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Old Zip drive in new computer for 73 year old mother



 
 
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  #1  
Old September 12th 05, 07:06 PM
Tom Scales
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Default Old Zip drive in new computer for 73 year old mother

Can't imagine why an IDE Zip drive wouldn't work. I would start to worry
about the media soon as it may be pretty old.

Tom
wrote in message
...

Would a modern XP machine (I am thinking Dimension
5100) recognize and install drivers for a 100 meg
zip drive?

Would I need to download drivers from anywhere?

The zip drive is quite old, originally
coming in a Dimension XPS R-400, but has been living
in a newer XP box.

These fit in a 3.5 slot I believe, is that correct?

If this is not feasible, I guess I could try putting
in her old hard drive and getting her documents from
there, and switching her to USB Jump Drives, that should
be close to the UI of the zip drives.



--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell...)



  #2  
Old September 12th 05, 07:21 PM
Ben Myers
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Posts: n/a
Default

If the internal ZIP drive is IDE, it should go nicely inside an available 3.5"
drive bay (or a 5.25" drive bay with adapter bracket). It does not need drivers
because Windows XP recognizes it as a removable drive. (I installed a 250MB
USB ZIP drive in a new Dell Precision recently with no problems. It handles a
lot of 100MB ZIP cartridges that were written on a Mac G3.)

Some external ZIP drives are also cheap and easier to install, but only the
250MB USB drive is worth doing. External parallel ZIP sucks. External SCSI
ZIP requires an internal SCSI adapter, so it offers no advantage... Ben Myers

On 12 Sep 2005 13:55:24 -0400, wrote:


Would a modern XP machine (I am thinking Dimension
5100) recognize and install drivers for a 100 meg
zip drive?

Would I need to download drivers from anywhere?

The zip drive is quite old, originally
coming in a Dimension XPS R-400, but has been living
in a newer XP box.

These fit in a 3.5 slot I believe, is that correct?

If this is not feasible, I guess I could try putting
in her old hard drive and getting her documents from
there, and switching her to USB Jump Drives, that should
be close to the UI of the zip drives.



--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell...)


  #3  
Old September 12th 05, 07:28 PM
Ted Zieglar
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I don't believe you'll have any trouble - XP should recognize and install
drivers for the Zip drive. Hey, it's not that old.

A suggestion: As a storage medium, the Zip disc is now falling more and more
out of the mainstream. CDs and DVDs are the way to go, so you might consider
transferring what you have on Zip discs to either of those.

--
Ted Zieglar
"You can do it if you try."

wrote in message
...

Would a modern XP machine (I am thinking Dimension
5100) recognize and install drivers for a 100 meg
zip drive?

Would I need to download drivers from anywhere?

The zip drive is quite old, originally
coming in a Dimension XPS R-400, but has been living
in a newer XP box.

These fit in a 3.5 slot I believe, is that correct?

If this is not feasible, I guess I could try putting
in her old hard drive and getting her documents from
there, and switching her to USB Jump Drives, that should
be close to the UI of the zip drives.



--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell...)


  #4  
Old September 12th 05, 07:42 PM
Colin Wilson
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

If this is not feasible, I guess I could try putting
in her old hard drive and getting her documents from
there, and switching her to USB Jump Drives, that should
be close to the UI of the zip drives.


How about just picking up the cheapest HD you can find, and throwing it
into an external caddy ?

--
Please add the word "newsgroup" in the subject line of personal emails
**** My email address includes "ngspamtrap" and " ****
  #5  
Old September 12th 05, 07:49 PM
Ben Myers
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Just as others have stated, I would discourage long-term use of ZIP cartridges.
They have low capacity nowadays, and reliability of the drives has been none too
hot either.

If your goal is to simply get her data onto the new PC, perhaps the easiest way
is to get external USB case which houses 3.5" drives. Mount the drive in the
case, plug it in, and go. The old drive has such low capacity as to be fairly
useless on a modern computer... Ben Myers

On Mon, 12 Sep 2005 18:21:30 GMT, ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben
Myers) wrote:

If the internal ZIP drive is IDE, it should go nicely inside an available 3.5"
drive bay (or a 5.25" drive bay with adapter bracket). It does not need drivers
because Windows XP recognizes it as a removable drive. (I installed a 250MB
USB ZIP drive in a new Dell Precision recently with no problems. It handles a
lot of 100MB ZIP cartridges that were written on a Mac G3.)

Some external ZIP drives are also cheap and easier to install, but only the
250MB USB drive is worth doing. External parallel ZIP sucks. External SCSI
ZIP requires an internal SCSI adapter, so it offers no advantage... Ben Myers

On 12 Sep 2005 13:55:24 -0400, wrote:


Would a modern XP machine (I am thinking Dimension
5100) recognize and install drivers for a 100 meg
zip drive?

Would I need to download drivers from anywhere?

The zip drive is quite old, originally
coming in a Dimension XPS R-400, but has been living
in a newer XP box.

