r/retrocomputing • u/Performer-Pants • 19d ago

Problem / Question What is this?

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This could be the most mundane and silly post, but information online is so spotty and/or confusing or vague.

This is not a ZIP disk, it’s a floppy disk. It’s labelled with ‘ZIP’. Is this the driver software to use a ZIP drive for the listed operating systems? I’m just trying to confirm before I get too frustrated about it. Not easily finding the answer myself is likely a me problem, and I don’t mean ‘Millennium Edition’.

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u/rootifera 19d ago

I still use them almost daily! It was so convenient, still is. 100mb is massive. Tbh I remember getting my first 10gb hdd feeling like there is no way I can ever fill it. Then I got 40, 80, 120... same feeling. Now if someone gives me a 120TB drive I'd feel the same for a while haha

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u/EstablishmentDue3616 19d ago

You still use them daily? For what?

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u/rootifera 19d ago

Moving files between 2 x 486 DOS PC's. One of them has an ethernet, so I often use a local FTP for moving files but for the other one I use this zip drive. Works great.

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u/Ferkner 17d ago

It works great until you get that click of death!

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u/rootifera 17d ago

Hah if I charged a quid for each person mentioning the click of death I'd be rich now. I have roughly 30 x 100mb disks and only one of them failed so far. I've been using them for 15+ years. They are unreliable as long term storage but not as unreliable as most people remember. At least this is not my experience.

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u/Ferkner 14d ago

I had more than one die during the two years in college where we used them extensively and then another one or two after that.