Author Topic: Getting rid of floppy drive - worth it or not? Computer Gurus assemble!!! (Read 2920 times)

garnerb350 · « **on:** May 26, 2009, 01:42:02 pm »

Need opinions from anybody...Since the floppy is pretty much obsolete...if i remove it from the computer...will it cause any problems, or will it improve anything?

I figure it would be something less for the power supply to run...is there anything else that can help?

jholman76 · « **Reply #1 on:** May 26, 2009, 01:47:28 pm »

The only thing I have used my floppy for in the last 2 years was a BIOS update, but now everything I have to update (Dell PC's) is all self-executing from windows.

Plus any hardware diags I perform are all easiest from bootable CD's anyway. As long as you have a CD ROM, that is.

Just my opinion.

I do have an external floppy from a Dell laptop that has a mini USB on it, just in case.

Ginsu Victim · « **Reply #2 on:** May 26, 2009, 01:56:14 pm »

In my cab, I don't have a floppy drive or an optical disc drive. I just use USB thumb drives for anything I need to copy to my cab. If I REALLY to use one of those drives, I have them ready to install, but because of space issues (and reducing noise), they are not hooked up.

garnerb350 · « **Reply #3 on:** May 26, 2009, 01:57:14 pm »

My pc is a Dell 4600 with XP...I figured I would keep the CD drives...as for the floppy, I dont need it....

I wanted to check first before i do it...I didnt want to remove and then find out I screwed up...

garnerb350 · « **Reply #4 on:** May 26, 2009, 01:59:01 pm »

is there any special thing that i have to do as for removing it ( any setup from the PC?) or do i just grab the power and yank?

jholman76 · « **Reply #5 on:** May 26, 2009, 02:04:29 pm »

yank away. nothing to it.

I agree with the USB stick theory. Just get your machine set up the way you want it and you can remove all of the extra stuff, like optical drives and floppies. I am going to use network/FTP also to upload to my cab in the future

garnerb350 · « **Reply #6 on:** May 26, 2009, 02:11:30 pm »

I thought so ( yank it)...but I tried to search on the web, and i saw where you might have to remove it from BIOS and mess...( which I dont want to touch)...

Good...now I can go and see if Floppy drives make good skeet targets....PULL!!!!

Ginsu Victim · « **Reply #7 on:** May 26, 2009, 02:18:18 pm »

The only reason I did away with the CD-ROM drive as well is because I've decased and mounted my mobo, PSU, and hard drives on a plank of wood, so I had limited space.

VicBond007 · « **Reply #8 on:** May 26, 2009, 02:21:10 pm »

Buy one USB floppy drive and use it in every computer you buy from now on. One less fat cable to run.

1UP · « **Reply #9 on:** May 26, 2009, 02:23:23 pm »

You can always get a USB floppy drive for emergencies for $15, but I have one and haven't used it in 3 years. Thumb drives are better.

bkenobi · « **Reply #10 on:** May 26, 2009, 03:13:09 pm »

If you aren't going to use a floppy drive at all, it wouldn't hurt to go into the BIOS and disable the floppy drive controller. This will keep some things from loading in Windows too, so you could (theoretically anyway) get some resources back. Be aware that you will have to change some settings in Windows or else it will give you a yellow triangle in your device manager screen. Just right click it and disable and you're good to go.

severdhed · « **Reply #11 on:** May 26, 2009, 04:08:58 pm »

alot of times, you will have to disable it in the bios, if you have a Dell. for whatever reason, Dell Bios setup is completely retarded. if you have something enabled and it isnt there, it will get stuck and not boot properly. most PCs dont have this problem, but for whatever reason, most Dell computers do.

nazerine · « **Reply #12 on:** May 26, 2009, 05:08:38 pm »

Hmmm, makes me think it would be fun to have MAME games on a floppy as a 'cartridge' to play

Ginsu Victim · « **Reply #13 on:** May 26, 2009, 05:10:25 pm »

Quote from: nazerine on May 26, 2009, 05:08:38 pm

Hmmm, makes me think it would be fun to have MAME games on a floppy as a 'cartridge' to play

Not really. People gripe about having to push Left-Right for OK, imagine having to pop in a disk?

Grasshopper · « **Reply #14 on:** May 26, 2009, 05:28:22 pm »

I haven't used a floppy drive for years but I've kept one in my PC mainly out of nostalgia. I figured that as I'm into computer games from the 80s I might as well keep a bit of 80s computer technology in my PC.

It doesn't actually do any harm and there's always the 0.01% chance that it might be useful oneday.

Ginsu Victim · « **Reply #15 on:** May 26, 2009, 05:41:30 pm »

Yeah, I have one in my main desktop PC, just not in my cab.

Thenasty · « **Reply #16 on:** May 26, 2009, 05:50:24 pm »

Quote from: Grasshopper on May 26, 2009, 05:28:22 pm

I figured that as I'm into computer games from the 80s I might as well keep a bit of 80s computer technology in my PC.

