How can I get the data off of these iOmega zip disks?

January 22, 2008 11:58 AM

I just found a bunch of iOmega zip drive disks (the 100 meg kind) in a closet as I was cleaning it out. Obviously nobody has those drives anymore... is there a cheap, easy way to get that back, or should I just throw them out?
posted by BuddhaInABucket to technology (16 answers total)

If the data on those drives were really crucial, wouldn't it have been transferred already? If not, go up on ebay and search for zip drives. They can be had for a song.
posted by SteveInMaine at 12:02 PM on January 22, 2008

I know what's on them- journals and poetry I wrote as an angsty teenager. So, keep that in mind in terms of how much I'm willing to spend to get the data back. I'm mildly curious, not dying to see.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 12:07 PM on January 22, 2008

actually, after looking on ebay and realizing I'm not even willing to spend the 12 bucks it would take to get a drive, I guess the whole point is moot as it would not get any cheaper than that. Theoretically though, are there any businesses that offer this kind of data retrieval?
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 12:09 PM on January 22, 2008

Call around to your local Kinkos, I've run across older machines with internal Zip drives in their rent-a-computer labs.
posted by jamaro at 12:14 PM on January 22, 2008

dude, just spend the 12 bucks, you'll get a laugh out of them now and they will probably be even more entertaining to you 10 or 15 or 30 years on.
posted by lia at 12:16 PM on January 22, 2008

I have a couple zip drives. I bet a lot of people still do.

As Jamaro says, every Kinko's style place had Zip drives once. Some Macs had them built-in (for a short time) I think, too.
posted by rokusan at 12:17 PM on January 22, 2008

Believe it or not, yes.
If you know any graphic designers who have been working for many years, it might be a good bet that one of them still has a zip drive (they were quite popular back in the day. Heck, some of the Mac G4's came with an optional zip drive built-in)

Additionally, some print shops still keep zip drives handy because one never knows when someone is going to bring a disk in.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:18 PM on January 22, 2008

I was successful selling a set of 10 Zip disks on ebay a year or so ago. Ok, so I only got $10 for them, but now they're out of the house.

You should definitely try to save the data, tho. Try Kinkos, or see if there's someone local to you who still has a drive.
posted by omnidrew at 12:27 PM on January 22, 2008

Data recovery firms will get data off formats way way more obscur than that. They'll just charge you a lot more than $12 for it.
posted by frieze at 12:28 PM on January 22, 2008

OC Craigslist says there's several available for cheap.
posted by rhizome at 12:28 PM on January 22, 2008

If I still have my zip drive in the basement, I'll send it over to you. Let me get back to you.
posted by shinynewnick at 12:28 PM on January 22, 2008

OK, thanks folks- turns out the kinkos nearest to me has zip drives on some of their computers! Problem solved. (Thanks anyway shinynewnick!)
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 12:30 PM on January 22, 2008

Funnily enough, I had the same thing in about July of last year (found 50 x 100mb disks in a cupboard while packing to move) and when I checked Ebay UK they were going for very good prices (e.g. £40 for 10 plus postage). But now? Meh. Procrastination has once again cost me money!
posted by ceri richard at 12:32 PM on January 22, 2008

Send me your address! I have 2 zip drives and a jazz drive I was going to post free on Craigslist this weekend! I would be glad to send one to you.
posted by phytage at 1:52 PM on January 22, 2008

If phytage's offer isn't any good for some reason you could simply ask around your friends and family. Chances are one of them has an old Zip drive still kicking around somewhere. I personally have a Zip250 and a Superdrive and would have no problem lending either to a friend who wanted to scrape something off some old disks.
posted by krisjohn at 3:44 PM on January 22, 2008

Why, I still have a Syquest drive! ;-)
posted by Taken Outtacontext at 4:59 PM on January 22, 2008 [1 favorite]