a couple USB native floppy drives years ago and have never had any issues with them for the limited use of offloading and checking contents, even though they're the newer notebook designed drives instead of the older more reliable desktop drives.  You'll probably be fine with them, and they're a heck of a lot more convenient.

 

As for Zip drives, good luck!  Boeing started buying about all of them because the software and avionics data for many of their aircraft is loaded in via Zip disks, so the ones remaining on the market tend to be pretty pricy, and someone looking to keep a Boeing 747-400 running is much less cost sensitive than you are.  I picked up a Zip 750 drive a few years ago and it's basically like gold when I need it.

[iceblade2097]

2 hours ago, FakeKGB said:

For those a USB Zip drive will work fine. I’d recommend getting a 750MB drive but know that 750MB drives can only read 100MB disks, they can’t write to them. You can check to see which disks you have though.

First, figure out what color they are. If they’re bluish gray, they’re 750MB. If they’re gray, they’re either 100MB or 250MB. To figure out which, flip the disk over. There will be a little triangle shaped cutout in the shell. 100MB disks have a plastic prismatic insert, and 250MB disks have yellow paper.

 

Hope this helps! If you need clarification I’ll do my best.

It does thanks!  On that adapter for the floppy drive would I need a block of wood for it to set on or cardboard?  Looked like the bottom of the pcb was exposed and didn't want it to catch fire from heat or conducting with something it shouldn't.

[WhitetailAni]

12 minutes ago, iceblade2097 said:

It does thanks!  On that adapter for the floppy drive would I need a block of wood for it to set on or cardboard?

As long as it's not touching something metal it'll be fine. I run mine in open air in my computer case.

[darknessblade]

The best thing you could do is look for a small ITX style case that has support for both a 5.25" floppy disk drive and a 3.5" floppy disk drive.

 

if the PC supports windows XP its better, as you can transfer all data to a USB drive, 

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Messing with adapters [like a usb to floppy] could work, though in that case its better to look for one that works on Linux, as most modern systems might not work correctly with Floppy's, or the antivirus gives out many false positives, due to floppy's using a FAT12 file format.