[ The PC Guide | Systems and Components Reference Guide | Floppy Disk Drives ]

Floppy Disk Drive Construction and Operation

While floppy disk drives vary in terms of size and the format of data that they hold, they are all internally quite similar. In terms of construction and operation, floppy drives are similar to hard disk drives, only simpler. Of course, unlike hard disks, floppy disk drives use removable floppy media instead of integrated storage platters. This section takes a look at the basic components and physical operation of a floppy disk drive.

Note: While the floppy disk media are part of the physical drive system, they have their own characteristics, and they are discussed in detail in their own section.

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