I you really want to be in the 80's, you need the 5.25 360k floppy drives.

(got lots of it)

Grasshopper · « **Reply #17 on:** May 26, 2009, 06:15:00 pm »

Quote from: Thenasty on May 26, 2009, 05:50:24 pm

Quote from: Grasshopper on May 26, 2009, 05:28:22 pm
I figured that as I'm into computer games from the 80s I might as well keep a bit of 80s computer technology in my PC.

I you really want to be in the 80's, you need the 5.25 360k floppy drives. (got lots of it)

Nah, I'm not into that new fangled stuff. I prefer to save my programs on to audio tape.

Namco · « **Reply #18 on:** May 26, 2009, 06:35:57 pm »

For work, I wanted to make my USB stick bootable to bring up a DOS prompt. To do this, you need to format the USB stick a certain way and copy some system files over to it from a bootable DOS floppy disk. Well, they have utilities to make bootable DOS floppies and they make utilities to install the "boot sector" section onto a USB stick, but they don't distribute the actual boot files themselves so you can just copy them over to the USB stick .... noooooooooo, that would be way too easy. Better to go dig up a floppy drive, blank (working) floppy, format /s the thing, use a utility to make a bootable DOS disk and point the USB "booter" utility to the floppy to pull the files. Yeah, way better!

Chris · « **Reply #19 on:** May 28, 2009, 01:51:45 pm »

I have one in my main PC but I am about to remove the one in my cab. My wife still has a Sony Mavica camera which uses floppy disks so still quite a few running around here.

saint · « **Reply #20 on:** May 28, 2009, 02:46:37 pm »

I have kept one in my last couple of machines because I didn't have the right size cover plate for the hole. I just leave it unplugged

Kayden · « **Reply #21 on:** May 28, 2009, 03:34:18 pm »

Quote from: garnerb350 on May 26, 2009, 02:11:30 pm

I thought so ( yank it)...but I tried to search on the web, and i saw where you might have to remove it from BIOS and mess...( which I dont want to touch)...

Good...now I can go and see if Floppy drives make good skeet targets....PULL!!!!

It really depends on the motherboard. Some complain if you have the floppy enabled in the bios but don't have one attached. If it works, then it works. If your PC has a floppy drive, I don't see the point to pulling it out (beyond airflow), but if I were building a new PC, I certainly wouldn't included one. Technically, disabling the floppy does free up ram, but it's a very, very minuscule amount.

Chris · « **Reply #22 on:** May 28, 2009, 04:34:36 pm »

I would still put it in a new machine... it's only a $7-$8 part, and having it doesn't consume much in the way of resources. A couple years from now though and i probably wouldn't.

If my case only had one 3.5" external bay, though, I'd use the space for a memory card reader before I'd use it for a floppy drive. I'm hoping that in a couple more years we'll be buying SD cards in boxes of 10 for $10-$15 like we did with floppy disks.

Level42 · « **Reply #23 on:** May 28, 2009, 06:19:10 pm »

This only shows how PCs are holding back development.....floppy's have been ditched by certain computer manufacturers AGES ago since they are completely obsolete. O and at the time they got a bucket load of ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- because of them doing so.

Floppy's, yes I still got a number 5.25" that is, for my Atari 1050

Chris · « **Reply #24 on:** May 28, 2009, 06:40:04 pm »

How is it holding back development to retain the ability to read old media? If I remove the floppy from my PC right now, what developmental gains will happen?

bkenobi · « **Reply #25 on:** May 28, 2009, 09:11:59 pm »

It's only a $7-8 part, but then for that same money, you could buy a USB stick that's 4Gb (or more). I'd ditch it, but that's just me. All of my floppies died ages ago, and I ain't buyin' any more! USB is cheaper per mb, faster, easier to carry around, gives the same boot capabilities, etc, etc. Keep it or don't...no worries!

Chris · « **Reply #26 on:** May 28, 2009, 10:26:18 pm »

I don't intend to create any new floppies, but if I get handed data on a floppy disk or have to read something from old media, it seems to be beneficial to read it when it costs me nothing in performance to keep the drive installed.

And I own a parallel printer, too.

Ummon · « **Reply #27 on:** May 29, 2009, 06:31:38 pm »

Quote from: Chris on May 28, 2009, 10:26:18 pm

I don't intend to create any new floppies, but if I get handed data on a floppy disk or have to read...

Sounds mysterious.

richms · « **Reply #28 on:** May 30, 2009, 11:15:32 am »

I havent had one in any computer other then ex lease P4's I have picked up for about 5 years now.

Better to use the space for a 50something in one card reader IMO.

One of my old cases has a bezel in the front for a floppy drive - which means you can see some of the harddrive in that bay but no big deal.

Thenasty · « **Reply #29 on:** May 31, 2009, 10:32:07 pm »

Newer (some) MOBO already Ditch the Floppy and IDE controllers. If you stiill want to use this, you can buy a PCI IDE/Floppy Board.


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