How to Install a 3.5 Floppy Disk Drive

Floppy disks hold little data by today's standards and are rarely used.

Although floppy disks have largely fallen out of favor as a storage medium for computers, you may occasionally encounter situations where you need to use one, such as installing old software or partitioning a hard drive in a computer that cannot boot from the optical drive. If you need to read a floppy disk on a computer that does not have a floppy drive, you will need to install one.

Things You'll Need

• Phillips head screwdriver
• 4 mounting screws
• Internal floppy drive cable

Instructions

1. Turn your computer off and open the computer case. Depending on the case model, there may be a single release latch or button or a series of screws along the back of the case that must be removed.

2. Locate an open 3.5-inch drive bay in the computer case. The drive bay will be slightly larger than the floppy drive itself. At the front of the drive bay, there should be an opening or a plastic cover that can be removed to allow access to the floppy drive.

3. Line the screw holes on the side of the floppy drive up with the openings on the side of the drive bay, then secure the floppy drive to the inside of the computer case using at least four screws. Although fewer screws can be used, failure to secure the floppy drive completely may cause vibrations that produce noise from within the computer case.

4. Connect a cable from the power supply in the back of the computer case to the floppy drive. Floppy drive power cables are keyed so that they can only be connected in the correct direction.

5. Place the floppy drive cable over the pins on the back of the floppy drive. Most floppy drive cables have a long red line on one side; the red line indicates the first pin, which will be marked with a white arrow or numeral "1" on the floppy drive. Connect the cable so that the side with the red line faces the first pin on the floppy drive. If your floppy drive cable has multiple connectors, connect the floppy drive to the connector at the end of the cable. The other end should be connected to the motherboard. The middle connector is not used unless the computer has two floppy drives.

6. Connect the other end of the cable to the 34-pin floppy connector on the motherboard. Do not be confused by the IDE hard drive connectors, which have 40 pins. Like the floppy drive, the first pin on the motherboard connector is marked. Connect the cable so that the side with the red line faces the first pin on the motherboard connector.

7. Turn the computer on and test the floppy drive to confirm that it is connected properly, then replace the cover of the computer case.

References

• The PC Guide: How to Build Your Own PC: Installing the Floppy Drive
• Interface Bus: Floppy Drive Pinout