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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsYes—but it is a storage experiment, not a practical way to play. Hackaday reported on January 13, 2026, that creator DocJade stored Factorio across thousands of floppy disks and loaded it through one reader and a custom filesystem. The reported time to load all of the game was about a week, with manual disk changes making access painfully slow.
What “floppy disk cluster” means here
Despite the word “cluster,” this is not a group of computers sharing the work of running Factorio. Hackaday describes a single-reader storage system: game files are spread across thousands of floppy disks, and a custom filesystem makes them available to the computer. The game still runs on the computer; the disks provide its storage.
The available account does not specify the disk format, drive model, exact disk count, or filesystem implementation. Those details should not be assumed from the general description.
How the storage system works
A custom filesystem spans the disks
The filesystem can split one file across multiple disks, so a file does not have to fit on a single disk. It mounts through FUSE and is described by Hackaday as loosely POSIX compatible, but it omits features such as permissions and links.
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A pool-information disk helps locate files
A dedicated disk stores pool information. This lets the setup cache file locations and reduces the number of disk changes needed to find data. It does not eliminate swaps: when a requested file segment is on another disk, the user has to insert that disk when prompted.
Why Factorio can load this way
Hackaday’s explanation is that Factorio loads most of the game into memory at launch. That behavior gives the floppy-based system time to retrieve the game’s data before play, rather than requiring a steady stream of disk access during gameplay.
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Games that dynamically fetch textures, map areas, or other assets while running are a poorer fit. If a game requests data that cannot be made available promptly, it may crash. The report does not establish that every game with dynamic loading will fail; it describes the risk of relying on removable media with slow, manually handled access.
How long does it take to load Factorio from floppy disks?
Hackaday reported that loading all of Factorio this way takes “about a week.” This is an approximate figure reported on January 13, 2026—not an independently verified benchmark. The article gives no exact disk count, timing procedure, or separate load-time measurement for starting a later play session.
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The delay is not simply a matter of floppy transfer speed. Required disk swaps make the user’s manual media changes a key bottleneck for both reading and writing. The cached pool information can reduce swaps, but the system still depends on someone inserting the requested disk.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the experiment demonstrates—and what it does not
The project demonstrates that a game’s storage can be spread over a large set of removable media and presented through a custom filesystem. It does not show that floppy disks are a useful substitute for ordinary game storage: a week-long reported load and prompted disk changes make this an impractical way to install or launch a game for everyday use.
Hackaday’s account is the basis for the project description and figures here; the linked creator video was not available for independent inspection. The report does not provide enough information to identify compatible disks or a specific reader, so those cannot be recommended from these details alone.
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