Adding Floppy Drive :: Internal or USB?

[ggull]

I'd like to add a floppy drive to my newish XP based desktop (which came
without), and am debating whether to put in an internal drive or get an
external USB drive.

Since I don't expect to be using it a lot (mainly to read floppies from
previous systems), I'm leaning toward the USB drive for reasons ranging from
convenience to leaving a free bay for another hard drive, but ...

what would I be missing operating-system-wise by not having an internal
drive, in particular anything related to recovery procedures? Would it make
a difference if the USB external could be made bootable (see thread "USB
Bootable Device" a couple of days ago)?

I have an OEM version of XP Home.

 

[Pete S]

I'd like to add a floppy drive to my newish XP based desktop (which came
without), and am debating whether to put in an internal drive or get an
external USB drive.

Since I don't expect to be using it a lot (mainly to read floppies from
previous systems), I'm leaning toward the USB drive for reasons ranging
from
convenience to leaving a free bay for another hard drive, but ...

what would I be missing operating-system-wise by not having an internal
drive, in particular anything related to recovery procedures? Would it
make
a difference if the USB external could be made bootable (see thread "USB
Bootable Device" a couple of days ago)?

I have an OEM version of XP Home.

If its a DELL pc, you will need a caddy as well (as they are not fitted for
one). Then you will have to drill holes to align the floppy with the hole in
the front (had to do this last week), but at the end of the day, Dell wanted
£25 to fit this when pc was being ordered, I spent £9 on bits and DIY.
USB option is ok, that way you can always move it to another pc ie laptop,
if needed. They cost about £25'ish.

Open up pc to see if there is a fitting first, it's not, not worth the
bother because it might cancel any guarantee you have still running, if you
fit one yourself.
Pete S

 

[ggull]

"ggull" <[email protected]> wrote ...

If its a DELL pc, you will need a caddy as well (as they are not fitted for
one). Then you will have to drill holes to align the floppy with the hole in
the front (had to do this last week), but at the end of the day, Dell wanted
£25 to fit this when pc was being ordered, I spent £9 on bits and DIY.
USB option is ok, that way you can always move it to another pc ie laptop,
if needed. They cost about £25'ish.

Open up pc to see if there is a fitting first, it's not, not worth the
bother because it might cancel any guarantee you have still running, if you
fit one yourself.
Pete S

Thanks for the advice. It's a Gateway, which does appear to have the
fitting (though I'll check again). But the question was really whether
there was a reason software-wise to prefer the internal installation, i.e.
whether it gave some improved functionality. It seems there might be for
some recovery operations. I'll try to rephrase it better and re-post.