Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Red Expendable · 04-25-2003, 07:33 AM

Does anyone know how to pull info off a 5 1/4" old school floppy discs and put it onto 3 1/2" discs or another storage medium. I was looking on the web - maybe for a cheap 5 1/4" drive that could be hooked up to a PC.

Any links or suggestions?

TealVeal · 04-25-2003, 07:53 AM

You could try calling your local computer repair store and see if they could do it for you? They might have old random equipment laying about.

Philosoft · 04-25-2003, 08:30 AM

You'll definitely need a 5.25 drive. What about EBay?

Jimmy Higgins · 04-25-2003, 08:52 AM

Do you work where they have computers? At the place where I work, they have an old computer in the basement. The 5-1/4" drive works and I transfered somestuff that way.

You also might want to try Ebay and look for old computers. Not just a drive. Look for a computer that has the 1.2 Mb 5-1/4" and 1.44 Mb 3-1/2" drives that both work. It may be pretty cheap if you can find a good deal. I don't know how well a 5-1/4" would work with today's technology.

Psycho Economist · 04-25-2003, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jimmy Higgins
I don't know how well a 5-1/4" would work with today's technology.

An external drive will plug into your parallel (printer) port or your serial port (thing that looks like the printer port but is half as long). It may require external power.

An internal 5.25" drive will fit in the same size bay as a CD-ROM drive, and will require the same type of power and data feed as your 3.5" drive. The cords that connect your 3.5" drive to your motherboard should have an extra plug on them somewhere. If not, just unplug the 3.5" drive and copy the files to your HDD first.

The real problem may be the BIOS (the program that turns on the various components before the computer gets going) and the OS. If you have a BIOS that supports 3.5 drives, it should support 5.25 drives, too... but it may not. Ditto for operating systems. I can't say with certainty that Win 2k and Win XP support them, and I doubt if MacOS X does... but everything else (again) should.

If you get really desperate, I have a Packard Bell with a 5.25 drive in it... I think it works. But it's at home (I'm at school) and I won't be back until May.

squiddy · 04-25-2003, 06:50 PM

If you're looking for old computers, you might try seeing if your local city and/or state gov't offices have any equipment for sale/up for auction. I know that up until about a year ago, we still had computers w/ 5.25" drives in our offices. And the computers (and other stuff) that goes to the auctions usually goes for peanuts.

Obey_Matthew_6_6 · 04-26-2003, 07:40 AM

Second-hand stores, flea markets & yard sales are good sources of obsolete & semi-obsolete electronic hardware. Prices will range from dirt cheap to total rip-off. And of course, buyer beware.

nixon · 04-26-2003, 07:59 PM

All the BIOS's still support 5 1/4 drives. Just make sure to plug it into the floppy ribbon (Dont force the Harddrive ribbon on it)

04-25-2003, 07:33 AM	#1
Red Expendable Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 791	Converting 5 1/4" Floppy to...A Question Does anyone know how to pull info off a 5 1/4" old school floppy discs and put it onto 3 1/2" discs or another storage medium. I was looking on the web - maybe for a cheap 5 1/4" drive that could be hooked up to a PC. Any links or suggestions?

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04-25-2003, 07:53 AM	#2
TealVeal Regular Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: WM Posts: 208	You could try calling your local computer repair store and see if they could do it for you? They might have old random equipment laying about.

04-25-2003, 08:30 AM	#3
Philosoft Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Southeast of disorder Posts: 6,829	You'll definitely need a 5.25 drive. What about EBay?

04-25-2003, 08:52 AM	#4
Jimmy Higgins Contributor Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Proud Citizen of Freedonia Posts: 42,473	Do you work where they have computers? At the place where I work, they have an old computer in the basement. The 5-1/4" drive works and I transfered somestuff that way. You also might want to try Ebay and look for old computers. Not just a drive. Look for a computer that has the 1.2 Mb 5-1/4" and 1.44 Mb 3-1/2" drives that both work. It may be pretty cheap if you can find a good deal. I don't know how well a 5-1/4" would work with today's technology.

04-25-2003, 06:50 PM	#6
squiddy Regular Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Stuck in a red state Posts: 388	If you're looking for old computers, you might try seeing if your local city and/or state gov't offices have any equipment for sale/up for auction. I know that up until about a year ago, we still had computers w/ 5.25" drives in our offices. And the computers (and other stuff) that goes to the auctions usually goes for peanuts.

04-26-2003, 07:40 AM	#7
Obey_Matthew_6_6 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: MD Posts: 506	Second-hand stores, flea markets & yard sales are good sources of obsolete & semi-obsolete electronic hardware. Prices will range from dirt cheap to total rip-off. And of course, buyer beware.

04-26-2003, 07:59 PM	#8
nixon Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Valleyview, OH USA Posts: 6,638	All the BIOS's still support 5 1/4 drives. Just make sure to plug it into the floppy ribbon (Dont force the Harddrive ribbon on it)

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