do i really need a floppy drive?

[citercian{007}monk]

I've ordered all the parts for my computer from newegg (except for speakers and i'm still waiting on my corsair xms pc3500 ram) and i didn't get a floppy drive. I figured, since i still have to order stuff from newegg i'd see if i really need a floppy drive. Is there really any use now for a floppy?

[discodanman45]

Floppies are not really an essential part of a computer anymore. You can boot from cd's now, you can write data to cd-rw, and you can hardely fit anything more then documents on floppies today. My advice is use cd-rw or a zip drive to save information.

Some things that floppies still can be used for are boot disks, flashing bios, and saving data. I used my floppy drive twice this year. Once to flash bios, and the other time I was given a small program to install.

[Panama Red]

Used to be you saved or transferred small programs or data files on floppy disks cuz they were convenient. With the advent of Flash Drives, transferring data is much easier and you can nearly eliminate the floppy. I make it an option for my customers on new builds.

[mikezel]

You don't really need one, but I like to have one because its alot easier for bootable software like memtest86 and Darik's Boot and Nuke. Plus, its only a couple bucks. Also, for me its alot easier for transporting files to and from school, but thats more of a personal thing.

Ultimately, its up to you.

Mike

[bigandy]

Although you may never use it, for $7 or $8, I think it's worth it. You never know when you may have to flash your BIOS using a floppy, or test your memory from a utility (such as memtest86 like Mike mentioned above) that runs from a floppy.

[bailey]

Originally posted by bigandy Although you may never use it, for $7 or $8, I think it's worth it. You never know when you may have to flash your BIOS using a floppy, or test your memory from a utility (such as memtest86 like Mike mentioned above) that runs from a floppy.

I totally agred, I would not be without a floppy yet, there are still times you will wish you had one, and at the price they are today you could also have one external and portable too.
every system I build will have a floppy drive in it.

[Vigo]

I have a friend who refuses to listen to reason. He partially runs an Antique store (one in a chain). He also runs his own Ebay store. He has EVERY invoice, every cataloged item and every small image associated with his ebay items saved on floppy disks. He has about 2,000 if not more that are used (more than that blank- copy center was going to throw them away).

He refuses to use an external hard drive, to purchase a second hard drive- or a cd burner because he believes it's more complicated than managing 2k+ 3.5" floppies.

I wouldn't buy a floppy because I havent used one for anything in a couple years (as well as I can remember) but I still install them in my systems because I still have plenty I can rip out of dead systems.

Built this computer... actually...

I was going to say I never used the floppy on this computer since I built it but my girlfriend has a couple times. So I guess it was worth putting in... (not that she used it for anything important). Eh.

[Designer]

The only time you will feasibly need one is if your installing XP to a RAID setup or flashing your BIOS, and memtest86 (think someone mentioned a couple already). It's worth buying one even if you dont fit it (for what they cost), if you find you need it then fit it.

[RayH]

The best EMERGENCY utilities run on DOS. A floppy is how you bail yourself out of a boot sector virus, Partition Magic 7, Drive Image 6, Norton Ghost, Flash a BIOS....

If you don't use any of those programs, maybe you should be.

[Confused]

$7.00 out of approximately $800.00 to $1000.00 total for a new PC is good insurance in my book.

Chas

[RJ]

They're not really necessary. Just try it without. And if you ever feel like you do need one, then you still can get one.

RJ

[citercian{007}monk]

Well i am installing two drives into raid 0 and somebody said i needed a flppy to install xp when i have a raid array? is that true. Because then i will have to get one.

[RJ]

Well, if Windows does not include the drivers for the IDE controller, then yes. Unfortuntely Windows does not give you a choice, it wants the drivers only on a floppy.

RJ

[mairving]

Originally posted by RayH The best EMERGENCY utilities run on DOS. A floppy is how you bail yourself out of a boot sector virus, Partition Magic 7, Drive Image 6, Norton Ghost, Flash a BIOS.... If you don't use any of those programs, maybe you should be.

Who gets Boot Sector viruses any more? Most virus writers nowadays don't write boot sector viruses because it is too hard to distribute. Besides most AV disks are bootable. Flashing the BIOS can often be accomplished without a floppy. Ghost can be booted off of the Network or a CD.

So you may only need a floppy once or twice but it still might be worth installing since it is so cheap.

[MrAustin]

Personally I've found a floppy drive to be invaluable, as was said before because of all the restoration and emergency utilities that boot easily from floppy drives. For how much they cost, I'd grab one.

If only they would make flash drives bootable...

[Confused]

Originally posted by citercian{007}monk Well i am installing two drives into raid 0 and somebody said i needed a flppy to install xp when i have a raid array? is that true. Because then i will have to get one.

You don't give indication about type of board, but I know some Intel boards have native support for SATA and you don't need a floppy to load XP. I don't know if that is true with a RAID setup. My Asus board with Nforce chipset required me to load the SATA drivers from a floppy when installing XP.

Again for $7.00 I wonder why we have this discussion. If you ever have a need for one and don't have it you are down. If that happens to be 9PM Sunday night no PC until Monday when the stores open.
Chas

[glc]

My recommendation is to get the floppy or dig up a good used one somewhere - nothing says you have to install it in your box but it can be a lifesaver if you toss it into a drawer along with a floppy cable - just in case. In your situation, you WILL need it to install your RAID drivers and possibly flash your bios, but your future needs for it will likely be very seldom. Making boot CD's is still not as easy and intuitive as floppies, and you can't write to a boot CD. And as already said, you need floppies to make emergency recovery disks for quite a few utilities out there.

If you wait till you get stuck without one, even when the stores are open, you will be paying a lot more than 7 bucks for one - last ones I saw at CompUSA were over 20 bucks, all they carry are retail boxes.

[RayH]

mairving I kind of an old cheapskate. All my emergency programs run off floppy: AVG, Partition Magic 7, Dirve Image 6, whatever.

I actually like them better than the newer versions. The old floppy stuff actually works very quickly and efficiently.

But as inexpensive as they are, it's worth putting in.