Is floppy disk drive necessary?

[thaigecko]

I'm planning my first build. After reading a few guides, I noticed the floppy disk drive wasn't actually used during the build process. The last firmware upgrade I did for a motherboard was with a burned CD. The only situation I read of using a floppy disk is to install a RAID driver at the beginning of Windows XP's setup. However, that guide seemed dated. So, my question is... Is it necessary to get a floppy disk drive or will the optical drive suffice? Thanks.

T

[minsonngo]

The optical drive is enough.


But... floppy drives are cheap and it may come in handy down the road.

[thaigecko]

Thanks for the quick reply.

[TwoRails]

I still build with floppies: think diagnostics and the like. I still do my Ghosting with a floppy. Plus, they're handy to help others out with, like just last week I was able to help a friend convert some of their floppies to CD...

[Staren]

I've started switching floppy drives out for flash card readers, but I still keep one around that I can plug in if need be. If you have one in another computer you can pull if needed, don't worry about it. If not, then I'd go ahead and spend the $8 bucks it would cost to have one handy.

[Alaron]

I've been getting combination floppy drive/flash card readers for my builds to have the best of both worlds. Floppies still come in handy now and then, and everyone has a digi-cam these days with a memory card of some sort. Check out this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16821104104

[TwoRails]

Hmmm... and save a bay, too! I might have to try one out in this box, Alaron

[thaigecko]

Alaron,

That looks awesome. Since it's internal USB (instead of the older interface) can it still be used to boot from / do firmware upgrades?

T

[minsonngo]

You should be able to go into the BIOS setup and set USB as one of the boot devices. I think that would work.

[Staren]

Originally Posted by minsonngo You should be able to go into the BIOS setup and set USB as one of the boot devices. I think that would work.

That only works on newer motherboards. Even a lot of socket 478 boards wouldn't boot from USB.

[minsonngo]

Originally Posted by Staren That only works on newer motherboards. Even a lot of socket 478 boards wouldn't boot from USB.

Yep... I just assumed the OP was going to build with the newer motherboards out there.

[thaigecko]

Staren, thanks for pointing out that limitation. Minsonngo's assumption is correct. I will be building the system with new parts. I'm specificially looking at higher-end motherboards for future upgrades.

[Staren]

I figured you would be, just something else to be aware of.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Alaron I've been getting combination floppy drive/flash card readers for my builds to have the best of both worlds. Floppies still come in handy now and then, and everyone has a digi-cam these days with a memory card of some sort. Check out this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16821104104

Great product but you have to remember not to connect it to the motherboard until after you install the OS or you'll find the OS installed to some drive other than C: and you won't be able to change the drive lettering to make the OS drive the C: drive.

Cricket

[TwoRails]

Excellent point, Cricket! I install stuff the old fashioned way: one at a time. I start with bare minimum to boot, then add things as I go along so I can test them for problems. The OS is long installed by the time I get to adding USB items...

[thaigecko]

I'm curious... why would the HD not get C as it's letter assignment?

Also... would it still be possible to load a RAID driver at the beginning of the Windows XP setup without the drive connected? (I'm thinking swap OS with driver CD to load driver and go back to OS to continue install)

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by thaigecko I'm curious... why would the HD not get C as it's letter assignment?

If the card reader is connected while the OS is being installed, one of it's "drives" gets the C: drive designation instead of the HDD...I'm not quite sure why though...motherboard looks at USB connections before IDE or SATA and finds those "drives" first?

Cricket

[perkster]

tis true my system drive is drive L: as i put in a new HD but didnt disconnect the already in the system card reader and extrernal USB drive when installing the OS. not that its a problem really at all just get used to it

[XenaWP]

Originally Posted by thaigecko I'm curious... why would the HD not get C as it's letter assignment? Also... would it still be possible to load a RAID driver at the beginning of the Windows XP setup without the drive connected? (I'm thinking swap OS with driver CD to load driver and go back to OS to continue install)

I built a little over a month ago. Specs in sig. The legacy IDE drive is assigned Drive 0 (C: ) by wonderful WinXP during install. That made it impossible to make the boot SATA drive C:

Don't have any drives other than the boot drive in connected during WinXP install.

And with the Intel BX2 motherboard, you have to have a floppy drive to install the RAID/AHCI drivers installed (unless you can make your own XP install disk with them on it) as part of the XP install process (F6 to install step). Unless you enjoy reinstalling WinXP, if you use an Intel board, I'd recommend having a fdd.

[xplosiv3]

for my build i installed a floppy drive/card reader...there fairly priced..coz its always useful for transfering data quickly and cheaply and also id better then having a exteral card reader outside the pc....(sometimes getting steped on,or fulling off the desk)...maybe i should of been more careful...

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by perkster tis true my system drive is drive L: as i put in a new HD but didnt disconnect the already in the system card reader and extrernal USB drive when installing the OS. not that its a problem really at all just get used to it

I'd just rather not have to deal with it...been doing this 10 years and seeing the system drive as anything other than C: is just too weird for me. Besides it's easy enough to just disconnect the card reader prior to OS installation.

Cricket

[perkster]

true but i didnt know about the issue until afterwards. lesson learned though!

[Croaker]

One warning about stealing a fdd from another system. I actually had a case that drew AIR through the FDD, so when I went to move it to another system I needed it on I found the fdd full of dust bunnies. Didn't work to well... I don't remember if vacuuming it made a difference.

Eric

[minsonngo]

Originally Posted by Croaker One warning about stealing a fdd from another system. I actually had a case that drew AIR through the FDD, so when I went to move it to another system I needed it on I found the fdd full of dust bunnies. Didn't work to well... I don't remember if vacuuming it made a difference. Eric

Yep... FDDs are cheap nowadays... so buying a replacement shouldn't hurt too much hehe.

With some of the older computers we refurbish from local schools around here... we just remove the top cover on the floppy drive to help blow out all of the dust more effectively. Most of the time this works.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by minsonngo With some of the older computers we refurbish from local schools around here... we just remove the top cover on the floppy drive to help blow out all of the dust more effectively. Most of the time this works.

Yeah, cleaning a floppy drive is easy to do...it's about the only drive you can actually take apart to give a good cleaning...I've taken the covers off optical drives but decided not to go any further since I didn't know what was what.

Cricket