RIP - the floppy disk is dying.

[Rik]

The Telegraph reports that the end of the floppy is in sight.

The floppy disk, which has been around since the early days of home computing, is finally being killed off by Sony.

The Japanese electronics manufacturer, which last year sold well over 12 million of the devices, has announced it will stop making floppy disks next year, leaving no serious manufacturer in the market place.

The decision is the final nail in the coffin for floppies, which since they were first developed in 1971 have helped consumers store documents, pictures and data on an easy to use format.

However, in recent years, the limited storage on most floppies compared with how much data can be stored on a CD or a USB memory stick has meant they have become increasingly obsolete.

The most recent floppy disks have a maximum storage capacity of 2 megabytes though most had less. This compared with the 4 or even 8 gigabytes consumers can now buy on a standard USB stick – 2,000 or 4,000 times the size of the largest floppy.

It really is the end of an era.

[Lance]

I was surprised a while back to see them still on sale somewhere. I'll never forget the never ending read/write failures, formatting problems and having box loads of the things for applications.

[zimmerframe]

When I built my current PC 4 or 5 years ago, I installed a floppy drive. 

It never gets used...

[Gary]

I have not seen one on a PC for years now.

[Rik]

I did have one until my recent problems, but it had had so much fluff sucked into it that I took the opportunity to ditch it.

[john]

I've not used a floppy disk for years now but I remember having 5 1/4" ones circa 1990. Probaby a pack of 10 cost more than a pen drive with greater capacity now.

(and no, I don't remember the 8" ones !!!  )

[Simon]

I have one in my PC, built a couple of years ago. 

[Glenn]

Have you used it though?

[kinmel]

Anyone re-installing Winxp etc onto SATA will need one.

I will keep re-using the existing drives for as long as there is support on new motherboards.

[Simon]

Can't remember, Glenn.

[pctech]

Had one included in the PC I had built 4 years ago but in all honesty I've never used it.

I tend to use a USB stick for the jobs I'd traditionally use a floppy for.

[Rik]

I've not used a floppy disk for years now but I remember having 5 1/4" ones circa 1990. Probaby a pack of 10 cost more than a pen drive with greater capacity now.

£36, John.

[esh]

Bring back the 8" 100KB floppies!

[Rik]

Did they ever go? 

[zappaDPJ]

(and no, I don't remember the 8" ones !!!  )

I remember punch cards 

[Rik]

I certainly remember both those and the tapes. Handy when a wedding was in the offing.

[Gary]

Can't remember, Glenn.

Have you got any floppys though Simon, that's a good way of telling

[Rik]

How old someone is? 

[Simon]

Have you got any floppys though Simon, that's a good way of telling

Not sure what you're getting at, Gary.  Yes I have floppy disks, from yonks ago, and yes I have a floppy disk drive in my current machine.  All I'm saying is, I can't remember using any on it. 

[pctech]

I wish Hi-speed USB and flash drives had been around when I was doing my Business GNVQ.

I used to carry a plastic caddy full of floppies to/from Six Form college containing reports, presentations and the like.

Thanks to the oiks that used to like to go round sticking pens in the floppy drives and bending the innards on a few occasions I'd put it in the drive and try and few the contents, hear a crunching sound in the drive, wait for it to stop and then eject my disk and pull back the protector only to find it had been cut to bits.

luckily I used to keep backups on the hard disk of my home PC but it would slow my progress at college for the rest of that day.

[Rik]

I still have a box of the things somewhere. Knowing me, I've kept a copy of WordPerfect for DOS.

[DorsetBoy]

There are at least 5 other manufacturers selling floppies,papers never get anything right.

[Rik]

I wonder how long that will last, though, Dorset. To judge by this thread, few of us use floppies anymore and I really can't remember when I bought my last box.

[DorsetBoy]

I wonder how long that will last, though, Dorset. To judge by this thread, few of us use floppies anymore and I really can't remember when I bought my last box.

They don't get used often that's for sure but there are still a few apps around that want them. M$ used them with the XP recovery system . I suppose we will all have lose them eventually,it just seems odd not having the port there.

