View source for Zip drive

{{Short description|Removable cartridge disk storage system}}
{{Distinguish|ZIP (file format)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023|cs1-dates=y}}
{{Infobox computer hardware
| logo         = Iomega ZIP.svg
| logo-size    = 0.5
| logo_caption = Iomega Zip 100 drive logo
| image        = Iomega Zip 100 drive with a disk.jpg
| caption      = Zip 100 drive with a disk
| invent-date  = 
| invent-name  = 
| conn1        = 
| via1_1       = 
| class-name   = 
| class1       = 
| manuf1       = 
| designfirm   = 
| manufacturer = Iomega
| discontinued = 
| cost         = {{USD|200}}
| type         = [[Magnetic storage]]
| processor    = 
| frequency    = 
| rom          = 
| connection   = 
| ports        = 
| power        = 
| color        = 
| dpi          = 
| speed        = 
| language     = 
| weight       = 
| dimensions   = 
}}
[[File:Internal zip drive inside computer.jpg|thumb|An internal Zip drive installed in a computer]]
[[File:Internal zip drive outside of computer.jpg|thumb|An internal Zip drive outside of a computer but attached to a {{frac|3|1|2}}-inch to {{frac|5|1|4}}-inch drive bay adapter]]
[[File:Iomega ZIP100 Disk.jpg|thumb|The Zip disk media]]
[[File:ZIP Drive 100, 5.jpg|thumb|The back of a parallel-port ZIP-100 with printer pass-through]]

The '''Zip drive''' is a discontinued removable cartridge [[disk storage]] system sold by [[Iomega]] from 1995 to 2003.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://edgar.secdatabase.com/1197/35278995000002/filing-main.htm
 |title=IOMEGA CORP (Form Type: 10-K, Filing Date: 03/30/1995)
 |date=30 March 1995
 |quote=... new Zip products that it announced in 1994 and expects to start shipping in the first half of 1995.
 |access-date=2024-02-20 
 |archive-date=2024-02-20 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240220151411/http://edgar.secdatabase.com/1197/35278995000002/filing-main.htm
 |url-status=live
 }}</ref> Considered medium-to-high-capacity at the time of its release, Zip disks were originally launched with capacities of 100&nbsp;[[megabytes|MB]], then 250&nbsp;MB, and finally 750&nbsp;MB.

The format became the most popular of the [[superfloppy]] products which filled a [[Niche market|niche]] in the late 1990s portable storage market. However, it was never popular enough to replace the standard {{frac|3|1|2}}-inch [[floppy disk]]. Zip drives fell out of favor for mass portable storage during the early 2000s as [[CD-RW]] and [[USB flash drive]]s became prevalent. The Zip brand later covered internal and external CD writers known as Zip-650 or Zip-CD, despite the dissimilar technology.

==Overview==
The Zip drive is a "superfloppy" disk drive that has some of the standard {{frac|3|1|2}}-inch floppy drive's convenience, but with much greater capacity options and with performance that is much improved over a standard floppy drive.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie/2604/0000/Enabling-technologies-for-a-100-MB-35-floppy-ZIPtm-disk/10.1117/12.230058.short
 |title=Enabling technologies for a 100-MB 3.5" floppy (ZIPtm) disk drive (Report). SPIE. |last=Briggs |first=John C |date=January 15, 1996 |pages= 220–227 |doi=10.1117/12.230058 |access-date=July 21, 2025}}</ref>{{verify source|date=August 2025}} However, Zip disk housings are similar to but slightly larger than those of standard {{frac|3|1|2}}-inch floppy disks.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=https://blogs.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/archivesandmanuscripts/2010/03/22/media-recognition-guide-iomega-zip-disks/
 |title=Media Recognition Guide – Iomega Zip Disks
 |date=March 22, 2010
 |access-date=June 3, 2023
 |quote=Zip disks are physically similar to floppy disks, ... dimensions are 97 x 98 x 6mm compared to 3.5” floppy disk dimensions of 90 x 94 x 3mm.
 |archive-date=2024-07-11 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240711021315/https://blogs.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/archivesandmanuscripts/2010/03/22/media-recognition-guide-iomega-zip-disks/
 |url-status=live
 }}</ref>

