💡 Rediscover the Past, One Floppy at a Time!
The 3.5 inch External USB Floppy Disk Reader is a compact and portable solution for accessing your old floppy disks. Compatible with various Windows operating systems, it features a plug-and-play design for easy use, a data transfer rate of 12 MB/s, and a lightweight build, making it an essential tool for anyone looking to retrieve nostalgic files.
Hard Drive | 1.44 MB HDD 4200 rpm |
Brand | Chuanganzhuo |
Item model number | ACM-008 |
Hardware Platform | PC |
Item Weight | 9.6 ounces |
Product Dimensions | 7 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches |
Item Dimensions LxWxH | 7 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches |
Color | Black |
Hard Drive Interface | USB 1.1 |
Manufacturer | Chuanganzhuo |
ASIN | B00WSW1YXA |
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
Date First Available | April 28, 2015 |
S**M
Worked perfectly for my specific needs
I've read some reviews that mention occasional compatibility issues with this drive, but for me, it worked as advertised. My environment may be atypical. I'm using it to transfer files from a Windows 10 machine to a Windows 98 machine (yes, a few of these still exist). I have a few specialized applications from the 80's that require a Windows 98 or Windows Me system. Since the Windows 98 system is not allowed to access the network and can't easily get to the Internet, the only was to load drivers and software onto the Windows 98 machine is via the floppy disk. I have some older 3.5" USB floppy drives but they don't work correctly on Windows 10 and above. This drive worked great, and I was able to transfer the required files from the Windows 10 system to the Windows 98 system. It is fairly noisy, and without a disk inserted, it polls periodically looking for a floppy disk, so I just remove it when I don't need it. Certainly worth the twenty bucks.
W**L
Wow! I viewed a windows 95 BMP file
I used this device on windows 11. It was found right away under file Explorer and this pc. At first I got discouraged because I forgot hard floppy disks had locks on them. My tab was slid to lock position and windows 11 wasn't reading it until I unlocked it then immediately I was able to see the file name created back in 1995. It's an image I made on paint on windows 95. I couldn't view it however from windows 11 photos or paint. I got message saying unsupported file so I googled what to do about it. AI on Google suggested GIMP software which is free. I downloaded GIMP to my pc and was immediately able to view my old image! In the GIMP software I was able to save as and I could then view it with windows 11 photos. I was also able to save in a file of my choosing and now windows 11 opens it everytime. Good device. Definitely worth the purchase!
D**B
Works as it should.
Works as it should, no problems
D**O
Outstanding! Easy to use!
Outstanding! It was super-easy to use and no there's custom software required to use it. I had about 2 dozen disks; it read all of them perfectly and I copied the files from each disk onto a PC with ease - I was done with them in under an hour. Yay!
S**N
Simple, Easy and Cost Effective Floppy Drive Solution
This was only going to be a one or two time use purchase, so I didn't want or need anything too expensive. This item had decent reviews and was one of the cheaper options, so I thought I'd go for it.Bottom line is, it works just fine. Connecting it to my laptop via a USB hub wasn't a problem, although I did use a powered USB port just in case. It read the floppies I needed it to and all went well.When you connect it, it's not obvious Windows (Windows 10 Pro 64 bit) has recognized it. Nothing happens. A new drive letter does not appear in Windows Explorer. Even putting a floppy in the drive doesn't make it respond in any noticeable way. To get things going I moused over the "Safely remove hardware and eject media" icon on the task bar and selected Open Devices and Printers. The floppy drive appears in the Devices section as TEACV0.0. I right clicked on this icon and the drive came to life. From the pop-up menu I selected Browse Files -> Floppy Disk Drive (A:) and I was off to the races. A familiar Windows Explorer window appeared with a directory listing of what was on the floppy disc I'd just inserted. From there it was a simple case of copy and paste to another disc. Easy.I have several old 3.5" IDE floppy disc drives in a box somewhere. I could have found a way to plumb one of those into my modern setup, but for $11.95, my time was better spent buying this USB solution.I'll probably never use it again which is a shame because it works great and there's nothing wrong with it. It's a simple, plug 'n' play solution that was cheap enough to make it a no brainer purchase. Recommended.
H**.
Tale of Five Floppy Drives
I was trying to recover data from floppies to my Windows 10 Home machine. I ended up trying five different devices and am posting my review to let you know my results.First, all five devices worked PERFECTLY on my Windows 7 Pro laptop. However, when plugging in to my Windows 10 machine, three of them would only sit and spin with the drive light on, even though they were recognized as drives by Win10.After a little looking, I found that the devices that worked on my Windows 10 machine identified themselves and used the driver for the Y-E Data USB floppy, while the devices that just sat and spun identified themselves and used the driver for a TEAC floppy drive. So there must be a little difference in the internal configuration of the drive that is causing the issue.I tried 5 devices and found that the Tendak USB Floppy Disk Drive worked perfectly, as did the Esynic USB Floppy Drive . Both identified as Y-E Data USB floppy drives. When they were plugged in, they worked smoothly and quietly. It was a toss-up which one to choose to keep, but I eventually went with the Tendak because it seemed slightly quieter and faster, but that was really subjective. The Tendak also had more information such as a warranty card and information on how to contact support, while the Esynic box was empty. As far as quality of the drive, they seemed identical. If I had needed more than one drive, I would have kept them both.For me, initially the Sabrent External USB 1.44 MB 2x Floppy Disk Drive (FL-UDRV) seemed the nicest. The box was glossy with information covering it, you'd expect to see this sitting on a shelf in a big box store. (All other drives came in plain brown boxes). There were touches of quality in how the drive was packed, the box was made to fit it with a area for the cable to fit in and a dust cover over the USB end to keep it clean. It came with a beautiful guide to using the floppy, including information like the write-protect switch and not removing a floppy while the drive light is on, that newer users would not be familiar with. They also had a support phone number, and the person who answered seemed to be an American. Unfortunately, this was one of the devices that would not work on my Windows 10 machine. It identified as a TEAC USB Floppy drive, and when plugged in it simply had the drive light turn on and continuously seek for data. It worked perfectly in my Windows 7 machine, and was very fast and smooth. The support representative was not aware of any issue that would prevent it from working on my machine, and it does work on other people's Windows 10 machines. If I hadn't needed it working on my Windows 10 machine as well, I would have kept this one in a heartbeat. From other reviews, it appears that it works on other people's Windows 10 machines, so I'd recommend you at least try it.The last two devices were both from Chuanganzhuo. 3.5" USB External Floppy Disk Drive Portable 1.44 MB FDD for PC Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7/8/10,for Mac,No Extra Driver Required,Plug and Play,Black and the 3.5" USB External Floppy Disk Drive Portable 1.44 MB FDD for PC Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7/8/10 +Dustproof Scratch-Resistant External Bag Case,No External Driver,Plug and Play. Both devices worked fine on Windows 7 Pro, but on Windows 10 Home they immediately had the drive light up and started a very loud seek process that never finished. These devices were louder than any other drive I tested, but did work just fine under Windows 7. Both used the TEAC USB Floppy driver as well.My conclusion: If you are lucky enough to be one of those whose computers will use the Sabrent External USB 1.44 MB 2x Floppy Disk Drive (FL-UDRV), get that drive. It is quality. If you can't, either the Tendak USB Floppy Disk Drive or the Esynic USB Floppy Drive will probably make you happy.
J**E
Loved it.
Worked great for me.
Trustpilot
2 months ago
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