How to Remove a Stuck Floppy From a Zip Drive
First introduced in 1994, the Zip drive became a popular way to store ever-expanding amounts of data. The drive gained in popularity until the late 1990s, when it began to be supplanted by USB drives. Zip drives use a disk, slightly larger and thicker than a 3.5-inch floppy, to store data. These disks can sometimes become stuck in the Zip drive. If that happens, there are a number of ways to eject your stuck disk.
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Instructions
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Eject the disk by using the computer system. On an Apple machine, click the Zip disk image on the desktop and drag it to the trash can. To eject on a PC, right click on the disk in "My Computer" and select "Eject."
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2
Press the eject button on the front of the Zip drive. This button is usually located beneath or to the side of the drive opening. Press firmly on the button and continue holding it down until the disk pops out.
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Shut down your computer, if you cannot eject the disk by software or with the eject button. Unplug the computer from the power socket, on a machine with an internal Zip drive. For an external Zip drive, unplug the power cord from the back of the machine.
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4
Locate the manual eject socket on the Zip drive. Depending on the model, this could be on the front or the back of the drive. The socket is very small, about 1/16-inch in diameter, and may be hard to find.
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Bend a paperclip so the end is straight.
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Insert the paperclip point into the eject socket on the Zip drive. The disk will pop out.
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