On 11/1/17 11:34 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


Interesting experiences and comments. So, I'll add mine.

A few months ago, I had a lady that needed some tutoring in using her
Mac laptop. When we were done, as part of the conversation, she said
she had some floppies from years ago that had some photos she would like
to retrieve. But, no one was able to read them.

I brought them home. Yep, I couldn't read them with any Windows
computer I tried. And, on some, I had to use my USB external drive. No go.

Kept getting a message that said the floppy could not be read.

Tried at least one of my Macs, no go. I don't remember if I tried the
Mac that actually has a built in floppy.

I think I tried my Linux computer, but I don't remember.

I have an Atari clone, tried that. It read every stinking file on all
of the floppies! Burned those files to a CD, and she was a happy camper.

Moral? Don't depend on mainstream systems to always work.

--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.11.6
Firefox 53.0.2 (64 bit)
Thunderbird 52.0
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"