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5 1/4" drive?

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NutmegCT

NutmegCT

Great Pumpkin
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Is there such a critter any more?

Our library has some 5.25 inch floppy disks, supposedly full of research papers into aviation history. I'd like to at least read the directories to see what's on them.

I can find lots of 3.5 inch floppy disk readers, with USB cable.

But can't find anything for 5.25 inch floppies.

Any ideas?

Thanks.
Tom M.
 
Thanks Elliot. I have found lots of the 5.25 floppy drives, but no USB adapter or power supply for the drives.

Ay, there's the rub!
 
I tried finding something For 5 1/4 inch floppy pt USB and came up empty also. Howevr, I did find a place that will do a transfer of 5/ 1/4 floppy drives to USB stick: https://www.floppydisk.com/transfer

Another alternative might be to look for an old used computer you could buy on the cheap with a 5-1/4 drive built in.
 
Thanks gents. Just remembered my 1983 Osborne has two 5.25 floppy drives. If I use the old cp/m program MediaMaster, I can read DOS disks. At least this way I'll see the directory file listings.

Hope springs eternal!
Tom M.
 
First computer I ever had was an Osborne, suitcase looking thing with a screen about the size of a large modern smartphone. I eventually sold it cheap. Someday will probably be a collector's item. DOS prompt me please.
 
glemon said:
First computer I ever had was an Osborne, suitcase looking thing with a screen about the size of a large modern smartphone. I eventually sold it cheap. Someday will probably be a collector's item. DOS prompt me please.
Click to expand...

I still have mine. WordStar, SuperCalc, dBase II, even a lightning-fast 300 baud modem!, etc.

osborne1.jpg


Back in those days, computers were expensive (this one cost about $2000), and used for work.
 
DavidApp said:
How ironic that we are having difficulty accessing records that are about 30 years old while it is still possible to access this record. Medieval Latin is required to read the original text.
Click to expand...

Does make you wonder. will a generation or two from now find they have no usable pictures from vacations, births or other celebrations. No family documents or other stuff because everything is electronic and in obsolete formats or lost "in the cloud"?? I have a ton of stuff my maternal ancestors kept that probably would be that way were they not on film or paper, like a photo of a 3yo "cowboy" me that probably wouldn't have survived if not forgotten for decades as a photo found when my grandmother passed years ago. I certainly didn't know it existed so wouldn't have looked for it had it been in electronic form.
 
Mike - it sure is easier to show family and friends a photo album of printed pictures, than try to get them all on the right "platform" to see various photo and video formats. Funny - and sad - when a friend says "here's my trip to Australia" and holds up his smartphone - where the photos are about 2x2".

Recently found a "zip drive" disk at the air museum library. Paper label said "Constellation crash, 1993". Where the heck would someone find a zip drive device today? Just wait a few decades, and people will either (1) be scouring the 'net for devices supporting gif, tif, jpeg, avi, mov, pnp, etc., or (2) give up trying.

oy
 
My external Zip drive connects with a parallel port cable. When was the last mainboard made with one of those?
 
I can remember using 8” floppy’s... eek I’m dating myself.
 
Oh, good. Now I feel better about my age :devilgrin:
 
Well, I can't go rotary drum, but I do still have a deck of 80 column punch cards and a big reel to reel tape at home. Make great paperweights...
 
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