Review on Floppy Disk Reader: 3.5-inch USB Portable Drive for Windows 2000/XP/7/8 with Plug and Play Compatibility by Elizabeth Gibson

I bought this specifically to read old floppy disks I had lying around. The first few times I used it it didn't seem to work. I heard the USB connection sound in Windows, but the drive never showed up in File Explorer. I read an online review that mentioned a similar issue and recommended inserting a floppy disk before plugging the drive into a USB port. Once I did that I was able to see the floppy drive in File Explorer. The only problem was that the drive sometimes seemed to disappear. Also, it looks like the drive can go into bad shape if it gets disconnected while reading the drive. When the USB cable is reconnected, the drive's status light stays on with no apparent events. My solution to work around these problems was: 1. Open File Explorer before connecting drive 2. Insert a floppy disk before connecting the floppy disk drive3. Plug in the drive and open it as soon as it shows up in File Explorer4. If the drive status light stays on when you plug it in, unplug the drive for about a minute (my hypothesis is that this will discharge all the capacitors). The experience could have been a lot better, but to be honest there aren't many options for reading disks. anyway these days.