Floppies I still use in school and work
Posted by Parking_Constant_960@reddit | vintagecomputing | View on Reddit | 29 comments
lol
Posted by Parking_Constant_960@reddit | vintagecomputing | View on Reddit | 29 comments
lol
Accurate-Campaign821@reddit
Did similar... But had a custom boot CD that was basically just Win98 setup pre install dos and a directory full of dos games. Used a floppy for save files.
Parking_Constant_960@reddit (OP)
I’m assuming you don’t use these for important documents. I do. And I regret it only once while I regret putting my files on USB’s like 14 times. You can’t loose these disks, they are big and colorful. And you always must put them in their designated box. You don’t forget that.
Accurate-Campaign821@reddit
I mean... I did back in the day all the time. The CD was for relatively larger files that didn't need to change. Kept a few 3.5s on hand for school work, game saves, etc. Also carried a little Logitech USB mouse that was styled to look like a football. Plugged it in any time I used a school computer so I didn't have to clean the dirty ball mice. Later used a flash drive... Well more accurate a Sony Walkman 2GB MP3 player that doubled as a flash drive. For anything real important I emailed a copy to myself lol
Parking_Constant_960@reddit (OP)
I mean today. I still do that. Today.
Emanuel2020b@reddit
I use zip100 disks today. Quite nifty things. I use them with a USB drive. The inconvinience is the need for a power brick though.
Accurate-Campaign821@reddit
I have a couple laying around at home but haven't needed them in a while. At least not yet.
KodakGuy@reddit
how do they still work? I thought the magnetic tape inside dissipated after a couple decades
EskildDood@reddit
I have floppies from the 90's that still work
There isn't tape in it, it's a floppy plastic disk with a magnetic coating, in similar way I have cassettes from the 60's that can still play
bjbNYC@reddit
Heck, I have floppies that are over 40 years old that still work. It’s about initial quality of the disk (I’m giving the stink eye to AOL disks), and the environment they’re stored in.
KodakGuy@reddit
that's what i mean, we called it "magnetic tape" and none of my parents' cassettes from the 80s and 90s still work
EskildDood@reddit
Where were they stored? If they were stored anywhere with humidity or unstable temperature then they probably got sticky-shed syndrome
Parking_Constant_960@reddit (OP)
I mean I do have 50-60 disks that are dead. It isn’t uncommon, but I did come across a friend who has like 500 that i can all take and they are all in pristine condition
agrk@reddit
Narh, magnetic media is relatively durable and it can last for many decades with few errors. Few errors does not equal no errors, though; I'd be wary of storing anything important on such old media.
Steve_but_different@reddit
Man back in the day the comp-sci teacher would get big mad if they saw you using a disk with pencil on it stating that the graphite would ruin the drive. I mean, in an extreme case then maybe eventually it would. I just saw the pencil and was like ooh you gonna get in trouble lol
Parking_Constant_960@reddit (OP)
Hmm good to know that acually I’ll cover it with clear tape so the graphite won’t clog the drives. I’m sure for schools though it would be sooo much worse since if 100 disks are with pencil and each one is used 5 times per day one day = 500 graphite doeses and that piles up fast. For me I barley use the penciled disk so I can’t even get close to tue amount of graphite that would theoretically be present from bare penciled floppies
Killertigger@reddit
Di you Ruan’s a time machine to school and work as your daily driver?
DangKilla@reddit
Nice
This-Requirement6918@reddit
Your school and work both still have machines with floppy drives?
Parking_Constant_960@reddit (OP)
USB floppy drive is a thing although annoying. But making an integrated drive work in a modern pc is more annoying. So use a Thinkpad 390 is the answer.
RIPGoblins2929@reddit
When MS stopped with the og versions of minesweeper I knew we were cooked
Parking_Constant_960@reddit (OP)
Lucky I have my own to take around! Much more efficient than usb, it takes 30 seconds to get it onto your computer, it must be Win2K and above that is. I’m planning to make a WinME and below version (so Win98 version)(I also have a Tetris disk in another place)
mtest001@reddit
In my world these disks are are labelled upside down and I hate it.
darthuna@reddit
The fact that the "HD" on the plastic case is upside down, or even anything written on the shutter like that IBM one, doesn't help. But yeah, the labels on OP's disks are upside down. They should have the same orientation as on a 5.25" floppy disk.
Parking_Constant_960@reddit (OP)
I believe this is what most people did here in China, I have system disks boot disks and soctware disks in this writing style and personally I like this but I do have the rare disk in the “right” format
Maeglin75@reddit
I still have a floppy disk from university that contains some simulation and CAD data and a bunch of nasty viruses from the lab computers.
I'm keeping it as a time capsule.
deadb3@reddit
Did you back that up? Information on floppies degrades over time after ~10-20 years
DualPerformance@reddit
Good to know, right in time to install a floppy reader as I recently completed a retro build with an Intel Q8400 and the board have ide port
IHaveTeaForDinner@reddit
I've got floppies in the cupboard that both agree and disagree with that statement
Maeglin75@reddit
I have copies of that data (and more) on the Pentium III from that time that I also kept as a retro gaming machine. The old CAD and simulation software is also installed.
Sadly, recently the harddrive at least partly failed and the old Windows ME install on the drive doesn't boot anymore. (Linux still works.)
I already bought a SATA to IDE adapter to replace the failing harddrive with an SSD, but didn't came around to do that yet. (I also plan to add a 5.25" floppy drive to the PC while I'm on it.)
I also have an IDE to USB adapter lying around somewhere, with which I should be able to rescue what is left on the harddrive.