Portable Floppy
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US $12.25
A Quick History of the Floppy Disk
Even though there is a lot to be said about floppy drives, these forms of data storage are mostly mentioned in a historical capacity. While you can do a data backup to a floppy disk (assuming your computer even has a floppy drive) it is definitely not recommended. There are many other methods of backing up your information that are far more reliable and offer far higher capacities.
The floppy disk was the first truly portable form of information storage for computers. Sure, you could move tape drives around at risk of severely damaging the tape, and you could move punch cards from computer to computer, but both of these storage options were unwieldy. When they were invented, floppy disks could store up to 1.44MB of data.
As you can probably tell already, 1.44MB of storage space is nothing in the world of today where most of the files you will be saving are several or even several hundred megabytes in size.
The floppy disk was invented by Dr. Nakamats, who apparently did most of his thinking at the bottom of his swimming pool. The floppy disk drive was just one of the many things that he invented while sitting on the bottom of his pool. Almost as soon as it was invented, the floppy disk made punch cards obsolete – they were just so portable, reliable, and easy to use.
The first floppy disks were invented in the 1960's by IBM. The disks were 8” across and were used during the 1970's on the computers of that time. However, it was the smaller floppy disk drives that were commonly used in people's homes.
There were two sizes of these commonly used floppy disks, the 5.25” and the 3.5” floppy. If you did not have a computer during the early 1990's or 1980's, then you probably only know of the 3.5” floppy. These typically came in sizes between 720KB and 2.8 MB – though the 1.44MB floppy disk was by far the most common size.
The 5.25” floppy was the older version and was a bit floppier than the 3.5” version. These could only hold between 100KB and 1.2MB of data.
Most computers do not come with floppy disk drives anymore. The reason for this is that they are no longer in wide use, and most of the important information that was on computers that only had floppy disks for data storage has since been moved onto newer computers or storage media.
You may still need floppy disks if you need to communicate with older technology. Some lab computers at certain schools are so old that they need floppy disks to retrieve data from and store data to.
If you need a disk drive and do not already have one on your computer, you can purchase an external drive at most computer stores. Hurry, though! This type of data storage is so out of date that it is likely that these external drives will not be available for much longer. These drives can be connected to your computer through USB or alternatively with a parallel port.
Unless the computer that you are using is too old to have USB connections, you should not be using a floppy disk to bring information to and from school or work anyway. Instead, you can just use a USB flash memory drive, which is much smaller and harder to damage.
Do not try to back up your computer on floppy disks! The number of disks that you will need will quickly make this into a time consuming and expensive task!
About the Author
If you want to learn more about the different types of floppy disks and read a bit of floppy disk history then why not visit www.backupadvice.com
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Nexxtech USB Floppy Disc Drive $29.99 The Nexxtech Portable USB Floppy Disc Drive is a great way to gain access to any information or data you may have stored on floppy discs. This compact and portable drive connects to your PC's USB port, and you have instant access to your files. Don't sacrifice data that didn't make the medium switch to CDs and DVDs! Restore your documents and photos quickly and easily with the Nexxtech USB Floppy Disc Drive. Compatible with USB 1.1 / 2.0. UPC: 741235163756 Manufacturer's Part Number: ATK-FD-01 |
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USB External Portable Floppy Disk Drive 1.44 MB $14.6 Low power consumption Slim and portable Support 1.44MB floppy diskette Self powered with USB, no other cable required Plug and Play, hot swap without restart the computer USB Interface, power by USB Port No Driver Required for windows XP Package Include USB Floppy Drive Driver CD Driver required for Windows 98SE only |
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Portable USB 3.5 1.44MB Floppy Diskette Drive (External USB-FDD) $16.4 - Supports 3.5" 720KB/1.44MB floppy disk- Self powered by USB cable- Compliant with USB full-speed (12Mbps) spec- Portable ultra slim design- Bootable on most PCs/Laptops- Plug And Play and hot pluggable, no drivers required for Windows ME/2000/XP/Server 2003/Vista/Server 2008 (needs driver under Windows 98/SE)- Package list: external USB-FDD with cable, driver CD, English user's manualSpecificationsDimensions: 5.51 in x 4.33 in x 0.79 inWeight: 12.13 oz |
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Floppy Disk $19.99 Gregor Schuster Floppy Disk - Photographic Print |
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CLOSEOUT!!! Kaloo Floppy Bear $27.99 CLOSEOUT!!! Kaloo Floppy Bear |
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FLOPPY DRIVE QUOTE# 139636035 $22.99 FLOPPY DRIVE QUOTE# 139636035 |
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HP Floppy Drive F2013A $16.15 HP Floppy Drive F2013A |
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HP Floppy For DL360G4P/DL580/ML570G3/G4 $13.1 HP Floppy For DL360G4P/DL580/ML570G3/G4 |
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Shurgart 8in Floppy Drive $417.75 Shurgart 8in Floppy Drive |
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Nippon Labs External USB2.0 Floppy Drive Model USB-FLPY-DLOCK $29.99 Media Type: 3.5" Micro Floppy Disks Features: Specification: Plug & Play Light weight & easy to carry Hot swappable Data Capacity: 720KB, 1.25MB, 1.44MB (Formatted) USB Data Transfer Rate: Full-Speed / 12Mbps Data Transfer Rate: 500kbits/s (720KB), 1Mbit/s (1.25MB / 1.44MB) Available USB BUS supply current: 500mA or less Features: Quick and easy connectivity can be yours with this light weight and portable external floppy disk drive. A great solution for backing up or archiving data. Designed to enhance your desktop or notebook with both functionality and style. Compatible with all notebooks and desktops with Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows 98, ME, 2000, and XP pre-installed. Ultra slim design, no external power needed. |
