How to Retrieve Files From Floppy Discs

Computers built today do not include floppy drives. The only physical inputs they will accept are USB ports and CDs. The computer industry does have external interface hardware that will allow older media, such as floppy discs, to be read by this external device and then interface to the PC using a USB port. For this article I am assuming that the PC does not have a floppy disk drive. To read a file from a floppy disc, follow the steps below.

Things You'll Need

• Computer
• USB external floppy disk drive

Instructions

1. Obtain a USB external floppy disk drive. You can borrow one from a friend or purchase one from any electronics outlet.

2. Attach the external floppy drive to the PC by inserting the USB port of the external drive into the PC's USB port. Windows will respond that it recognizes a new hardware device.

3. Insert the floppy disc into the external drive.

4. Start Windows Explorer on your PC. If you have this shortcut on your desktop, double-click on the icon.

5. Click on the computer arrow in Windows to show all of the different drives.

6. Double-click on the floppy disk drive (A). The file you want to transfer is displayed.

7. Click on the file name to highlight it. Drag the file to the folder where you want to put it, then release the mouse. The file is now on your computer in the folder.

Tips & Warnings

• If your computer does have a floppy drive, just insert the disk into the PC floppy drive and read it using Windows Explorer.

• There are paid services available to perform these data transfers.

References

• floppy copy
• floppy data transfer
• floppy PC data