<P> Windows 10 no longer includes a generic driver for USB floppy drives . </P> <P> For more than two decades, the floppy disk was the primary external writable storage device used . Most computing environments before the 1990s were non-networked, and floppy disks were the primary means of transferring data between computers, a method known informally as sneakernet . Unlike hard disks, floppy disks are handled and seen; even a novice user can identify a floppy disk . Because of these factors, a picture of a 31⁄2 - inch floppy disk has become an interface metaphor for saving data . The floppy disk symbol is still used by software on user - interface elements related to saving files, such as the release of Microsoft Office 2016, even though the physical floppy disks are largely obsolete . </P> <P> The 8 - inch and 51⁄4 - inch floppy disks contain a magnetically coated round plastic medium with a large circular hole in the center for a drive's spindle . The medium is contained in a square plastic cover that has a small oblong opening in both sides to allow the drive's heads to read and write data and a large hole in the center to allow the magnetic medium to spin by rotating it from its middle hole . </P> <P> Inside the cover are two layers of fabric with the magnetic medium sandwiched in the middle . The fabric is designed to reduce friction between the medium and the outer cover, and catch particles of debris abraded off the disk to keep them from accumulating on the heads . The cover is usually a one - part sheet, double - folded with flaps glued or spot - welded together . </P>

Where is data stored on a floppy disk