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Reading floppy discs / disks?

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    Reading floppy discs / disks?

    Does anyone have a solution for this on Windows 10 or Linux? I see reviews of USB devices and they don't work for some. Someone on here must have a need for this?

    #2
    This should do fine:

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      #3
      Thanks, but it's showing as unavailable on US store for me and no UK stock. The other brands have bad reviews plus the way Amazon have combined reviews doesn't help.

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        #4
        Any £5 usb floppy drive should work used loads over the years.

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          #5
          Thanks will look around, some reviews they just complain dunno what they're doing wrong.

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            #6
            Just quickly looking at the reviews, I'd suggest the problems people are having is with the media itself, rather than the drives. If you get one, just make sure it can read double density, double sided floppy disks.

            If your disks are old and not in archived storage, expect many of them to be unreadable now, especially cheap unbranded disks.

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              #7
              Originally posted by MartyG View Post
              Just quickly looking at the reviews, I'd suggest the problems people are having is with the media itself, rather than the drives. If you get one, just make sure it can read double density, double sided floppy disks.

              If your disks are old and not in archived storage, expect many of them to be unreadable now, especially cheap unbranded disks.
              Agreed. I use a cheapo usb floppy drive on Windows 10 without issue. If there is ever an issue it's usually down to the floppy disk itself.

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                #8
                Thanks for all the replies, very helpful.

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                  #9
                  I've tried a couple of floppy drives USB type, not had a good experience so far. Either not recognised in in Windows or whirring and disk jammed and had to pull out physically. It could of course be the discs but the drives seem almost identical and rebadged under different names.

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                    #10
                    There just aren't many people manufacturing these drives anymore so they end up all using the same mechanism. I just had a look in my spare parts bin as I thought I had a couple of drives from ancient machines that I'd salvaged, but I must have chucked them.

                    If you're desperate to get the data off, and you're sure it's not the disks that are dead, it might be worth looking for an old PC on Facebook marketplace or eBay, or putting a wanted up on there and try and transfer the data off that way.

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by MartyG View Post
                      There just aren't many people manufacturing these drives anymore so they end up all using the same mechanism. I just had a look in my spare parts bin as I thought I had a couple of drives from ancient machines that I'd salvaged, but I must have chucked them.

                      If you're desperate to get the data off, and you're sure it's not the disks that are dead, it might be worth looking for an old PC on Facebook marketplace or eBay, or putting a wanted up on there and try and transfer the data off that way.
                      Thanks again, I'll have to figure this out.

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