3.5" Floppies are either DD or HD. (there's more but let's keep it simple and practical) A DD drive reads and writes DD floppies better than an HD one, but doe

3.5" Floppies are either DD or HD. (there's more but let's keep it simple and practical) A DD drive reads and writes DD floppies better than an HD one, but does not read/write HD floppies at all. There's a hole in the floppy for write protection (hole covered = write enabled), and there's another hole on the opposite side to signal the floppy is HD. If it's missing, it is DD. To recover a floppy, a USB drive is about the worst option, as they only expose a decoded floppy, and not the raw data, besides other annoyances. You'll want a period correct HD FDD, or DD if your floppy is DD and your HD drive is having trouble with it, alongside GreaseWeazle[0]. As for that old 486, you'll want to open the case ASAP and remove the motherboard's CMOS battery, before it destroys the whole thing. Capacitors aren't anywhere near a concern; most likely they're still fine, and will typically not destroy anything. 0. https://github.com/keirf/greaseweazle https://github.com/keirf/greaseweazle