These fit in a 3.5 slot I believe, is that correct?

If this is not feasible, I guess I could try putting
in her old hard drive and getting her documents from
there, and switching her to USB Jump Drives, that should
be close to the UI of the zip drives.



--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell...)



  #6  
Old September 12th 05, 11:04 PM
S.Lewis
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


wrote in message
...
Ben Myers writes:


Ben Just as others have stated, I would discourage long-term use of ZIP
cartridges.
Ben They have low capacity nowadays, and reliability of the drives has
been none too
Ben hot either.

Ben If your goal is to simply get her data onto the new PC, perhaps the
easiest way
Ben is to get external USB case which houses 3.5" drives. Mount the
drive in the
Ben case, plug it in, and go. The old drive has such low capacity as
to be fairly
Ben useless on a modern computer... Ben Myers

I will probably convert her to jump drives.

She is quite ill (cancer), and very stressed out.
I want to have things change as little as possible
for her.



Andrew,

Best to you and your mom. I understand how "keeping things the same" and
minimizing change is a desirable thing. The 5100 (I think) has only (1) IDE
channel, and that's IDE 2 for the optical drives.

It will work but you may have to replace the Dell OEM IDE2 cable so that the
"slave" connect will reach the bay in which the Zip will be located.

Stew


  #7  
Old September 13th 05, 05:12 AM
Christopher Muto
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

it sounds as if you currently have an internally mounted zip drive in a
dimension rxxx machine that you would like to use in a current model dell.
this would work however there are some issues.... first, how to mount the
3.5" drive in the current dimension case is an issue. there is a bay for a
3.5" drive in the dimension 2400, 3000, 4600, and 4700 but it requires a
bracket that is only available with the purchase of the 3.5" floppy drive.
an alternative is to obtain a 5.25" bracket adapter for a 3.5" form factor
drive. this allows you to mount the 3.5" zip drive in a cage that then will
fit the 5.25" type form factor. the above mentioned machines have two 5.25"
external bays that it could be mounted into. however, if you purchase the
machine with two cd drives then you will have to eliminate one to provide
space for the zip. next, you will have to connect it internally to the ide
cable. on the 2400, 3000 and 4600 both the hard disk and the cd drives are
connected to ide type cables. on the 4700 only the cd drives are connected
to an ide cable (the hard drives use a different interface). so there can
only be two ide devices in the 4700 and so you can only have one cd drive if
you intend to connect the zip to the other possible spot. finally, if you
don't place the zip in a 5.25" cage and mound it next to the cd drive then
you will not likely be able to cable both a cd and the zip for data. i
suggest that you simply purchase an external usb zip 100 for $35 or a
external usb zip 250 drive for $49 from the iomega.com outlet and not bother
with the internal drive. the zip 250 will read/write the older zip 100
disks but does it slower than the zip 100 drive would. of course the zip
250 can also read/write zip 250 disks whereas the zip 100 can not. there is
also a zip 750 but i have no idea if it is backwards compatible with the 100
or 250... and given the fact that it lacks any popularity and that cdrw can
store 700mb why bother. good luck.


wrote in message
...

Would a modern XP machine (I am thinking Dimension
5100) recognize and install drivers for a 100 meg
zip drive?

Would I need to download drivers from anywhere?

The zip drive is quite old, originally
coming in a Dimension XPS R-400, but has been living
in a newer XP box.

These fit in a 3.5 slot I believe, is that correct?

If this is not feasible, I guess I could try putting
in her old hard drive and getting her documents from
there, and switching her to USB Jump Drives, that should
be close to the UI of the zip drives.



--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell...)



  #8  
Old September 13th 05, 12:23 PM
S.Lewis
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"Christopher Muto" wrote in message
news:PksVe.15132$626.14070@trndny08...
it sounds as if you currently have an internally mounted zip drive in a
dimension rxxx machine that you would like to use in a current model dell.
this would work however there are some issues.... first, how to mount the
3.5" drive in the current dimension case is an issue. there is a bay for
a 3.5" drive in the dimension 2400, 3000, 4600, and 4700 but it requires a
bracket that is only available with the purchase of the 3.5" floppy drive.
an alternative is to obtain a 5.25" bracket adapter for a 3.5" form factor
drive. this allows you to mount the 3.5" zip drive in a cage that then
will fit the 5.25" type form factor. the above mentioned machines have
two 5.25" external bays that it could be mounted into. however, if you
purchase the machine with two cd drives then you will have to eliminate
one to provide space for the zip. next, you will have to connect it
internally to the ide cable. on the 2400, 3000 and 4600 both the hard
disk and the cd drives are connected to ide type cables. on the 4700 only
the cd drives are connected to an ide cable (the hard drives use a
different interface). so there can only be two ide devices in the 4700
and so you can only have one cd drive if you intend to connect the zip to
the other possible spot. finally, if you don't place the zip in a 5.25"
cage and mound it next to the cd drive then you will not likely be able to
cable both a cd and the zip for data. i suggest that you simply purchase
an external usb zip 100 for $35 or a external usb zip 250 drive for $49
from the iomega.com outlet and not bother with the internal drive. the
zip 250 will read/write the older zip 100 disks but does it slower than
the zip 100 drive would. of course the zip 250 can also read/write zip
250 disks whereas the zip 100 can not. there is also a zip 750 but i have
no idea if it is backwards compatible with the 100 or 250... and given the
fact that it lacks any popularity and that cdrw can store 700mb why
bother. good luck.




