5 1/4" floppy drive question

[David A. Flory]

I have a lot of 5 1/4" floppy disks I would like to copy to CD-R. These
are mostly Quickbasic and PDS 7.1 libraries and source code and such, and
are not generally around any more.

I do not currently have a computer able to read these disks, but have a
couple of 5 1/4" drives w/cables I have saved from computers (mostly 486's I
suspect) I have salvaged in the past.

Can I install one of these in a WIN98 computer? I have a couple of these
that were discards/replacements that I grabbed, and they all have 3 1/2"
drives which I don't particularly need. Will a 5 1/4" drive work in place
of the 3 1/2"? What do I need to do to get this working?

I really would like to copy these under Windows, since, if there are
problems reading these old disks, I can use Badcopy Pro or other media
recovery software.

Thanks
Jim

You won't have any trouble at all. Even Windows XP will work with 1.2MB
5.25" drives (I have one installed as I write), and that would be the
kind a 486 would have.

In my experience, it's best to install the drive as Drive B (the
connector closest to the motherboard) with the 3.5" still installed as
Drive A. After you define the drive in the BIOS Windows should detect
it automatically.

Floppy drives vary in quality. If you have trouble reading with one
drive, it's worth trying another.

Best of luck,

D

 

[Rod Speed]

I have a lot of 5 1/4" floppy disks I would like to copy to CD-R.
These are mostly Quickbasic and PDS 7.1 libraries and source
code and such, and are not generally around any more.

I do not currently have a computer able to read these disks,
but have a couple of 5 1/4" drives w/cables I have saved from
computers (mostly 486's I suspect) I have salvaged in the past.

Can I install one of these in a WIN98 computer?
Yes.

I have a couple of these that were discards/replacements that I
grabbed, and they all have 3 1/2" drives which I don't particularly need.

No need to remove that.

Will a 5 1/4" drive work in place of the 3 1/2"?

And in addition to it too.

What do I need to do to get this working?

Nothing at all if you kept the cable that came with the 5 1/4" floppy drives.

If you didnt, you can still get them on ebay etc.

I really would like to copy these under Windows, since,
if there are problems reading these old disks, I can use
Badcopy Pro or other media recovery software.

Yep, easy as falling off a log.

 

[Jim]

I have a lot of 5 1/4" floppy disks I would like to copy to CD-R. These
are mostly Quickbasic and PDS 7.1 libraries and source code and such, and
are not generally around any more.

I do not currently have a computer able to read these disks, but have a
couple of 5 1/4" drives w/cables I have saved from computers (mostly 486's I
suspect) I have salvaged in the past.

Can I install one of these in a WIN98 computer? I have a couple of these
that were discards/replacements that I grabbed, and they all have 3 1/2"
drives which I don't particularly need. Will a 5 1/4" drive work in place
of the 3 1/2"? What do I need to do to get this working?

I really would like to copy these under Windows, since, if there are
problems reading these old disks, I can use Badcopy Pro or other media
recovery software.

Thanks
Jim

 

[David A. Flory]

Thanks for the replys. It was VEEEERY easy, and even installed a salvaged
CD burner so I can archive old software to CD-ROM are in one place. A
400mhz computer with a 5 1/4" floppy......something wrong with that
picture!!!

I had to give up my 1 1/2" floppy, 'cause this computer could only be
configured for a dive A:. so I made a 5 1/4" boot windows boot disk for
anything that comes up in the future.

Thanks
Jim

Glad it worked! Thanks for posting back.

Dave

 

[Jim]

Thanks for the replys. It was VEEEERY easy, and even installed a salvaged
CD burner so I can archive old software to CD-ROM are in one place. A
400mhz computer with a 5 1/4" floppy......something wrong with that
picture!!!

I had to give up my 1 1/2" floppy, 'cause this computer could only be
configured for a dive A:. so I made a 5 1/4" boot windows boot disk for
anything that comes up in the future.

Thanks
Jim