Help! I have information locked up on an old 5.25 floppy disk. I have a 5.25 floppy drive pulled from an antiquated pc. How would I get it to work with a new pc?
Many new PCs don't even have a floppy port on the motherboard. If you can find one that does, physically all you have to do is connect the drive with a floppy cable and power connector. If the PC already has a floppy, there may be a connector on the cable for a second drive. But will the BIOS support a 5.25" drive?
Originally posted by sifu17055:I have an old windows 98 pc with a 3 1/2 inch drive. Can I use this pc and just swap the drives?
Yes. You may need to go into the BIOS to alter the floppy settings. That link I posted leads to a page with full details.
Quote:Installing a floppy drive is also easier than you think. Just open up the case, slide the drive in, hook up the power cable, and attach the floppy controller cable's second connection to the floppy drive. (My friend Lasse notes, however, that "after ripping a floppy drive from some old computer, it might have the wrong device ID. In older systems floppy A: was set to ID #0 and floppy B: to ID #1. When using 'modern' twisted (ID lines are swapped between 1st and 2nd connector) cable both drives must be set to use device ID #1.", so watch out.) Most floppy cables still have two connections on them even though most modern PCs only have one drive, so this shouldn't be a problem. If it is a problem, you can usually find all sorts of floppy drive cables in practically every computer store, such as Micro Center, Elek-tek, CompUSA, Computer City, Radio Shack, etc., etc.
If you don't have a spare 5.25" bay you can just have the drive lying on the top of the case or on the desk. Just make sure it doesn't short anything out.
You are an absolute lifesaver. A friend entrusted me with an old set of disks that I couldn't read. I have been looking for way to get the job done for months. I had no idea where to turn. I have an old pc and a 5.25 pulled from another pc that I recently junked. It does work, it just needed something to be plugged into.
Thank you my friend! I will try this when I get home and fill you in tomorrow with the details!
