How do I copy information to and from a floppy diskette or CD?

Tip: Before reading or following any of the steps below it's also a good idea to familiarize yourself with the basic steps for copying files.

Copying information from a floppy diskette

Microsoft Windows users

Microsoft Windows users can copy information from a floppy diskette by following the steps below.

1. Insert the diskette that contains the information you want to copy.
2. Open My Computer
3. In My Computer, double-click the 3 Floppy (A:) icon.
4. If the computer can read the floppy diskette, you should be able to see each of the files stored on the floppy diskette. Highlight each of the files you want to copy or click Edit and choose Select All to select all files on the floppy diskette.
5. Once the file(s) have been selected, click Edit and then Copy.
6. Finally, move to the location of where you want to copy the files. Once in the folder you want to copy the files to, click Edit and select Paste.

MS-DOS users

If you're in an MS-DOS prompt, to copy files from the floppy diskette to another location, follow either of the steps below.

1. Insert the diskette that contains the information you want to copy.
2. Change the drive letter to the A: drive by typing A: and pressing enter.
3. Once at the A:\> prompt, type dir to list the available files on the floppy diskette or continue to the next step if you already know the name of the file you want to copy.
4. Type a command similar to the below command. In the example below, the name of the file on the floppy diskette is myfile.txt and we are copying that file to the C:\Windows directory.

copy myfile.txt c:\windows

or

1. Insert the diskette that contains the information you want to copy.
2. Move to the directory you want to copy the file to using the cd command.
3. Once in the directory, type a command similar to the below command. In the example below, the name of the file on the floppy diskette is myfile.txt and we are copying that file to the current directory.

copy a:\myfile.txt

Additional information about the copy command can also be found on our copy command page.

Copying information to a floppy diskette

Microsoft Windows users

Microsoft Windows users can copy information to a floppy diskette by following either of the below recommendations.

If you're working on the file you want to save to the floppy diskette, you can use the program's Save As feature and save it to the floppy diskette by following the steps below.

1. Insert a blank diskette or a disk you want to save the file to.
2. In the program you're working on the file in, click File at the top of the window and choose Save As.
3. Click the down arrow on the Save In section of the window. This should list available locations to save the file to. Click the 3 1/2 Floppy (A:) and specify the file name you want to use.
4. Once done, click the Save button.

If the file has already been saved onto your computer, you can also copy the file to the floppy diskette by following the steps below.

1. Insert a blank diskette or a disk you want to save the file to.
2. Browse to the location that contains the file you want to save to the floppy diskette using My Computer or Explorer.
3. Once the file has been located, highlight it, click Edit at the top of the window and click Copy.
4. Finally, open My Computer, click on the 3 1/2 Floppy (A:), and click Edit then Paste to paste the file to the floppy diskette.

MS-DOS users

To copy files to a floppy diskette from MS-DOS, follow either of the steps below.

1. Insert a blank diskette or a disk you want to save the file to.
2. Use the cd command to move to the location of the directory that contains the file you want to copy to the floppy diskette.
3. If you don't know the name of the file or want to verify the file exists, use the dir command.
4. Once in the directory that contains the file you want to copy, type a command similar to the example below. In the example below, the file we're copying to the floppy diskette is myfile.txt.

copy mfile.txt a:\

or

1. Insert a blank diskette or a disk you want to save the file to.
2. Change the drive letter to the A: drive by typing A: and pressing enter.
3. Once at the A:\> prompt, type a command similar to the example below. In the example below, we're copying the file myfile.txt in the Windows directory to the floppy diskette.

copy c:\windows\myfile.txt

Additional information about the copy command can also be found on our copy command page.

Copying information from a CD

Microsoft Windows users

Microsoft Windows users can copy information from a CD by following the steps below.

1. Insert the CD that contains the information you want to copy.
2. Open My Computer.
3. In My Computer, right-click on the CD Name (D:) icon, where "CD Name" is the name of the CD currently in the computer. Keep in mind that the CD is not always the D: it may be E or any other letter. After you right-click the drive you should have different options to select from click Explore. Exploring the CD allows you to view the files on the CD. Many Windows CDs have an AutoPlay feature so double-clicking the CD icon often runs the program.
4. Locate the file you want to copy and click Edit and then Copy.
5. Finally, move to the location of where you want to copy the files. Once in the folder you want to copy the files to, click Edit and select Paste.

MS-DOS users

If you're in an MS-DOS prompt, to copy files from a CD to another location, follow either of the steps below.

1. Insert the CD that contains the information you want to copy.
2. Change the drive letter to the D: drive by typing D: and pressing enter. Keep in mind that the CD drive is not always the D: drive.
3. Once at the D:\> prompt, type dir to list the available files on the floppy diskette or continue to the next step if you already know the name of the file you want to copy.
4. Type a command similar to the below command. In the example below, the name of the file on the floppy diskette is myfile.txt and we are copying that file to the C:\Windows directory.

copy myfile.txt c:\windows

or

1. Insert the CD that contains the information you want to copy.
2. Move to the directory you want to copy the file to using the cd command.
3. Once in the directory, type a command similar to the below command. In the example below, the name of the file on the floppy diskette is myfile.txt and we are copying that file to the current directory.

copy d:\myfile.txt

Additional information about the copy command can also be found on our copy command page.

Copying information to a CD

In order to copy files to a CD you must have a drive capable of burning files to a CD and must use a third-party program that is capable of copying the files to the CD.

Copying information from a floppy to a CD

To copy information from a floppy diskette to a CD follow the above steps for copying information from a floppy to the computer. Once the information is on the computer hard drive you can copy the information to the CD.