In the Zip drive, the heads fly over high density media in a manner similar to a [[hard disk drive]].<ref>{{cite report
 |url=https://doi.org/10.1117/12.230058  |title=Enabling technologies for a 100-MB 3.5" floppy (ZIP™) disk drive
 |last=Briggs |first=John C. |date=25 October 1996 |publisher=Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)
 |chapter=4  |page=
 |pages=223–224
 |doi=10.1117/12.230058
 |access-date=9 August 2025
 |quote="The truly surprising aspect of this HDI is that Winchester nano-sliders and 1950 style suspensions have been made to work on flexible media" ... "The Zip drive uses a special version of metal particle media ... marketed under the name ATOMM" 
|url-access=subscription}}</ref> A linear actuator uses the [[voice coil]] actuation technology related to modern hard disk drives.

The original Zip drive has a maximum data transfer rate of about 1.4&nbsp;MB/s (comparable to 8× CD-R; although some connection methods are slower, down to approximately 50&nbsp;kB/s for maximum-compatibility parallel "nibble" mode) and a [[seek time]] of 28&nbsp;ms on average, compared to a standard 1.44&nbsp;MB floppy's effective ≈16&nbsp;kB/s and ≈200&nbsp;ms average seek time. Typical desktop hard disk drives from mid-to-late 1990s revolve at 5,400&nbsp;rpm and have transfer rates from 3&nbsp;MB/s to 10&nbsp;MB/s or more, and average seek times from 20&nbsp;ms to 14&nbsp;ms or less.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Early-generation Zip drives were in direct competition with the [[SuperDisk]] (LS-120) drives, which hold 20% more data and can also read standard {{frac|3|1|2}}-inch 1.44&nbsp;MB diskettes, but they have a lower data-transfer rate due to lower rotational speed.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

The Zip drive was Iomega's third generation of products, different from Iomega's earlier [[Bernoulli Box]]es in many ways, including the absence of the Bernoulli plate of the earlier products.<ref>Radman et al.,, "Flexible-Disk Cartridge Drives Combine Reliable Operation, Removability," Computer Technology Review, Summer 1984, p. 77-81</ref>

===Interfaces===
[[File:ZipDrives.jpeg|thumb|Later ([[USB]], left) and earlier (parallel, right) Zip drives (media in foreground)]]
[[File:ZIP 250 USB Drive.jpg|thumb|upright|ZIP 250 USB Drive]]

Zip drives were produced in multiple interfaces including:

* [[Integrated Drive Electronics|IDE]] True ATA (very early ATA internal Zip drives mostly sold to OEMs; these drives exhibit software compatibility issues because they do not support the ATAPI command set)
* [[ATAPI]] (all Zip generations)
* [[USB]]&nbsp;1.1 (Zip 100&nbsp;MB and 250&nbsp;MB generations) <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://archive.org/details/iomega-zip-250-drive |title=Iomega ZIP 250 Drive |date=11 May 2006 |via=Internet Archive }}</ref>
* USB&nbsp;2.0 (Zip 750&nbsp;MB generation; backwards compatible with USB&nbsp;1.1 systems)
* [[IEEE 1284]] ([[parallel port]]) with printer pass through (Zip 100&nbsp;MB and 250&nbsp;MB generations) <sup>''(See NB 3)''</sup>
* [[IEEE 1394]] ([[FireWire]]) (Zip 250&nbsp;MB and 750&nbsp;MB generations)
* [[SCSI]] (Zip 100&nbsp;MB and 250&nbsp;MB generations; both internal and external editions; external editions limited to ID 5 and 6)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1995_articles/dec95/iomegazip.html|title=Iomega Zip 100|work=Sound on Sound|date=December 1995|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150606114312/http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1995_articles/dec95/iomegazip.html|archive-date=6 June 2015}}</ref>
* "Plus" (Zip 100&nbsp;MB external drive with both SCSI and IEEE 1284 connections; SCSI ID limited to ID 5 and 6).

