I was wondering if anyone knows if it is possible to add a ZIP Disk drive to a computer with the following hardware without having to remove any of it:
DVD Drive
CD Drive
Floppy Disk Drive
2 HDD
Please let me know if this is possible, and if so, how. Thanks!
2006-07-02 17:11:37 · 11 answers · asked by nutterman►♂ 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Add-ons
You are going to need another IDE controller - yours are all taken up by the HDD's and CD-rom's. Most computers come with the capability to service four devices. To do five, you are going to have to add a controller card.
Personally, I would scrap the cd and dvd, get a dvd-r and put the zip drive in the secondary slave slot.
zip drives are not so cool anymore now that everyone has a usb flash drive.... I've got a couple here that are just collecting dust.
Good luck!
Cheers
2006-07-02 17:17:04 · answer #1 · answered by sal the dog 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
You can add an internal Zip Drive to your system without removing any of the hardware you mentioned if you have an extra dock on your system (if you have one, it will appear to be an empty slot on the front of your PC tower covered with a piece of "whatever your tower case is made out of".)
However, if you do not have any extra docks, you can always buy an external zip drive for a bit more and connect it through USB. In fact, this method is often much better as you can install the driver on serveral computers and bring the external zip drive wherever you go.
2006-07-03 00:19:04 · answer #2 · answered by Leon Wu 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Without your computer brand/type or your motherboard info it is only speculation, but I really doubt it. Zip drives use ide just like your dvd, cd-rom and 2 hdd. Most motherboards support 4 ide devices. Do you really need a Zip drive? The discs are getting harder to come by and are way more expensive than cd/dvds. You could always buy and external enclosure and install it that way (uses usb port).
2006-07-03 00:26:12 · answer #3 · answered by Leemo 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends on what kind of HDDs you have, and if you want to install an internal drive. If you are using a MB with standard ATA, and no SATA, or RAID controllers, the answer is no. Normally most computers without SATA only has 2 IDE controllers, which means you only can have 4 IDE Devices, IE HDDs, or CD devices. With your configuration I would recommend an external drive.
2006-07-03 00:24:47 · answer #4 · answered by cats14493 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You'll need a 3.5" drive bay open if you want it in the computer. If you don't have that, you will have to remove the FDD. No way around it.
You could try and find an external enclosure that connects via usb on the internet.
But are you THAT attached to that floppy drive? It's a bit archaic and impractical nowadays, you're better off investing in a flash drive.
2006-07-03 00:17:08 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Zip disk drives are very slow, buggy, prone to failure and verging on obsolete. Google- Zip "click of death", not kidding. Flash drives are dropping in price so fast that a zip drive is not recommended.
2006-07-04 04:46:59 · answer #6 · answered by ferdinand 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If your pc has a usb port, connect the zip drive there, if you have no more space, get a usb hub to add more usb ports, if you have no usb ports at all, try looking for older external zip drives that connect to parallel ports (old printer ports) its slower, but it will solve your problem, you don't have to remove any of your other drives.
2006-07-03 02:19:33 · answer #7 · answered by bzmag 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unless your case accomodates 2 floppy drives, the floppy may have to go. You could get an external ZIP.
2006-07-04 00:17:14 · answer #8 · answered by mittalman53 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
um, yeah.
a zip drive is just a small drive that usually fits into a usb port.
and, uh.
all computers that were made from 1990 or later have usb ports.
2006-07-03 00:15:02 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah what Rigo said! What the h you want that ancient junk for? Go buy a flash drive!
2006-07-03 09:02:57 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