An external USB Zip, either new or used - might indeed be the best/easiest
answer. I didn't consider that because the drives (like the discs
themselves) are pricey for their limited capacity.


Stew


  #9  
Old September 13th 05, 01:36 PM
Ben Myers
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

FYI, the 750MB ZIP is not compatible with the 100 and the 250. I agree
completely that an external USB ZIP drive would be the best interim approach,
with the long-term goal of getting rid of the ZIP cartridges... Ben Myers

On Tue, 13 Sep 2005 04:12:31 GMT, "Christopher Muto"
wrote:

it sounds as if you currently have an internally mounted zip drive in a
dimension rxxx machine that you would like to use in a current model dell.
this would work however there are some issues.... first, how to mount the
3.5" drive in the current dimension case is an issue. there is a bay for a
3.5" drive in the dimension 2400, 3000, 4600, and 4700 but it requires a
bracket that is only available with the purchase of the 3.5" floppy drive.
an alternative is to obtain a 5.25" bracket adapter for a 3.5" form factor
drive. this allows you to mount the 3.5" zip drive in a cage that then will
fit the 5.25" type form factor. the above mentioned machines have two 5.25"
external bays that it could be mounted into. however, if you purchase the
machine with two cd drives then you will have to eliminate one to provide
space for the zip. next, you will have to connect it internally to the ide
cable. on the 2400, 3000 and 4600 both the hard disk and the cd drives are
connected to ide type cables. on the 4700 only the cd drives are connected
to an ide cable (the hard drives use a different interface). so there can
only be two ide devices in the 4700 and so you can only have one cd drive if
you intend to connect the zip to the other possible spot. finally, if you
don't place the zip in a 5.25" cage and mound it next to the cd drive then
you will not likely be able to cable both a cd and the zip for data. i
suggest that you simply purchase an external usb zip 100 for $35 or a
external usb zip 250 drive for $49 from the iomega.com outlet and not bother
with the internal drive. the zip 250 will read/write the older zip 100
disks but does it slower than the zip 100 drive would. of course the zip
250 can also read/write zip 250 disks whereas the zip 100 can not. there is
also a zip 750 but i have no idea if it is backwards compatible with the 100
or 250... and given the fact that it lacks any popularity and that cdrw can
store 700mb why bother. good luck.


wrote in message
...

Would a modern XP machine (I am thinking Dimension
5100) recognize and install drivers for a 100 meg
zip drive?

Would I need to download drivers from anywhere?

The zip drive is quite old, originally
coming in a Dimension XPS R-400, but has been living
in a newer XP box.

These fit in a 3.5 slot I believe, is that correct?

If this is not feasible, I guess I could try putting
in her old hard drive and getting her documents from
there, and switching her to USB Jump Drives, that should
be close to the UI of the zip drives.



--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell...)




  #10  
Old September 13th 05, 02:52 PM
Ben Myers
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

As previously stated, better to buy a USB enclosure for an older low-capacity
3.5" drive, move all the data onto the new hard drive, and put the USB enclosure
and old drive aside for a rainly day.

You do not want to create added the confusion from having a second drive on the
system... Ben Myers

On 13 Sep 2005 09:00:32 -0400, wrote:

S Lewis writes:


wrote in message

news
...
Ben Myers writes:

Ben Just as others have stated, I would discourage long-term use of ZIP
cartridges.

Ben They have low capacity nowadays, and reliability of the drives has
been none too

Ben hot either.

Ben If your goal is to simply get her data onto the new PC, perhaps the
easiest way

Ben is to get external USB case which houses 3.5" drives. Mount the
drive in the

Ben case, plug it in, and go. The old drive has such low capacity as
to be fairly

Ben useless on a modern computer... Ben Myers

I will probably convert her to jump drives.

She is quite ill (cancer), and very stressed out.
I want to have things change as little as possible
for her.



S Andrew,

S Best to you and your mom. I understand how "keeping things the same" and
S minimizing change is a desirable thing. The 5100 (I think) has only (1) IDE
S channel, and that's IDE 2 for the optical drives.

S It will work but you may have to replace the Dell OEM IDE2 cable so that the
S "slave" connect will reach the bay in which the Zip will be located.


Thanks all.

I think it will be fine to switch her to jump drives for
backing up her documents, so the main reason for the zip
drive is temporary, to get her documents over to the new
computer.

A better way might be to temporarily install the old hard
drive --- would that hook up to the IDE2? Or should I buy
an IDE USB enclosure for that?

Thanks again,



--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell...)


 




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