Parallel port external Zip drives are actually SCSI drives with an integrated Parallel-to-SCSI controller, meaning a true SCSI bus implementation but without the electrical buffering circuits necessary for connecting other external devices. Early Zip 100 drives use an AIC 7110 SCSI controller and later parallel drives (Zip Plus and Zip 250) used what was known as Iomega MatchMaker.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.faqs.org/docs/Linux-mini/ZIP-Drive.html#ss8.8 |title=Zip Drive Mini-HOWTO |website=Faqs.org |access-date=2008-09-27  |archive-date=2016-08-17  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817110431/http://www.faqs.org/docs/Linux-mini/ZIP-Drive.html#ss8.8 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.canaandata.com/news/Diskette-Recovery/Zip-Drive-recovery-1.htm |title=Web Page Under Construction |website=Canaandata.com |access-date=2023-01-23  |archive-date=2023-01-23  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123005430/http://www.canaandata.com/news/Diskette-Recovery/Zip-Drive-recovery-1.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The drives are identified by the operating system as "IMG VP0" and "IMG VP1" respectively.

Early external SCSI-based Zip drives were packaged with an included SCSI adapter known as Zip Zoom. The Zip Zoom is a relabeled ISA Adaptec SCSI host controller. Also, originally sold separately was a PCMCIA-to-SCSI adapter for laptop compatibility, also a relabeled Adaptec.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; width: auto;"
|+ Interface availability
|-
! rowspan="2" style="width:100px;"| Name
!colspan=5| Interface
|-
! style="width:60px;"| [[ATA Packet Interface|ATAPI]]
! style="width:60px;"| [[SCSI]]
! style="width:60px;"| [[Parallel port|LPT]]<ref group="note" name="fn_1"/>
! style="width:60px;"| [[USB]]
! style="width:60px;"| [[IEEE 1394|FireWire]]<ref group="note" name="fn_2"/>
|-
| Zip 100
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
|-
| Zip 250
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
|-
| Zip 750
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{Yes}}
|-
|colspan=6 style="text-align:left; font-size: 85%;"|
{{Reflist|group="note"|refs=
<ref group="note" name="fn_1">Also known as [[IEEE 1284]], [[parallel port]]</ref>
<ref group="note" name="fn_2">Also known as [[IEEE 1394 interface]]</ref>
}}
|}

Driver support:

* [[DOS]] (requires a minimum of a [[Intel 80286|80286]] or processor)
* [[Microsoft Windows]] family (Parallel drives not supported on [[Windows 7]] and above)
* Some [[Linux]] / [[Berkeley Software Distribution|BSD]] etc. (not universal)
* Oracle [[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]] 8, 9, 10, 11 
* IBM [[OS/2]]
* [[Classic Mac OS|Macintosh System]] 6.x,<sup>(See NB 1)</sup> 7.1–7.5, and Mac OS 7.6–9.2
* [[macOS]]
* [[RISC OS]] Requires !zip drivers.
* [[AmigaOS]] 3.5 or higher
* [[BeOS]] from version 3 onwards.
* [[IRIX]] 6.4 or higher (SCSI only)
''NB 3: Requires a driver older than 5.x.<ref name="Using a Zip drive on Mac OS 6.x">{{cite web |url=http://www.jagshouse.com/zipMacPlus.html |title=Using a zip Zip drive on a Mac Plus |access-date=11 August 2009 |archive-date=2023-01-31  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131172325/https://www.jagshouse.com/zipMacPlus.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>''

==Compatibility==
Zip disks must be used in a drive with an equal or greater storage capacity. Higher-capacity drives can read lower-capacity media. The 250&nbsp;MB drive writes much more slowly to 100&nbsp;MB disks than the 100&nbsp;MB drive, and the Iomega software is unable to perform a "long" (thorough) format on a 100&nbsp;MB disk (They can be formatted in any version of Windows as normal; the advantage of the Iomega software is that the long format can format the 100 MB disks with a slightly higher capacity. 250&nbsp;MB disks format to the same size either way). The 750&nbsp;MB drive can read and write to 250MB disks, but has read-only support for 100&nbsp;MB disks.<ref>Iomega 750MB drive documentation states this</ref>

The retroreflective spot differs between the 100&nbsp;MB disk and the 250&nbsp;MB such that if the larger disk is inserted in a smaller-capacity drive, the disk is immediately ejected again without any attempt being made to access it. The 750&nbsp;MB disk has no reflective spot.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

