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Need Advice re: Windows2 Floppy Disk Data Conversion

by I.M.Retired
11 replies
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I have no idea where to post this, so I'm hoping someone here can give me some advice.

I have a 3.5" floppy disk with some information that I would dearly love to retrieve. I thought this information was gone forever, but today, while doing a massive 'storage unit' cleanup, lo and behold I found the long lost disk.

I am now (and have been since 2002) a Mac user and have zero knowledge on Windows anymore, or even where to begin trying to recover the information on this disk. (It's a rough draft of a book.)

Can anyone shed some light on this for me. How can I retrieve the data? Do floppy disks drives still exist?

Is is even possible. Even if I could print it out I could retype it into a newer format.

Any suggestions as to how to retrieve this data?
#retrieve floppy disk data
  • Profile picture of the author KimW
    There are programs out ther that can convert mac files to window files, maybe there are some that do the opposite?
    Maybe some of the Mac Worshippers can answer this for you.
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  • Profile picture of the author garyv
    Ran into the same problem recently. You need something like this:

    Amazon.com: TEAC External USB 3.5" Floppy Disk...Amazon.com: TEAC External USB 3.5" Floppy Disk...
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    • Profile picture of the author Mike Boyd
      I had the same problem and didn't want to purchase a drive just for one floppy disk. What I did, was go to a local computer repair store. They copied the data to my USB drive.
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      • Profile picture of the author John Henderson
        Originally Posted by Val.S. View Post

        Can anyone shed some light on this for me. How can I retrieve the data? Do floppy disks drives still exist?

        Is is even possible. Even if I could print it out I could retype it into a newer format.

        Any suggestions as to how to retrieve this data?
        Val, I've been in exactly the same situation as you and I did as Gary suggested -- I bought a second-hand external USB floppy drive from eBay. But as Mike pointed out, that's probably overkill for one floppy disk and his advice is spot-on: PCs are still routinely fitted with floppy drives so if you have a friend with a PC (or are friendly with your local computer store), they'll be able to copy the file(s) to a USB pen drive in less than a minute.

        If the file was saved as a Word doc, you'll likely have no trouble opening it using an OS X word processor. Same for ".txt" files and ".rtf" files.

        Originally Posted by KimW View Post

        Maybe some of the Mac Worshippers can answer this for you.
        I admit it Kim, that sentence made me laugh out loud -- your contempt was so poorly hidden...
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        • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
          All you need is access to someone with a floppy drive. Doesn't matter if it's a Mac or PC, as long as the Mac is running Mac OS System 7.5 or later. I think it was 7.5 when the Mac could read Windows floppy disks without a conversion utility.

          As others have suggested, though, the easiest way is to find someone with a PC with a floppy drive and have them copy the file(s) to a USB device. Unless it was in something like WordPerfect, you shouldn't have any problems opening the file on your Mac.
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      • Profile picture of the author garyv
        Originally Posted by Mike Boyd View Post

        I had the same problem and didn't want to purchase a drive just for one floppy disk. What I did, was go to a local computer repair store. They copied the data to my USB drive.
        Where I live, the computer repair stores charge upwards of $30 per hour, with a 2 hour minimum. That's $60. You can get an external drive for under $20.
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        • Profile picture of the author Mike Boyd
          Originally Posted by garyv View Post

          Where I live, the computer repair stores charge upwards of $30 per hour, with a 2 hour minimum. That's $60. You can get an external drive for under $20.

          You should be able to easily negotiate that price down to less than the cost of purchasing an external drive. In this economy, any business who are not willing to work with new customers, won't be in business much longer.
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  • Profile picture of the author KimW
    "I admit it Kim, that sentence made me laugh out loud -- your contempt was so poorly hidden... "

    John,
    If you read contempt into that you are so far off base its rediculous.And if I offended your sensabilities I apologize. Macs are good computers,and I don't believe you can find anywhere that I have said otherwise.


    As far as what a repair shop would charge to transfer it, as the saying goes, your mileage may vary.

    I would do it probably for free (in the sakes of creating goodwill and getting a return customer for when they had a "real" problem) or charge a minimum price such as $5 or $10 for the same reason. Come on, your talking doing something that should take less that 5 minutes.
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    • Profile picture of the author John Henderson
      Originally Posted by KimW View Post

      If you read contempt into that you are so far off base its rediculous.And if I offended your sensabilities I apologize. Macs are good computers,and I don't believe you can find anywhere that I have said otherwise.
      Jeez Kim, that was a super-serious reply!!! You didn't offend me in the slightest. I genuinely laughed at your reference to "the Mac Worshippers" -- I just imagined that you would be rolling your eyes as you typed it...


      Wow, it looks like I'd better be careful what I say in future...
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      • Profile picture of the author PowerWealth247
        Just be aware that anything on a 3.5 disk (not a floppy 5" disk) may not be using Windows XP or newer so if it is in Word then some newer versions will have trouble reading it as Word has changed considerably since pre-Office 2K days.
        But there are still plenty of systems out there that have the 3.5 disk drives.
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  • Profile picture of the author KimW
    Its all good!
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