Where can I buy a good zip drive online

Asks danmiller103

A. Check out http://www.ebay.com or http://www.iomega.com/zip/

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Q. What is a zip drive

A. It is a small, portable (usually removable) disk drive used for backing up and archiving PC files.

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Q. Does a zip drive hold more information than a floppy disk

A. The 100MB version is equivalent to 70 floppy disks. It is also available in a 250MB version.

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Q. If I upgrade to a new 250MB drive will I be able to use my old 100MB disks in it

A. A 250MB Zip drive will read from, as well as write to and format, 100MB disks.

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Q. What are the benefits of using a zip drive

A. Removable storage media like zip drives have become increasingly important for storing large files, especially since the introduction of multimedia as video clips and sound, software etc take up a great deal of memory.

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In addition, architects, designers, programmes etc produce large files for their clients - it is a lot more professional to deliver your work on one zip drive, rather than several floppy disks.

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They also work really well if you're on the move, rather than take your laptop computer everywhere with you, you can just carry the zip drive if you know you'll have access to a PC with a zip drive at your destination, this is great for home-workers who have to go into the office sporadically.

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Other benefits include the ability to have separate zip drives for every person that uses your computer; storage of MP3's and games; storage of software. Above all you wont lose everything if your computer crashes.

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Q. Who manufactures zip drives

A. Omega is the most well known zip drive manufacturer (its 100Mbit drive is excellent for home computer users and small businesses) and is the market leader because it enables the user to back-up an entire hard drive on one or more zip disks. Hewlett Packard (HP) has good drives in its SureStore range, Syquest (SparQ and SyJet models) and Philips Pegasus also market similar products. Caleb Technology has recently introduced its Monster Media drive, a floppy disk-sized device capable of storing 144MB of data. This device is compatible with existing floppy drives as it can read small memory (traditional 1.44Mbit disks) too.

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Q. What happens to the actual files you save onto a zip drive

A. When files are saved onto a zip drive it packages a set of files and compresses them into a single file or archive that it calls a zip file. These files take up little space on the drive because they are compressed; this is a good method of storing or sending large files via email as long as they can be decompressed at the receiver end.

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Q. How would I identify a zip file

A. On a Mac these are called MacZip files, PKZIP in DOS, WinZip and NetZip in Windows and Zip and UnZip in Unix.

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By Karen Anderson