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floppy disk adapter $9.99 DataStor - Floppy disk adapter - black |
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Byte My Floppy $21.99 Byte My Floppy - T-Shirt |
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Orange Floppy Ears $124.99 Avalisa Orange Floppy Ears - Laminated Oversized Art |
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Floppy Eared Bunny $29.99 Susan Lipschutz Floppy Eared Bunny - Photographic Print |
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Dog with floppy ears $19.99 Michael Kloth Dog with floppy ears - Photographic Print |
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Juniors: Byte My Floppy $21.99 Juniors: Byte My Floppy - T-Shirt |
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COMPAQ 1.44 Floppy Drive 388617706 $22.1 COMPAQ 1.44 Floppy Drive 388617706 |
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1.44MB HP Floppy Drive 176137-231 $32.75 1.44MB HP Floppy Drive 176137-231 |
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1.44MB HP Floppy Drive 333548-001 $32.75 1.44MB HP Floppy Drive 333548-001 |
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Video Floppy $84.44 High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles A Video Floppy is a video storage medium in the form of a 2 magnetic floppy disk used to store still frames of analog composite video. A video floppy, also known as a VF disk, could store up to 25 frames either in the NTSC or PAL video standards, with each frame containing 2 fields of interlaced video. The video floppy also could store 50 frames of video, with each frame of video only containg one field of video information, recorded or played back in a skipfield fashion. Video floppies were first developed by Sony in 1981 for their Mavica still video camera (not to be confused with their later line of Mavica digital cameras introduced in the mid1990s, which stored JPEG images to standard 3.5 floppy disks readable by computers instead). The video floppy format was later used by Minolta, Panasonic, and Canon for their still video cameras introduced in the late 1980s, such as the Canon Xapshot from 1988 (also known as the Canon Ion in Europe and the Canon QPIC in Japan). Author: Surhone, Lambert M./ Tennoe, Mariam T./ Henssonow, Susan F. Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 108 Publication Date: 2010/11/16 Language: English Dimensions: 6.00 x 9.02 x 0.26 inches |
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Gray Rabbit with Floppy Ear $19.99 Pat Doyle Gray Rabbit with Floppy Ear - Photographic Print |
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136256-001 Laptop Floppy Drive $29.5 Compaq Armada M300 Floppy Drive Fits with compatible part number: 136256-001, 36256-001, 154989-001, 157282-001. Click here for Floppy Cord1/2 off Clearance Special!!! |
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Ladies Pink Floppy Sun Hat $5.99 Includes (1) Ladies Pink Floppy Sun Hat. |
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Floppy Hippie Hat $12.99 Feel the love when you top off your Hippie, beatnik or free spirit costume with this summer of love Floppy Hippie |
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Pantropic Angora Floppy - Black $42.95 The Angora Floppy is a stylish hat made of wool with a small brim. Available Colors: Black, Red, Gray. |
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Pantropic Angora Floppy - Gray $42.95 The Angora Floppy is a stylish hat made of wool with a small brim. Available Colors: Black, Red, Gray. |
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Pantropic Angora Floppy - Red $42.95 The Angora Floppy is a stylish hat made of wool with a small brim. Available Colors: Black, Red, Gray. |
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Single Drive Round Floppy Cable - floppy cable - 1.6 ft $3.99 StarTech.com Single Drive Round Floppy Cable - Floppy cable - 34 pin IDC (F) - 34 pin IDC (F) - 1.6 ft - rounded - gray |
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Floppy Disk Drink Coasters $9.99 We have a soft spot for old technology, whether it's computers, phones, or music players. Our parents warned us that this would happen, so it appears once again they were right. We're staying on the bleeding edge of technology as long as we can, but we'll wax nostalgic about cassette tapes and floppy disks so today's teenagers can roll their eyes and call us old fogies. This set of coasters is designed to look just like the floppy disks you know and love. Even the back side is "anatomically correct," as it were. Use a Sharpie to personalize the labels for specific members of your crew if you want! These four coasters come in the three primary colors and classic black. Product Specifications Put your drink down on a floppy floppy! Set of four silicone coasters that look like floppy disks Colorful: Red, yellow, blue, and black Dimensions: Standard 3.5" floppy sized |
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Dakota Collectibles 970015 Nautical Collection Floppy Disk $29.99 Dakota Collectibles 970015 Nautical Collection Floppy Disk |
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Embroideryarts Diplomat Monogram Set Floppy Disk $29.99 Embroideryarts Diplomat Monogram Set Floppy Disk |
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Embroideryarts Romanesque Monogram Set 2 Floppy Disk $29.99 Embroideryarts Romanesque Monogram Set 2 Floppy Disk |
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Embroideryarts Asian Monogram Set 2 Floppy Disk $29.99 Embroideryarts Asian Monogram Set 2 Floppy Disk |
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Embroideryarts Perennial Monogram Set 3 Floppy Disk $39.99 Embroideryarts Perennial Monogram Set 3 Floppy Disk |
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Embroideryarts Romanesque Set 3 Embroidery Floppy $29.99 Embroideryarts Romanesque Set 3 Embroidery Floppy |