==Sales, problems, and licensing==
Zip drives initially sold well after their shipments began in 1995, owing to their low price and high (for the time) capacity. The drive was initially sold for just under US$200 with one cartridge included, and additional 100&nbsp;MB cartridges for US$20. At this time [[hard disk]]s typically had a capacity of 500&nbsp;MB and cost around US$200 {{citation needed|date=August 2022}}, and so backing up with Zip disks was very economical for home users—some computer suppliers such as [[Dell]], [[Gateway, Inc.|Gateway]] and [[Apple Inc.]]  included internal Zip drives in their machines. Zip drives also made significant inroads in the graphic arts market, as a cheaper alternative to the [[Syquest]] cartridge hard disk system. The price of additional cartridges swiftly dropped further over the next few years, as more companies began supplying them. Eventually, the suppliers included [[Fujifilm]], [[Verbatim Corporation|Verbatim]], [[Toshiba]] and [[Maxell]], [[Epson]] and [[NEC]].  NEC also produced a licensed 100&nbsp;MB drive model with its brand name.

[[File:ZipDiskNDrive unitsales 1998to2003.svg|thumb|Zip Disk and Drive sales, 1998 to 2003]]

Sales of Zip drives and disks declined steadily from 1999 to 2003.<ref>Annual reports from [http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=iom&script=700 corporate website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705215051/http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=iom&script=700 |date=2022-07-05  }}:
* {{cite web |url=http://download.iomega.com/com/about/investor/annual_report2000/annual.pdf |title=Iomega Corporation (2000). 2000 Annual Report to Shareholders |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040119131312/http://download.iomega.com/com/about/investor/annual_report2000/annual.pdf |archive-date=19 January 2004 }}&nbsp;{{small|(2.74&nbsp;MB)}}
* {{cite web |url=http://download.iomega.com/com/about/investor/annual_report2001/2001_annual_report.pdf |title=Iomega Corporation (2001). 2001 Annual Report to Shareholders |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030510143032/http://download.iomega.com/com/about/investor/annual_report2001/2001_annual_report.pdf |archive-date=10 May 2003 }}&nbsp;{{small|(439&nbsp;KB)}}
* {{cite web |url=http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/NYS/iom/reports/2002ar.pdf |title=Iomega Corporation (2002). 2002 Annual Report to Shareholders |access-date=2005-01-23  |archive-date=2004-02-23  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040223122313/http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/NYS/iom/reports/2002ar.pdf |url-status=live }}&nbsp;{{small|(875&nbsp;KB)}}
* {{cite web |url=http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/NYS/iom/reports/Iomega_Corporation_2003_Annual_Report.pdf |title=Iomega Corporation (2003). 2003 Annual Report to Shareholders |access-date=2005-01-23  |archive-date=2005-05-30  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050530105340/http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/NYS/iom/reports/Iomega_Corporation_2003_Annual_Report.pdf |url-status=live }}&nbsp;{{small|(764&nbsp;KB)}}<br/></ref>  Zip disks had a relatively high cost per megabyte compared to the falling costs of then-new [[CD-R]] and [[CD-RW]] discs.

The growth of hard disk drives to multi-gigabyte capacity made backing up with Zip disks less economical. Furthermore, the advent of inexpensive recordable CD and DVD drives for computers, followed by USB flash drives, pushed the Zip drive out of the mainstream market. Nevertheless, during their prime, Zip disks greatly eased the exchange of files that were too big to fit into a standard {{frac|3|1|2}}-inch floppy or an email attachment, and there was no high-speed connection to transfer the file to the recipient. However, the advantages of magnetic media over optical media and flash memory, in terms of long-term file storage stability and high erase/rewrite cycles, still affords them a niche in the data-storage arena.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}

In September 1998, a [[class action suit]] was filed against Iomega over a type of Zip drive failure dubbed the "[[click of death|Click of Death]]", accusing Iomega of violation of the Delaware Consumer Fraud Act.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oo5MfD6y8hwC&pg=RA1-PA32 |title=Products liability: recreation and ... - Google Books |date=14 September 1985 |access-date=12 September 2011 |last1=Wittenberg |first1=Jeffrey D. |archive-date=2024-07-11  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240711021250/https://books.google.com/books?id=Oo5MfD6y8hwC&pg=RA1-PA32#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2006, ''[[PC World (magazine)|PC World]]'' rated the Zip drive as the 15th worst technology product of all time.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PC World: The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time, 2006-05-26 |url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/535838/worst_products_ever.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170130034623/http://www.pcworld.com/article/125772/worst_products_ever.html?page=4 |archive-date=30 January 2017}}</ref> Nonetheless, in 2007, ''PC World'' rated the Zip drive as the 23rd ''best'' technology product of all time<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/130207-6/the_50_best_tech_products_of_all_time.html|title=PC World: The 50 Best Tech Products of All Time, 2007-04-02|work=PCWorld |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170130023126/http://www.pcworld.com/article/130207/article.html?page=6|archive-date=30 January 2017}}</ref> despite its known problems.

