How to Install an External Zip Drive

The Iomega company introduced external zip drives in the mid 1990s as a form of extra storage for computer data. At the time of their introduction, zip drives were the backup drive of choice by many individuals and companies. Zip drive disks were originally capable of holding up to 100 megabytes of data, and later the capacity was upgraded to 250 megabytes. An external zip drive should not be confused with a thumb or flash drive, as these are vastly different technologies.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Zip drive Zip drive floppy disk (not always needed) Zip drive installation software (not always needed)

1. Determine how to connect the zip drive to your computer. Some zip drives are connected to a USB port, while others use the parallel, or printer, port. Plug the power supply to an available electrical outlet.

2. Plug the zip drive into the proper port. Depending on the operating system you are using, your machine may recognize the zip drive automatically. If not, you will need to install the software that came with the drive.

3. Insert the zip drive installation disk into the proper drive. Older zip drives use the floppy drive along with a supplied zip disk, while newer ones come with a CD.

4. Navigate to the disk if the install doesn't start automatically. Click on "My Computer" and click the drive where the disk is located.

5. Look for a "setup.exe" file and double click on that file. The drivers and other software needed for the zip drive will automatically install.

6. Reboot if prompted in order to begin using your zip drive.

Tips & Warnings

• A zip drive can be set up to be recognized by Windows as a permanent disk drive and can be shared and formatted like any other disk drive. Because of its hard shell, a zip drive disk is not as fragile as a regular floppy disk. Many software programs recognize a zip drive as a portable backup drive and will save to the drive automatically.

Resources

• Driver Guide