External USB floppy vs Internal Serial Floppy

[News Reeder]

Since floppy's are sort of disappearing, are the usb floppys as quick at
sending data as the internal floppy drives?

 

[kony]

Since floppy's are sort of disappearing,

?

No they're not disappearing, what makes you think that?
OEMS aren't putting them in becaues they don't want to
support a user doing anything outside the OS that shipped
with their system (windows) and the tools they provide for
restoring the factory OS image.

SImply because you, or I, don't "like" to use floppies for
data, that doesn't make them any less useful when a floppy
is needed.

are the usb floppys as quick at
sending data as the internal floppy drives?

You'd leave a floppy drive out of the box then teather one
to it? WHY? Just spend the $7 and get a normal floppy.

Yes, an external floppy is as fast. Not all systems are
actually compatible with them though, even if their bios
claims to support USB floppy. It is more common that a
brand new board will though, contrasted with one a couple or
more years old.

I suppose you're aware that if you run across one of the
hardware manufacturers utilities that requires making a
floppy, it won't necessarily work to have a USB floppy? Not
claiming this is always the case but IMO, you're going to
extra effort to cause extra problems, at extra expense too.

If you really think you dont need a floppy drive, then don't
bother getting a USB floppy either. Situations like a bad
bios flash can't be recovered from a USB floppy either.

 

[News Reeder]

You cleared the air on that one, as unsure as I am, it needed some other
thoughts, thankyou.....

 

[John McGaw]

?

No they're not disappearing, what makes you think that?
OEMS aren't putting them in becaues they don't want to
support a user doing anything outside the OS that shipped
with their system (windows) and the tools they provide for
restoring the factory OS image.

SImply because you, or I, don't "like" to use floppies for
data, that doesn't make them any less useful when a floppy
is needed.




You'd leave a floppy drive out of the box then teather one
to it? WHY? Just spend the $7 and get a normal floppy.

Yes, an external floppy is as fast. Not all systems are
actually compatible with them though, even if their bios
claims to support USB floppy. It is more common that a
brand new board will though, contrasted with one a couple or
more years old.

I suppose you're aware that if you run across one of the
hardware manufacturers utilities that requires making a
floppy, it won't necessarily work to have a USB floppy? Not
claiming this is always the case but IMO, you're going to
extra effort to cause extra problems, at extra expense too.

If you really think you dont need a floppy drive, then don't
bother getting a USB floppy either. Situations like a bad
bios flash can't be recovered from a USB floppy either.

The easiest path I've found is to install one of the Mitsumi drives
which acts as a normal floppy drive AND as a reader/writer for a variety
of different flash memory devices in each of my new builds. It takes up
only a normal floppy's worth of panel space, doesn't cost a lot, and
also performs a useful function with the flash memory. In fact I keep a
256mB CF card in each of mine for use as quick-and-dirty backup for
Money data and the like between formal backup sessions. The CFs were
already on hand for my digital camera but have been superseded by 512mB
and 1gB CFs so even that didn't cost any extra. I'll have to say that I
don't use floppies very much at all any more but when I need one I need
one pretty badly and don't want to be caught at boot time without one.

 

[John Wilson]

I just took out my floppy so I could have the bay for a card reader. Several
computers I just looked at in Circuit City do not have a floppy. Drivers
with new software come on CD's instead of floppies. My bios will actually
look for a connected USB floppy drive because I have it set to. I think some
people have been using them for so long that they find it hard to let go. I
actually thought twice about it as I was taking my floppy drive out of the
comp. It made me kind of sad. I cannot tell you how many times I have backed
up data to a floppy.

But now I just drag and drop to two different back up drives--one USB
external and the other internal.

 

[John Wilson]

Oh by the way, I think it best to keep as many devices internal as possible.
I just put a USB 2 port on the front panel of my case so I could get rid of
my USB hub that is plugged into the wall for power. I took out my floppy
because I had no bays left in my tower.