Tell me more ×
Arqade is a question and answer site for passionate videogamers on all platforms. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote -3 down vote favorite

I have a small collection of 5 1/4" floppy disks (early Sierra games) that I am trying to read. How can I connect a drive that accepts these disks to my PC.

This has been moved over to Super User

share|improve this question
What, exactly, does this have to do with gaming? – fbueckert Dec 3 '12 at 1:28
According to the FAQ hardware related issues relevant to gaming are appropriate. I have old PC games on 5 1/4" disks and while attempting to make this work in DOSBox I happened on this product, I wanted to share it. – Jason Sperske Dec 3 '12 at 1:30
8  
I still think it belongs on Super User – OrigamiRobot Dec 3 '12 at 1:32
2  
The fact that is is marginally in our scope and 100% in theirs. It has applications far outside games. – OrigamiRobot Dec 3 '12 at 1:48
2  
Would a question about configuring a SpaceOrb 360 for Quake 2 fit here? Sorry if I'm misusing comments for general site questions but since I voted to delete this I figure there is little harm in sneaking a quick question while I have some moderators attention :) – Jason Sperske Dec 3 '12 at 3:16
show 4 more comments

closed as off topic by murgatroid99, fbueckert, Michel, Brant, OrigamiRobot Dec 3 '12 at 2:54

Questions on Arqade are expected to relate to gaming within the scope defined in the FAQ. Consider editing the question or leaving comments for improvement if you believe the question can be reworded to fit within the scope. Read more about closed questions here.

1 Answer

up vote 3 down vote

A company called Device Side Data produces a device called the FC5025 which can adapt a 5 1/4" drive to a USB port. You will still need to power the drive so this approach will require either an external power source or a tower or desktop computer. There are also other limitations to this device, such as the inability to write to the disks or to read most forms of copy protection (back when these drives were common there was a technique to protect their contents form copying by writing intentionally bad data).

Using just original hardware the best approach would be to build or buy a computer that had a 5 1/4" inch drive and could connect to a network or had a 3 1/2" drive as well. 3 1/2" drives are still common enough to find as USB external drives, while networking a old PC would be complex.

share|improve this answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.