Where is my 3.5 inch floppy?

I am totally new to Vista. I just bought a new computer and it has an OEM
version on the HDD.

Well, surprise, surprise! I don't have a 3.5 floppy. I do on my old XP based
machine. And I've got a lot of stuff stored on floppies. How can I access
this in Vista?

In addition, how can I boot from a floppy in an emergency when there IS not
floppy?

Thanks.

On Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:55:12 -0700, "Steve Turner"
<stevezygote@telus.net> wrote:

>I am totally new to Vista. I just bought a new computer and it has an OEM
>version on the HDD.
>
>Well, surprise, surprise! I don't have a 3.5 floppy. I do on my old XP based
>machine. And I've got a lot of stuff stored on floppies. How can I access
>this in Vista?

Kinda late to think about that now, isn't it? You didn't notice that
there was no floppie drive when you were shopping?

By an external drive.

>In addition, how can I boot from a floppy in an emergency when there IS not
>floppy?

You can't, Ben Stein.

It had a drive bay in it that I THOUGHT was for the floppy. Is this lack of
a floppy standard to Vista?
And what do you mean by "by an external drive"
And "you can't Ben Stein"....who is Ben Stein?

"Nonny" <nonnymoose@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:2nrg84hfvtgch8q3dueno8q3nba46qpcop@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:55:12 -0700, "Steve Turner"
> <stevezygote@telus.net> wrote:
>
>>I am totally new to Vista. I just bought a new computer and it has an OEM
>>version on the HDD.
>>
>>Well, surprise, surprise! I don't have a 3.5 floppy. I do on my old XP
>>based
>>machine. And I've got a lot of stuff stored on floppies. How can I access
>>this in Vista?
>
> Kinda late to think about that now, isn't it? You didn't notice that
> there was no floppie drive when you were shopping?
>
> By an external drive.
>
>>In addition, how can I boot from a floppy in an emergency when there IS
>>not
>>floppy?
>
> You can't, Ben Stein.

Steve Turner wrote:

> I am totally new to Vista. I just bought a new computer and it has an OEM
> version on the HDD.
>
> Well, surprise, surprise! I don't have a 3.5 floppy. I do on my old XP
> based machine. And I've got a lot of stuff stored on floppies. How can I
> access this in Vista?
>
> In addition, how can I boot from a floppy in an emergency when there IS
> not floppy?

This isn't a Vista issue. New computers have not come with a floppy drive as
a default option for many years. That's because modern computers can boot
from a CD/DVD and in some cases even from a USB thumbdrive.

Floppies are the worst way to store anything important. They are fragile and
easily corrupted. They have been completely replaced by USB thumbdrives,
CD-R/DVD-Rs.

In order to transfer any data you were saving on floppies to your hard drive
and from there to burn this data to CD/DVD, purchase a USB floppy drive.
They are $25-40. Here's an example from NewEgg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...floppy&x=0&y=0

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

Most new PCs don't have floppy drives. If you need a floppy drive you have
two options, either buy an internal drive and fit it yourself (or have a
technician fit it) or, alternatively, buy a USB external floppy drive.

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..


"Steve Turner" <stevezygote@telus.net> wrote in message
news:uTgyjQY7IHA.4652@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> I am totally new to Vista. I just bought a new computer and it has an OEM
> version on the HDD.
>
> Well, surprise, surprise! I don't have a 3.5 floppy. I do on my old XP
> based machine. And I've got a lot of stuff stored on floppies. How can I
> access this in Vista?
>
> In addition, how can I boot from a floppy in an emergency when there IS
> not floppy?
>
> Thanks.

Floppy drives have pretty much disappeared in the last decade with the
advent of the USB memory stick. They are not routinely included in new
machines and it has nothing to do with Vista.

You can get an external floppy drive from most stores that sell computer
equipment for about $25 that plug into your computer via the USB connection.
Recommend you also get a good USB memory stick to transfer your information
from floppy to stick. A single 2GB stick is pretty cheap and will hold about
2,000 floppy's worth of information. If you have programs that install from
floppy, you might want to update those. (Incompatibilities are bound to
occur with these programs and your modern computer.)


