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How can I use a 5.25 floppy on a modern computer? I need urgent help.

I was giving him a better Windows alternative, since it apparently is going to be run on a "modern" computer. DISKCOPY is good if he perfers to copy in DOS-mode or a DOS subsystem.
 
When I finally connect the drive and get it working, can I put data on it as individual files? I mean if I want to copy on the disk PACMAN.EXE and STRIKER.EXE lets say, can I simply copy these two files from my modern computer, and paste them on the 5.25 disk and they will work on a MS DOS 3.3 machine? Or should I compress them to an .img file for them to work?
 
I didn't mean to imply that it came with DOS, but instead mentioned he could use the program in DOS. Either way, he has options if he should need to write a disk image.
 
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I didn't think that you did imply that. But since DISKCOPY is the exact name of a DOS program (that porvides a somewhat similar service) I wanted to make it clear that the DISKCOPY I was using had nothing to do with DOS and provided a completely different result from its operation.
 
'Georgy Papantoniou' said:
Yes the BIOS supports a 360K drive. It would not physically fit, but I don't mind since I want to connect it temporarily to make some diskettes for my older pc.
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You need to be aware that even though your modern computer's BIOS supports 360K drives (as mine does), modern versions of Windows do not. Trixter is the only person I know of who has a 360K drive working under Windows XP. Everyone else on these forums who has tried and reported their results cannot get a 360K drive working under XP. So, assuming it is XP running on your modern computer, be aware that the likelihood of success for you will be low.

Later versions of Windows. e.g. Vista, 7 and 8, are sure to be in the same position.

For others:

Windows XP does support the 360K format. Note my use of "format", not "drive". Microsoft indicates "format" support in Microsoft's Knowledge Base article Q309623. So if XP supports the 360K "format", but not a 360K "drive", how does XP support the format? It turns out that if a 1.2M drive is used under XP, then XP can read/write 360K floppies placed in that 1.2M drive.
Of course, the problem with that configuration (360K floppy in 1.2M drive) is that is that one ends up with 360K floppies with "thin" tracks, as discussed may times in this thread, and discussed [here].
 
modem7 said:
You need to be aware that even though your modern computer's BIOS supports 360K drives (as mine does), modern versions of Windows do not. Trixter is the only person I know of who has a 360K drive working under Windows XP. Everyone else on these forums who has tried and reported their results cannot get a 360K drive working under XP
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That's certainly been my experience but I think Chuck said he also had a 360K drive working in XP; we'll have to sort this out some day. I wonder if the drive age/make/model etc. make any difference...
 
You could try to see if FreeDOS boots (from CD or usb stick) on your machine, and if your floppy drive works from that.
 
After a dozen of issues with my old computer and receiving the drive and cable, I managed to connect the drive to my 2001 Pentium 4 PC. I connected successfully both the data cable and the molex power supply cable.
I have also set the BIOS to accept 360MB 5.25 Floppy drive for legacy floppy.
I was pretty sure that this would work, after a lot of research in the topic. In my computer, the 5.25 floppy drive icon replaced the 3.5 drive icon, as I expected.
The drive seemed to be working, the LED was open all the time, and the drive motor was spinning at a low pace, maybe about 10Hz.
I also have inserted a working 5.25 360kb floppy in it.

When I tried to access it from my computer, an error message appeared: A:/ is not accessible. The request could not be performed because of an I/O error.

Then I restarted my PC. I changed in the BIOS settings under Legacy Floppy, to 1.2MB 5.25 inch drive. When I tried to access the floppy now, it either showed that there was no floppy in the drive, or showed the hourglass.

What can be the problem? I spent quite some time and money in this project, I dont want to give up...
 
'Georgy Papantoniou' said:
The drive seemed to be working, the LED was open all the time, and the drive motor was spinning at a low pace, maybe about 10Hz
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If by open you mean on... the led should only be on when the drive is actually in use, e.g., reading or writing. Same with the motor -- only when the drive is in use. Check to be certain that the ribbon cable is installed correctly. That means no pins hanging out and the red stripe on pin #1.

Hey, you been to the bank lately? Sorry, I just had to ask. :)
 
MikeS said:
That's certainly been my experience but I think Chuck said he also had a 360K drive working in XP; we'll have to sort this out some day. I wonder if the drive age/make/model etc. make any difference...
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It's not connected up now and it's been a few years, but I'm sure I used to have a 360k drive working on XP also.

Tez
 
The drive is 1.2MB, but i want to read 360kb disks. I have installed the cable correctly in the FDD for sure, but I am not sure about the motherboard, it was very difficult to insert the cable on the motherboard 'socket'. Does the cable's orientation make any difference in the motherboard?

As for the economic situation in Cyprus, we are doomed :D
 
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