RE: floppy drives

[Eidolon]

I'm ready to pick motherboard for my custom-build. Problem is I cannot find any having both floppy drive connector and NVIDIA SLI for any Phenom II X6 processor...boards either have one or the other, but none have both. I want the SLI, but been told on many forums now that if I want to have XP Pro, regular floppy drive is required for:
1. run flashing program for BIOS with 'boot block'
2. create restore discs
3. load certain drivers at install
4. several other scenarios I've forgotten.
Been told that nothing else (i.e. CD/DVD, flash drive, external floppy, internal floppy via USB connector, etc., will work as substitute.
Is this true? Do I have to sacrifice SLI for floppy drive connector?

[caperjack]

3. load certain drivers at install

to me this is the only one that make any sense .
it would be to load drivers for SATA drive ,winxp doesn't have them built in ,but i think most new bios have a setting to emulate ide or someting like that ,i think you'd have to google that one ,most,if the boards bios doesnt you could download the proper drive for the new board and use a program called Nlite to slipstream the divers into a new copy of your winxp cd , if not all,most motherboard have the ability to update bios from with in windows i do believe ,i haven't used a floppy in a few years ,and i have from time to time repaired or build computer,and load winxp using nlite
nlite .
http://www.nliteos.com/nlite.html

[rubberman]

Well, I do have floppy discs, still, and have systems that can read them, but I haven't used ANY floppy disc in about 10 years, and I am a computer systems engineer... My feeling is that if you need a floppy, see if you can find one that has a USB port. Here are some from Tiger Direct: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=287&name=Floppy%20Disk%20Drives

[Eidolon]

Well, I do have floppy discs, still, and have systems that can read them, but I haven't used ANY floppy disc in about 10 years, and I am a computer systems engineer... My feeling is that if you need a floppy, see if you can find one that has a USB port. Here are some from Tiger Direct: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=287&name=Floppy%20Disk%20Drives

Installing internal floppy drive via USB (as substitute for regular floppy drive connector) was nixed at various forums I posted in. Are you sure USB floppy drive can doeverything a regular floppy drive can? If so, that would be a good thing for me, cause I really want SLI, and hate the idea of having to sacrifice it for something I'll only use in emergency situation!

[Eidolon]

3. load certain drivers at install

to me this is the only one that make any sense . it would be to load drivers for SATA drive ,winxp doesn't have them built in ,but i think most new bios have a setting to emulate ide or someting like that ,i think you'd have to google that one ,most,if the boards bios doesnt you could download the proper drive for the new board and use a program called Nlite to slipstream the divers into a new copy of your winxp cd , if not all,most motherboard have the ability to update bios from with in windows i do believe ,i haven't used a floppy in a few years ,and i have from time to time repaired or build computer,and load winxp using nlite nlite . http://www.nliteos.com/nlite.html

Already know about nlite...will be using it (along with XPlite) to install barebones version of XP Pro...minus IRC,Telnet, email clients, etc., so no problem with the slipstream you suggested. What about the BIOS repair and restore discs? Is there any other methods, sans regular internal floppy drive?

[rubberman]

If your system can boot from USB, then you can use either a floppy or a thumb drive for installing BIOS and flash updates these days. I usually use a USB thumb drive for that purpose.

[caperjack]

Step 4: Update your BIOS.

Most newer PCs have a fairly easy BIOS update procedure: Just download the .exe file from your PC manufacturer's Website, quit all open programs, run the .exe, and let it handle the patch; then reboot. If your PC suddenly shuts down in the middle of the BIOS update, you won't be able to boot up, so make sure you're not running off a laptop battery. Ideally, you're plugged into an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), especially if you're in an area prone to blackouts.

that was copied from this site ,
[ http://www.pcworld.com/article/187437/how_to_update_your_bios.html } its just a general assumption, also i assume you would have to use a floppy or usb if the computer wasn't booting into windows and needed a bios update .

[RTFMID10T]

The only time xp would ever need a floppy was if you were going to use sysprep under the advanced tools but even that can be put on disks these days and you won't have a need for a floppy unless you want to show the next generation what they were and looked like. It's just outdated technology and a waste of about $42 I think I last saw te going price.

[rubberman]

I haven't used a floppy in years. In fact, none of my current systems have one, and don't need them. I keep an old system around with a drive so I can read old discs, if necessary. In fact, I should probably use it to read my old collection just to store the data (some useful software I wrote in the past) on more up-to-date media.

[jbennet]

You need an F6 floppy for XP to work with your SATA controller (if its not in ATA mode) and/or RAID card. - But you can get around this by slipstreaming the *.inf chipset drivers using Nlite

[caperjack]

i just used a floppy yesterday actually to load scsi drivers on my old Dell workstation 450 ,i could use nlite to install the drivers ,but then i would have to always remember where the nlite winxp disk is ,this way i just leave the floppy in the drive ,until i reload it again .lol

[RTFMID10T]

You need an F6 floppy for XP to work with your SATA controller (if its not in ATA mode) and/or RAID card. - But you can get around this by slipstreaming the *.inf chipset drivers using Nlite

I could not remember the name of that software for the life of me. I kept thinking N-something. Was a great help when computers quit being shipped with floppy drives by default.

[jbennet]

Yes, nlite.

I need it on my server as its SCSI RAID controller wasnt supported out of the box. Also used it to build images which i later deployed using netboot (RIS/WDS)

Also useful for integrating hotfixes, and service packs, as well as drivers.