Where is my 3.5 inch floppy?

I am totally new to Vista. I just bought a new computer and it has an OEM
version on the HDD.

Well, surprise, surprise! I don't have a 3.5 floppy. I do on my old XP based
machine. And I've got a lot of stuff stored on floppies. How can I access
this in Vista?

In addition, how can I boot from a floppy in an emergency when there IS not
floppy?

Thanks.

Steve Turner wrote:
This isn't a Vista issue. New computers have not come with a floppy drive as
a default option for many years. That's because modern computers can boot
from a CD/DVD and in some cases even from a USB thumbdrive.

Floppies are the worst way to store anything important. They are fragile and
easily corrupted. They have been completely replaced by USB thumbdrives,
CD-R/DVD-Rs.

In order to transfer any data you were saving on floppies to your hard drive
and from there to burn this data to CD/DVD, purchase a USB floppy drive.
They are $25-40. Here's an example from NewEgg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...floppy&x=0&y=0

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

Most new PCs don't have floppy drives. If you need a floppy drive you have
two options, either buy an internal drive and fit it yourself (or have a
technician fit it) or, alternatively, buy a USB external floppy drive.

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

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"Steve Turner" <stevezygote@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uTgyjQY7IHA.4652@xxxxxx

"Steve Turner" <stevezygote@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uTgyjQY7IHA.4652@xxxxxx
Your old XP based machine was supplied at a time when floppies were still
seen as having some use.. late model XP machines do not have inbuilt floppy
drives.. floppy drives are 'old hat'..

Use your old XP machine to copy the data from your floppies, and then
transfer them to a USB stick, CD-R or directly to your new machine..


--
Mike Hall - MVP
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They are now an option. You can get one for $10-$20. I actually have an interesting floppy story.

Last year, I built my new God Box. I went to Compusa. I asked where the floppy drives are? The person said I don't need one any more. I asked again where are they. I need a floppy. He repeated his stupidity. I said I don't care what you think. Where the hell are the floppy drives and where is your manager, very loudly. The manager came over and I ripped into him and his flunky. I don't care to hear what you think. I need a floppy drive. He said the same thing. I said how do I flash a server board BIOS without a floppy. He said use the live update feature. Server boards don't have live update. This board needed a floppy boot disk and BIOS disk. It had issues with thumb drives doing it. You would not know because you sell crap.

On Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:55:12 -0700, "Steve Turner"
<stevezygote@xxxxxx> wrote:

This has nothing to do with XP vs. Vista. Floppies have become largely
obsolete, and very few (if any) new computers have come with floppy
drives for the last several years, regardless of what operating system
they have installed.


Here are several choices:

1. Buy a floppy drive (about $10 US) and install it.

2. Buy an external USB drive (slightly more expensive but doesn't need
installation).

3. Burn the contents of your floppies to CDs on your old computer or
on the computer of a friend with a floppy drive.

I would personally pick choice number 1, but all of the above work.


You don't. If your drive is NTFS, a floppy with DOS on it couldn't see
it anyway (at least not without special software).

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

With all of the new software that is out I don't think you can find many
files that will still fit on a floppy!

--
Have A Great Day!
Bill Meyer

I have over 1000 floppy disks with data on them. 2-3x a year, I need an old project file. It is not worth copying them to DVD. Takes too long.

you could do a bootable thumb drive.

"Bill Meyer" <gingem@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:O1F2ZRb7IHA.1420@xxxxxx I can't possibly respond with a thank you to each and every one of you who
gave me insights. So collectively, "thank you!" I've been educated. I didn't
think my XP was that old. But it is. I paid $850 for my HP5L parallel laser
printer. Now I find they're all USB and you can get a reasonable, basic
laser (certainly one that's as capable as my 5L) for less than $100! Whew!