Thanks for the replies. Gary, that is a very good question. (This is a
long answer.) My older system (P3) had a zip drive (250mb), so when I
bought this Dell Dimension 8300 two years ago, I included a zip drive for no
specific reason. Old thinking is that it is bigger than a 1.44 meg floppy
(which I also included).
However, recently, I had a minor computer problem that I could not solve, so
had my local outfit take care of it. Before sending it out, I had the
darndest time removing a lot of personal, retirement, and financial files
from my hard drive and then wiping them out. (I had a parent and an aunt in
a nursing home and handled their finances as well as mine.) I finally
transferred all the files to a CD, at which later time I put them back on
the hard drive. Now, all my sensitive files are on one zip drive so if my
system leaves my house, all there is on the hard drive is non-sensitive
materials. And it is faster than a CD. That is all I use the zip drive
for.
But recently, I bought two USB Sony 512mb flash drives (Sony MicroVault).
So, I ask myself, why don't I use one of these in place of the zip drive?
Well the answer is old habits are hard to die, and I haven't had the need
for the bay yet. Since I have the zip drive, I still use it. (My 40 year
old son also asked me the same question, but my answer was a lot shorter.)
If I ever need the bay for anything else, I will then retire the zip drive.
(Sorry for the rambling, and I probably could have left the second paragraph
out!)
--
Dave C.
P.S. Gary, you have a very good web site. I have never built my own
computer, but have been inside the cases many times. I am reading many of
your articles and picking up a lot of information. My first home computer
was a 386, but at work, in the early 1980's, we were the first ones on the
block to buy a couple or Radio Shacks TRS80, Model One, which was a system
built on open 19 inch racks with exposed ribbon cable. Every time someone
turned on the room light switch, the system crashed....ugh.
I wonder by the time he