TendakUSB Floppy Disk Drive, Floppy Disk Reader 3.5 inch Portable USB External 1.44MB FDD Diskette Drive for Windows 11/10/8/7/2000/XP/Vista PC Laptop, Plug and Play (Black)

First, I tried the Tendak USB floppy disk drive with Windows 11, and it did not work at all. Next, I plugged the USB floppy drive into a laptop running Ubuntu Linux 24.04.2 LTS, and it just worked - no additional steps necessary. I also tested from Ubuntu running off a bootable USB stick, and it also worked. If you're running Windows 11 and you need to get files from a floppy, you could create and boot from a bootable Ubuntu USB stick and access the floppy drive.

My grandfather recently passed away due to health issues, and my family and I are currently going through my grandparent's home where we're getting ready to sell their house. My grandmother recently moved into an independent living home, and we're going through my grandfather's things as to what to keep, and what to get rid of in preparations to sell the house. While going through their things, My family and I discovered 50+ some floppy disks that my grandfather used from the early 90s to early 2000s. My grandfather was a man of many suprises, so imagine my parents and I's eyes when we saw these floppy disks hiding in my grandfather's office's closet!Besides my uncle working in IT, I am pretty much the only tech-saavy person that my parents has access to for certain things when they need help with technology. My mother put me in charge of handling my grandfather's floppy disks to recover what was saved on the disks. I was a bit concerned about if anything was readable, or if the disks were even going to work on a modern computer. Everybody was telling me that the disks might be formatted for a PC Windows 7 (or Windows 10) and that it might not work on a modern computer. After reaching out to my Uncle who works in IT, and asking for advice on macrumors.com (a forum where people ask other people who uses Apple products for advice and help on software, upgrades, etc.) and they recommended me to purchase the Tendak floppy disk drive as it was compatible for Windows, AND Mac computers. So I decided to listen to them and purchase the Tendak floppy disk.I was very anxious to see if the adapter disk would be able to read the disks on my Apple 27" 5k retina, 2019 iMac desktop which currently uses Monterey as the OS (Operating software). When I the floppy disk arrived, I immediately opened it up, plugged it into my iMac desktop computer, and put the first floppy disk in and it worked! The floppy disk was completely readable, I was able to copy the files and transfer them to my external harddrive and save them. My grandfather was a scientist and an engineer, so there were some files inside the floppy disk that I couldn't open/read such as a .hlg, .swh, .wpd, and .plg files. I learned that .hlg, .swh and .plg files are old technology and there isn't really a software to open those type of files anymore. But I was able to recover 95% of the files saved on the floppy disks, and I was completely shocked that I was able to on a modern 2019 Apple iMac computer. I was extremely excited and happy to see the photos that my grandfather took, and saved on the floppy disks because my family never seen many of these photos before. So, to be able to share these memories that my grandfather took, is probably the last precious gift that he kept and given to us. I cried happy tears when I saw the photos. Thank you, Tendak for making the floppy disk adapter compatible with Mac computers, because otherwise I would never be able to see and save any of these photos!

Worked for what I needed

I was trying to recover data from floppies to my Windows 10 Home machine. I ended up trying five different devices and am posting my review to let you know my results.First, all five devices worked PERFECTLY on my Windows 7 Pro laptop. However, when plugging in to my Windows 10 machine, three of them would only sit and spin with the drive light on, even though they were recognized as drives by Win10.After a little looking, I found that the devices that worked on my Windows 10 machine identified themselves and used the driver for the Y-E Data USB floppy, while the devices that just sat and spun identified themselves and used the driver for a TEAC floppy drive. So there must be a little difference in the internal configuration of the drive that is causing the issue.I tried 5 devices and found that the Tendak USB Floppy Disk Drive worked perfectly, as did the Esynic USB Floppy Drive . Both identified as Y-E Data USB floppy drives. When they were plugged in, they worked smoothly and quietly. It was a toss-up which one to choose to keep, but I eventually went with the Tendak because it seemed slightly quieter and faster, but that was really subjective. The Tendak also had more information such as a warranty card and information on how to contact support, while the Esynic box was empty. As far as quality of the drive, they seemed identical. If I had needed more than one drive, I would have kept them both.For me, initially the Sabrent External USB 1.44 MB 2x Floppy Disk Drive (FL-UDRV) seemed the nicest. The box was glossy with information covering it, you'd expect to see this sitting on a shelf in a big box store. (All other drives came in plain brown boxes). There were touches of quality in how the drive was packed, the box was made to fit it with a area for the cable to fit in and a dust cover over the USB end to keep it clean. It came with a beautiful guide to using the floppy, including information like the write-protect switch and not removing a floppy while the drive light is on, that newer users would not be familiar with. They also had a support phone number, and the person who answered seemed to be an American. Unfortunately, this was one of the devices that would not work on my Windows 10 machine. It identified as a TEAC USB Floppy drive, and when plugged in it simply had the drive light turn on and continuously seek for data. It worked perfectly in my Windows 7 machine, and was very fast and smooth. If I hadn't needed it working on Windows 10 as well, I would have kept this one in a heartbeat. From other reviews, it appears that it works on other people's Windows 10 machines, so I'd recommend you at least try it.The last two devices were both from Chuanganzhuo. 3.5" USB External Floppy Disk Drive Portable 1.44 MB FDD for PC Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7/8/10,for Mac,No Extra Driver Required,Plug and Play,Black and the 3.5" USB External Floppy Disk Drive Portable 1.44 MB FDD for PC Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7/8/10 +Dustproof Scratch-Resistant External Bag Case,No External Driver,Plug and Play. Both devices worked fine on Windows 7 Pro, but on Windows 10 Home they immediately had the drive light up and started a very loud seek process that never finished. These devices were louder than any other drive I tested, but did work just fine under Windows 7. Both used the TEAC USB Floppy driver as well.My conclusion: If you are lucky enough to be one of those whose computers will use the Sabrent External USB 1.44 MB 2x Floppy Disk Drive (FL-UDRV), get that drive. It is quality. If you can't, either the Tendak USB Floppy Disk Drive or the Esynic USB Floppy Drive will probably make you happy.

As advertised it should work for any OS. Amazon did have a warning that this item is returned often. But the reviews seemed positive, so I took a chance.So, I bought this for use on one laptop running Win7 and another running XP. It did not work properly on either OS system. When I inserted into the USB port it did recognize the drive and installed the driver. Inserted one 3.5 disk into the drive and it would read it and then it quit working. On the next disk inserted the drive did not spin. Refresh did not work (You should not have to do this). The only way it would read a new disk was to unplug the USB and plug back in. But that only worked on the Win7 machine. On the XP system it quit working completely after the first disk.I tried some commands in command mode too. Nothing I tried would work.I'm a 35 year IT professional and I know a lot about debugging software and hardware issues. Nothing I tried worked for this drive.Returned.

My order arrived quickly and was packed well for the shipping to Hawaii.