[Rik]

It does, but then it wasn't that long ago we didn't have USB...

[DorsetBoy]

It does, but then it wasn't that long ago we didn't have USB...

Wake up it's USB3 now.

[Rik]

I know. It demonstrates my point.

[Technical Ben]

You mean they did not stop making these 5 years ago?! 

[drummer]

My first copy of the full (legal) version of Cubase for the Atari ST was on two DD floppy discs.

Flipping 'eck, I was gobsmacked when HD floppies became available!

Backups on a single floppy drive was just fun, fun, fun (I'm obviously fibbing here).

Incidentally, it's perfectly possible to install WinXP, on a SATA HDD without a floppy drive if the BIOS is newish.  Win98/ME on the other hand...

...are just not worth the effort (and do require a floppy drive).

[JB]

Incidentally, it's perfectly possible to install WinXP, on a SATA HDD without a floppy drive if the BIOS is newish. 

Is it possible to install extra drivers on XP at install time without a floppy? Much as I have tried other means it always asks for a floppy in drive a:

Would be helpful to me to know how to do this.

[pctech]

You can add drivers into an image and then burn the thing to a CD

Easiest way to do this is use something like nlite.

[JB]

You can add drivers into an image and then burn the thing to a CD

Thanks for that. I have slipstreamed Windows before using nlite. Just wondering if I could use a USB stick to load say SATA drivers for a one off WinXP installation.

[pctech]

I don't think there should be a prob, suck it and see as they say.

[Rik]

If the BIOS recognises the USB stick at boot time, I don't see why it wouldn't work.

[JB]

If the BIOS recognises the USB stick at boot time, I don't see why it wouldn't work.

Even after that, I'm inclined to think that the WinXP install disk still wants to see a floppy when you press (from memory) F8 at the beginning of installation.

[Rik]

I really can't remember, JB, but with so few machines fitted with floppies these days, it has to be phased out I would have thought.

[john]

I note that the save icon in my version of MS Word 2003 looks like a floppy disk 

[Technical Ben]

What else can you use as an icon? 

[Rik]

It does in most apps. I suppose HDs and flash drives are far less iconic.

[john]

What else can you use as an icon? 

Maybe something like this :



but others may be able to come up with something better.

I don't know why an icon of a floppy was ever used for 'Save' as saving a file to a floppy was probably not as common as saving it back to a hard drive.

Perhaps something more future proof as solid state drives will probably replace hard drives eventually.

[Rik]

I suspect it dates from the very early days, John, when we did, indeed, save to a floppy (and, once bitten the first time, then save it again to a second floppy).

[Glenn]

How many people say they record a programme, most Say they Sky Plus'd or videoed it.

[Rik]

I still make the slip of saying I taped it.

[Glenn]

Yep that is another term used.

[pctech]

Perhaos a floppy was used as an icon because in the early days a lot of documents were saved to floppies so that they could easily be transferred between machines in the days before LANs and in the time of 750MB hard disks.

[Rik]

I remember 10MB hard drives. Painfully slow, fragile and expensive.

[pctech]

My old '97 spec Pentium 166 which was retired in 2005 had a 2.1GB drive, really don't know how I coped.

[Rik]

We did OK until they invented digital music and photography.

[vitriol]

I dont think I've used one since I left school 22yrs ago.  lol

[pctech]

Lucky you' funnily enough was trying to get my hands on one today to flash the BIOS of a colleague's own circa 2001 notebook as it wouldn't recognise a new hard drive she wanted to put in.

Couldn't find one and chucked all mine out.

[john]

40 ways to use a floppy disk

I thought the best one was number 11 

[zappaDPJ]

That one made me laugh as well 

[Rik]

I must try it, just let me find a van... 

[JohnC]

Everyone here obviously enjoys going for a scroll down memory lane!

[Rik]

Memory Lane? I thought we were discussing a new way to make foodmoney.

[john]

Well corrected Rik, I don't think they've made an edible floppy disk, they do make edible USB pen drives though :

[pctech]

I'll take a chocolate digestive one please 

[Rik]

Well corrected Rik, I don't think they've made an edible floppy disk, they do make edible USB pen drives though :