Computer Assembly - How To Assemble A PC
How To Copy Big Files From Another Computer Using Just a Floppy Drive
One tricky part with building a new computer is how to get files, such as needed or up-to-date drivers, over to the new computer. There may well be no connection to the outside world at first - no modem or anything - and there may not a CD-RW you can use on another computer. An answer that works for everyone is available through ZipCentral.
You can use ZipCentral to copy a file that's too big to fit on a single floppy over multiple floppies, a process called "spanning". Other "zip" utilities support "spanning", but the nice thing about ZipCentral is that the ZipCentral download itself fits on a single floppy, so you don't run into a "chicken and egg" problem getting ZipCentral onto the new computer.
The idea is to use ZipCentral to create an archive file that contains the set of files, or maybe just the one file, that you want to transfer to the new computer. Archive files have an extension of ".zip" and are often called zip files. The archive file is created on any other computer you can use, probably one that has internet access so you can download the files you need to it. For discussion I'll call this the "source computer". There are many zip utilities and it's likely the "source computer" already has one such utility installed. An archive file created by one kind of zip utility on the source computer can be read and expanded into its original files on the new computer by a different zip utility, like ZipCentral. Even so, you can still install ZipCentral on the "source computer" if you prefer.
Let's take an example. The modem driver installation file downloaded from the Zoom web-site is named v812MOH.exe. It's over 2.6 megabytes in size, and a floppy disk only holds 1.44 megabytes. It will take two floppy disks to "span" the file v812MOH.exe . Before starting, make sure all the floppy disks you need are already formatted and blank. While the file being used in this example, v812MOH.exe, only requires two floppy disks, the process is the same regardless of size. I've copied 30 megabyte files using a whole stack of floppy disks.
Bring up ZipCentral on the source computer. Under the File menu, select "New archive...". A "Create new archive" windows opens like the one shown below. Notice that the "Files of type:" field is defaulted to "Zip files (*.ZIP)". Navigate to where you want the archive created. In the "File name:" box enter the name you'd like to give the archive file, like "bigfile, and click the "Open" button.
An "Add files and folders to current archive" window appears like the one shown below.
Navigate to the downloaded driver file and double-click on it. ZipCentral processes the file into the archive as shown below.
Under the File menu, select "Close archive". An archive file named "bigfile" that contains the modem driver file now exists on the source computer. The next step is to span this file onto floppy disks.
Still in ZipCentral, under the Tools menu, select "Write disk span...". A "Write disk span" window appears like the one shown below.
Under the "Single archive to span:" field, push the "Browse" button and find the archive just created, "bigfile". Double-click on it so that now the window appears as shown below.
For the "Location of the spanned files:" field in this window, it's fine to use the default value of "A:\Spanned.zip". Click the "OK" button. ZipCentral will walk you through inserting each floppy disk into the floppy drive. Remember, the floppy disks should already be formatted and preferably blank.
Now take the floppies over to the new computer. Make sure you keep the floppy disks in order. Bring up ZipCentral. Insert the last floppy disk that was created into the floppy disk drive. Under the Tools menu, select "Read disk span...". Navigate to the floppy disk drive and double-click on "Spanned.zip".
The "Read disk span" window will show "Spanned.zip" as the entry for "Spanned archive to convert:". Use the "Browse" button for the "Put the single converted archive here:" entry to navigate to where the archive should go and enter the name to given to the single archive file, say "bigfile" again. ZipCentral will walk you through inserting each floppy disk into the floppy drive.
You can now treat bigfile.zip like any other zip-archive file. While still in ZipCentral, under the File menu, select "Open Archive...", select bigfile.zip and extract the contents as you would with any zip file. You now have the downloaded modem driver installation file on the new computer.
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