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Zip Drives revisited

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ayryq:
I have one in a box someplace too - I got it for free as part of some sort of rebate or class-action suit or something. I don't remember now, but I remember there was a catalog that I could choose something out of. The lab PCs in college had built-in zip drives so it was at least useful for a little while.

40hz:
Zip and Jaz drives were totally rad when they first came out. And they were a welcome (and much more reliable) replacement for all those old Quantum tape drives that always seemed to backup your data just fine but often stumbled severely whenever you tried to restore something.

Funny thing this thread started. I just tossed a box containing over 100 old zip disks plus four drives (2 externals and 2 internals) into the recycling dumpster last week while cleaning out my basement. End of an era - Long Live the Zip!  :Thmbsup:

MilesAhead:
tape drives that always seemed to backup your data just fine but often stumbled severely whenever you tried to restore something.
-40hz (May 31, 2016, 11:18 AM)
--- End quote ---

Yeah.  I should have passed on the tape backup and had a CDROM put in when I had my 486 built.  I can never forget reading the restore instructions that came with the tape drive.  "You will probably never have to run the restore.. but..."  That really inspired confidence!  Turns out it was a waste anyway since there was no means to boot a restore program to avoid the "system files are in use" gotcha' that prevents restoring the OS.  What a waste of money!  And the thing made such a racket!  Man did I hate that whirring sound!

I've heard leaf blowers that sounded better!

Cloq:
Zip and Jaz drives were totally rad when they first came out. And they were a welcome (and much more reliable) replacement for all those old Quantum tape drives that always seemed to backup your data just fine but often stumbled severely whenever you tried to restore something.
-40hz (May 31, 2016, 11:18 AM)
--- End quote ---

Yep.. was totally psyched with my first zip drive and set of disks.. until 2 months later.. click of death.. pulled the metal sheath aside to look at the media.. ring of scratch...   :'(

With that being said.. the speed was amazing compared to floppies. For some reason the the 5 1/4 floppy seemed to hold up better than any of the hard shell equivalents.

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