DesertFOX

I do believe Windows 98 was the last version of Windows still available on floppy disks. A complete set includes 38 (!) 1.680K DMF format diskettes. Holy cow! 😉

#Diskette #FloppyDisk #Windows #Microsoft #90s #90er #Retro #Tech #RetroComputing #Oldschool #Emulation #86Box

Mar 27 at 7:30pmWeb
Show threadNazo21h ago

@dfx And by the time 98/98SE rolled around I not only had them on CD, I got so lazy I'd copy the CD to the HD first. 😆 (I didn't want to have to feed it the disc later. I knew of course there was some registry entry that could be edited, but better just to install it from that location to begin with and then never ever see an "insert disc" message again.)

I can't even imagine feeding it that many floppies. As a kid I was put on "feed the installer floppies" duty for something (I guess 3.11 WfG?) and that was quite frustrating as it was. 38? Nope. Who didn't have at least a crappy CD-ROM by 98? Even a 1x would do.

Show threadAlice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️21h ago

@dfx sadly never available at retail, only OEMs could get it.

otherwise I'd own a copy or two

Show threadTisha Tiger / Neliger20h ago

@dfx Yeah, I want to make it one day!

Tried it on the late 90's, but at least one of the floppy was bad, it didn't worked 😅

Show threadAndreas (82MHz)20h ago
@dfx
DJ Fox hard at work ;)
Show threadDesertFOX20h ago
@82mhz Definitely! 😁
Show threadRobD20h ago
@dfx I was there, Gandalf. I was there 3000 years ago.
Show threadDesertFOX20h ago
@13pt8plus Best reply to any retro post! 🤪
Show threadsebbe://20h ago
@dfx I remember installing windows from floppies. Forgot if it was 95 or 98 but at disk 28 or so, there was a problem with the floppy. No install for me...
Show threadDesertFOX20h ago
@royalrex Yeah, as much as I love floppy disks as a retro collector, they were often very unreliable, especially after 1994 or '95, when their quality quickly dropped.
Show threadChristian Berger DECT 276319h ago
@dfx Well that kinda was on the tail end of Windows anyhow. AFAIK you could also get some Linux distributions on diskettes back then. Often with something like 60-90 diskettes.
Show threadZuthal17h ago
@casandro @dfx Meanwhile, you can just about fit a (barely functional) modern Linux on a single one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiHZbnFrHOY
Can Modern Linux Fit on a 1.44mb Floppy?

YouTube
Show threadChristian Berger DECT 276317h ago
@zuthal @dfx Well back in the day I tried creating a bootable Windows floppy. It works. Windows isn't particularly big, a slightly cut down version easily fits on an HD diskette, including all of DOS you need to run it. It's tiny compared to Linux.
Show threadDennis Howard19h ago
@dfx I remember installing Windows 95 from floppies and that was bad enough. I don't think I ever did a floppy install for Windows 98.
Show threadL.A.4h ago

@dfx I once tried a floppy install when the CD drive broke.

Regrettably, I ran out of floppies before I was able to create a full set.