==Legacy==
Zip drives are still used today by retro-computing enthusiasts as a means to transfer large amounts (compared to the retro hardware) of data between modern and older computer systems. The [[Amiga|Commodore-Amiga]], [[Atari ST]], [[Apple II]], and [[Old World ROM|"old world"]] [[Mac (computer)|Macintosh]] communities often use drives with the SCSI interface prevalent on those platforms. They have also found a small niche in the music production community, as SCSI-compatible Zip drives can be used with vintage [[Sampler (musical instrument)|samplers]] and [[electronic keyboard|keyboard]]s of the 1990s.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}

Zip disks were still in use in [[aviation]] until at least 2014.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.uasc.com/docs/default-source/documents/support/navigation-database/uasc_zip_dlinst.pdf?sfvrsn=4 |title=Navigation Database Data Downloading Via UniNet for Zip Disk Transfer Units |date=29 April 2014 |access-date=1 January 2023 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> [[Jeppesen]] distributed navigation database updates, and [[Universal Avionics]] supplies [[TAWS]], UniLink and Performance databases for upload into [[flight management system]]s via 100 and 250 MB Zip disks.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ww1.jeppesen.com/documents/support/aviation/documentation/JSUM_Quick_Start_Guide.pdf |title=Jeppesen Services Update Manager - Quick Start Guide |publisher=[[Jeppesen]] |access-date=2 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121224123959/http://ww1.jeppesen.com/documents/support/aviation/documentation/JSUM_Quick_Start_Guide.pdf |archive-date=24 December 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://uninet.uasc.com/documents/support/DownloadingFromUninet.pdf |title=Downloading Navigation Data from UniNet |publisher=[[Universal Avionics]] |access-date=2 June 2017 |archive-date=2020-02-08  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200208064638/http://uninet.uasc.com/documents/support/DownloadingFromUninet.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

==ZipCD==
Iomega also produced a line of internal and external recordable CD drives under the Zip brand in the late 1990s, called the '''ZipCD''' 650. It used regular CD-R media and had no format relation to the magnetic Zip drive. The external models were installed in a Zip-drive-style case, and used standard USB&nbsp;1.1 connections.

Iomega used the DirectCD software from [[Adaptec]] to allow [[Universal Disk Format|UDF]] drive-letter access to CD-R or CD-RW media.

The company released an open standard CD-R drive and CD-RW media under the same ZipCD name.

Early models of ZipCD drives were relabeled [[Philips]] drives, which were also so unreliable that a [[class action lawsuit]] succeeded.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cdrecorderclassnotice.com/ |title=Information Page for the Philips and Hewlett-Packard CD Recorder Class Action |date=4 December 2000 |website=CdRecorderClassNotice.com |access-date=2017-09-19  |archive-date=2000-12-04  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001204085100/http://www.cdrecorderclassnotice.com/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Later models were sourced from [[Plextor]].

==See also==
{{columns-list|colwidth=21em|
* [[Caleb UHD]]
* [[Castlewood Orb Drive]]
* [[EZ 135 Drive]]
* [[Jaz drive]]
* [[PocketZip]]
* [[Sony HiFD]]
* [[SuperDisk]]
* [[SyQuest Technology|SyQuest]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Zip drive}}
* "[https://www.edocr.com/v/vl86awkv/Fred_C_Thomas_III/innovation-and-invention-bucknell-presentation-1-2 Meeting the Challenges of Innovation- The 1990s Inventive Story of the Zip Drive...]" - Presentation to Bucknell School of Engineering, January 2012 - Author: Fred Thomas

{{Iomega storage devices}}

[[Category:Computer-related introductions in 1995]]
[[Category:Iomega storage devices]]
[[Category:Rotating disc computer storage media]]