Is an A Drive Necessary?

[Denise_M]

Hi,

I bought a Biostar TForce6100-939 Socket 939 Barebone Kit / AMD Athlon 64 3200+ OEM / 512MB DDR PC3200 (I EXCHANGED IT FOR 2 512Mb TWIN STICKS) / CPU Fan / ATX Mid-Tower Case / 450 Watt Power Supply . . . I just started to put it together so this will be the first of many questions that I'll be asking ('m sorry). The instructions that came with the motherboard are very poor. They consist of one page that explains how to place the CPU and one page that explains how to install the RAM, which are the two easiest things to do. The remainder of 2 pages only point out power headers, but it doesn't say what should be connected to them.

For right now, though, this is my question . . .

All computers that I've seen have an A Drive. I was told that a computer has to have an A Drive and it can't do without one. The kit that I bought didn't include an A Drive. Do I need one in order for the computer to work? I bought a benq DVD/CD read/write, etc, ROM drive. Would that be sufficient to start off with?

 

[fastrandstrongr]

as long as you have a bootable OS cd, like windows xp, you should be just fine without one.

 

[King X13]

you dont need one. some motherboards you may have to disable the floppy in the bios so you can post and boot. but thats about it.

 

[Denise_M]

Thanks fastrandstrongr and King X13. I'll keep moving along without an A drive for now then but I'll install one in the future because I like the ease of data input/output that an 4-1/2" floppy provides.

I bought Windows 64-bit and a SATA hard drive, so this is really straying from what I know, which is really not much anyway, lol.

 

[seetherage]

Nop , you don't need one!, along time ago, it was almost mandatory, but not today!
=)

 

[Denise_M]

Thanks . . .

 

[WorldIndustries]

I like the ease of data input/output that an 4-1/2" floppy provides.

Get a thumbdrive! It works better, you've got WAY more capacity, and it doesn't clutter up the inside of your case like a floppy drive would.

 

[Denise_M]

That's a really good idea. I got one for my daughter for Christmas . . . don't know why I didn't think of it. Thanks!

 

[Denise_M]

Ok, I was just at eBay checking out a few different drives and I messaged a guy about a thumb drive. He told me that if I'm using a SATA hard drive and Windows XP, I'll need a floppy drive to install SATA drivers. The installation disk that came with my SATA drive is a CD. Also, I bought Windows XP but it's the 64-bit version. My mind is getting boggled . . . can someone clear the air for me?

 

[talldude123]

I never had to worry about SATA drivers, but you could always burn the file to a CD, since CD's are easier to use than floppies.