Preserving old floppies, fixed disks...

From: Chris Chiesa <cchi_at_lle.rochester.edu>
Date: Wed Mar 11 11:59:39 1998

> From CLASSICCMP-owner_at_u.washington.edu Wed Mar 11 12:38:47 1998
> Reply-To: classiccmp_at_u.washington.edu
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> To: "Discussion re-collecting of classic computers" <classiccmp_at_u.washington.edu>
> Subject: Re: Preserving old floppies, fixed disks...
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> At 11:46 AM 3/11/98 -0500, you wrote:
> >
> >I know I saw a post on this a while back but I don't recall
> >any of the suggestions for preserving old floppies. I have
> >a few things on 8 inch floppies that are pretty much irreplacable
> >so any ideas are welcome!
> >
>
> Other than storing them in a cool, dark place I don't thing there's a whole
> lot you can do to curb the aging effects. We're starting to see problems
> with 9 Track and QIC tapes (5-10 yrs. old or >), not so much with 8"
> diskettes--yet.

The concensus on the "Community Memory" computer-history list, IIRC, was
that to preserve the DATA it was a good idea to periodically migrate it to
newer (types of) media. If you want to continue using the same PHYSICAL
media (type), for purposes of "completeness," sentiment, etc., I assume
you could simply (?) read-and-rewrite the data back onto the "same" media
(whether the "same tape," or just "another tape of the same kind," is up
to YOU). I can however envision situations in which system resource
limitations might make it difficult to do that -- only one drive, no spare
"blank" media, insufficient memory to buffer a copy of ONE tape/disk
while swapping to the next one (more of a problem with tapes than with
disks). You might be able to get around some of these problems with
clever programming (i.e. tracking media position and restoring positions
around multiple medium-swaps!) -- but I'm not about to assume that you guys
can all PROGRAM all the machines you COLLECT. (Can you?)

   Me, I'm a DIY-software-head. I don't buy, or even dumpster-dive for,
much hardware that I can't at least POTENTIALLY program...

Chris Chiesa ("the still-pretty-new guy")
Received on Wed Mar 11 1998 - 11:59:39 GMT