"Steve Turner" <stevezygote@telus.net> wrote in message
news:%23tHJMYY7IHA.4548@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> It had a drive bay in it that I THOUGHT was for the floppy. Is this lack
of
> a floppy standard to Vista?
> And what do you mean by "by an external drive"
> And "you can't Ben Stein"....who is Ben Stein?
>
> "Nonny" <nonnymoose@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:2nrg84hfvtgch8q3dueno8q3nba46qpcop@4ax.com...
> > On Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:55:12 -0700, "Steve Turner"
> > <stevezygote@telus.net> wrote:
> >
> >>I am totally new to Vista. I just bought a new computer and it has an
OEM
> >>version on the HDD.
> >>
> >>Well, surprise, surprise! I don't have a 3.5 floppy. I do on my old XP
> >>based
> >>machine. And I've got a lot of stuff stored on floppies. How can I
access
> >>this in Vista?
> >
> > Kinda late to think about that now, isn't it? You didn't notice that
> > there was no floppie drive when you were shopping?
> >
> > By an external drive.
> >
> >>In addition, how can I boot from a floppy in an emergency when there IS
> >>not
> >>floppy?
> >
> > You can't, Ben Stein.
>

"Steve Turner" <stevezygote@telus.net> wrote in message
news:uTgyjQY7IHA.4652@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>I am totally new to Vista. I just bought a new computer and it has an OEM
>version on the HDD.
>
> Well, surprise, surprise! I don't have a 3.5 floppy. I do on my old XP
> based machine. And I've got a lot of stuff stored on floppies. How can I
> access this in Vista?
>
> In addition, how can I boot from a floppy in an emergency when there IS
> not floppy?
>
> Thanks.


Your old XP based machine was supplied at a time when floppies were still
seen as having some use.. late model XP machines do not have inbuilt floppy
drives.. floppy drives are 'old hat'..

Use your old XP machine to copy the data from your floppies, and then
transfer them to a USB stick, CD-R or directly to your new machine..


--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
http://support.microsoft.com/default...help&style=toc
Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx

They are now an option. You can get one for $10-$20. I actually have
an interesting floppy story.

Last year, I built my new God Box. I went to Compusa. I asked where
the floppy drives are? The person said I don't need one any more. I
asked again where are they. I need a floppy. He repeated his
stupidity. I said I don't care what you think. Where the hell are the
floppy drives and where is your manager, very loudly. The manager came
over and I ripped into him and his flunky. I don't care to hear what
you think. I need a floppy drive. He said the same thing. I said how
do I flash a server board BIOS without a floppy. He said use the live
update feature. Server boards don't have live update. This board
needed a floppy boot disk and BIOS disk. It had issues with thumb
drives doing it. You would not know because you sell crap.


--
SCSIraidGURU

Michael A. McKenney
'www.SCSIraidGURU.com' (http://www.SCSIraidGURU.com)

Supermicro X7DWA-N server board
pair of Intel E5430 quad core 2.66 GHz Xeons
16GB DDR667
SAS RAID
eVGA 8800 GTS 640 MB video card

On Thu, 24 Jul 2008 05:08:39 -0700, "Steve Turner"
<stevezygote@telus.net> wrote:

>It had a drive bay in it that I THOUGHT was for the floppy. Is this lack of
>a floppy standard to Vista?

It has been standard on computers for several years, even with XP.

>And what do you mean by "by an external drive"

WOW... you ARE out of the picture!!

It is a hard drive connected to a USB port.

People also commonly use flash drives in place of floppies... the
smallest currently available is about a gig and will hold the contents
of about a bazillion floppies.

On Thu, 24 Jul 2008 05:08:39 -0700, "Steve Turner"
<stevezygote@telus.net> wrote:

>And "you can't Ben Stein"....who is Ben Stein?

Ben Stein is a TV personality known for his intelligence.

I was being sarcastic.