Do you really need a floppy drive?...

[brodyhooperquint]

Hi...Just curious...is it safe to disable the floppy drive?...I really no longer have any need for a floppy drive and after all it shaves a second or two off boot-up and shutdown times.

I am using Windows XP.

Thanks from Colin.

 

[biostud]

Just remove it, you can always plug it back in if you find out you'll need it later on.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: biostud666
Just remove it, you can always plug it back in if you find out you'll need it later on.

Agreed, the only reason you would need it now is installing SATA drivers during a windows install, or a bios flash on older mobos.

 

[Cheetah8799]

Agreed, the only reason you would need it now is installing SATA drivers during a windows install, or a bios flash on older mobos.

I was thinking the same thing. I'm considering pulling my floppy drive as well, only thing stopping me is the rare time when I do need it...

 

[Davegod]

Can go without it, but some things you do need it for e.g.:
- bios flashing if your mobo doesnt have a windows utility
- recovery disks (e.g. ghost boot floppy)... can make a boot CD (example) but might still need to make a boot floppy to image onto it for specific apps (e.g. ghost).
- certain drivers i.e. SATA

I'd keep a floppy drive around for when needed but you dont need one most of the time.

 

[brodyhooperquint]

Hey thanks guys for all your replies...really appreciated!

I have'nt actually physically removed it I have just disabled it in the bios and removed it from the boot sequence. I take your point about needing it for sata drivers as I have two satas...so I have left it in the machine to save the hassle of opening it when it is eventually needed. Thanks for putting my mind at rest.

Many thanks from Colin.

P.S.- NICE LINK Davegod

 

[bluemax]

I use mine regularly.

 

[GrumpyMan]

They are only a couple of bucks, why not have one just in case? I use mine all the time too.

 

[kd7fhd]

just disable check for floppy during boot in the cmos (speeds up boot time but your floppy is still available)

or

get a external usb floppy (if your mb is new enough it should support booting from it).

 

[pukemon]

If you don't need to load SATA or RAID drivers, you might as well remove and disable the floppy drive.

 

[TheDigitalDiamond]

*Nod nod* I reversed my boot pattern for the hard drive to come first, CDROM next (I think) & floppy last. This laptop is antiquated and it's loaded to the brim storage wise.. I boot in like 10-20 seconds, so obviously something works in that cycle 🙂 If you ever need to boot from something else, just pop into the BIOS and reset the order 🙂