The floppy drive is dead

By Fred Litt, Family Technology Associates 

If you buy a new desktop or laptop, you now have to pay extra for what we have traditionally called the “A:” or floppy drive.  Why?  The floppy has become obsolete.  It just doesn’t hold a lot of data (1.44MB) in today’s standards of multimedia documents, digital pictures, Flash animations, and videos.   

PC users typically utilize floppies for backing up old files and transferring data between PCs.  So, what do we do if we need to access an old floppy?  Don’t worry, there’s always an answer, but it will cost you a few bucks.  The easiest answer is to buy a USB floppy drive for about $30.  Plug it in and you’re in business.  They are readily available at your local computer or office supply store.   

But, there’s really something larger going on here – how do you back up or transfer LARGE files, possibly dozens of megabytes in size (we’ll ignore massive gigabyte files in this article).  Old options included (1) the Iomega Zip drive and (2) the CD-burner.  Given price and ease of use issues, both of these options had their problems - and these have also become obsolete.  So, is there an easy to use and inexpensive way to store and transfer files?  You bet – and the solution is really terrific!  It goes by a variety of new names based on the manufacturer – but, generically it’s called the pocket USB flash drive.  It may also be called a Jump Drive or Pocket Drive.  

What is this thing?  It’s actually a mini hard drive about the size of your pinky finger.  Depending on price, you can store 128MB, 256MB, 512MB, or 1GB.  Prices range from $29 to $99.  They all have a built-in USB connector and, as long as you have Windows 98SE, ME or XP, the drivers will install automatically. 

Here’s what I recommend.  Buy the largest Jump Drive you want to invest in (minimum 256MB).  Plug it into your PC.  Wait about a minute and wait for it to complete self-installing.  Then, click on My Computer.  You will notice a new hard drive is listed – with a new assigned letter.  This letter (e.g., “F:”) will then be the drive that you can copy or save your files to.  If you are using a jump drive to back up important files, buy at least two of these drives and keep at least one of them in your safety deposit box or at an off-site secure location.   

One last thought for the devout old-fashioned 3.5” floppy users. 

If the floppy you are copying your data to is several years old, THROW IT OUT.  Run, don’t walk, to copy your data onto your PC or a jump drive.  Why?  The metal jacket on the floppy tends to bend after a lot of use.  Once it bends and fails, you’re data is GONE.

This article may be reproduced with permission of Fred Litt, Family Technology Associates. Contact Fred at 201-315-4943 fred@FamilyTechnology.com for details.