Mike S wrote:
On 11/12/2017 7:00 AM, Ed Mc wrote:
On 11/1/2017 10:34 AM, Ed Mc wrote:
If I purchase one of the 3.5 USB external floppy drives available, would
I be able to access the files (FAT 32) on my old floppy's, using Windows
7? I do have an old XP hard disk somewhere. Not sure if it would
recognize the USB ports though. Thanks

I received the floppy drive, which I bought online, and gave it a
try. Could see some files but could not activate them in any way. I
could see Icons of photo's but not the pictures. Sometimes I got the
'disk not formatted' error msg., or 'Not Responding'. Used on Win7 OS
and XP, same resuts.... Oh well, a $15 lesson learned.
Ed Mc

I've had old floppies seize up, or have trouble rotating, using a pen or
something to insert into the offset hole near the center of the floppy
so you can spin it a few times might work. You can also try snapping the
housing open, freeing up the floppy, then closing it again, sometimes
that works. If the floppy is already considered dead or unusable you
have nothing to lose.

You should open the 3.5" floppy shutter anyway, for a quick look.

Just to see if there is obvious degradation.

Another possibility, is the OP is mixing incompatible things.

The Wikipedia article on floppies, shows a ton of options
from other platforms. Just because it looks like a floppy...
it might not be meant for your PC. I'm sure if I shoved one
of my Mac software floppies into a PC, I'd see some "sad panda"
symptoms for my effort :-)

Some BIOS have some sort of "Japanese" setting for the floppy,
but my failing memory doesn't recollect the right techie
term for this. I think that setting may cause the
floppy drive to fail.

If you're going to be an "anthropologist" with computers,
you're going to need a ton of research. And perhaps from
an era where not a lot of breadcrumbs are left.

Paul