Magnetic media and mold cleanup

From: Jerome Fine <jhfine_at_idirect.com>
Date: Mon Feb 25 21:20:09 2002

>Douglas Quebbeman wrote:

> > Does anyone know of a way to remove the mold that won't damage the
> > magnetic media? Also, does anyone remember the trick to opening the
> > shutter on these 8" cartridges?
> For floppies, I just break 'em open any way I can,
> and then use bare, clean hands with dish detergent.
> Let dry on a lint-free rag and you're through.

Jerome Fine replies:

I am trying to recover some files from an DEC RX02 (8" SSDD)
floppy. After you clean the media, how do you put it back into
the drive?

I have one floppy that has over 100 error blocks (can't be read)
out of 988. Others have just a few. Is it possible to only spot clean
the ones with a few errors without removing the jacket?

> For 9-track magtapes that had either mold or
> lichens growing (after a flood), I unspooled
> and manually cleaned about 100 feet of the tape
> using Formula 409.
>
> The tape was subsequently readable, recovering
> 100% of the data and programs on the last night
> my Prime was still operational; however, I was
> using my previously-discussed "wet read" technique.
>
> Regards,
> -dq

Will Formula 409 work with floppy media? Where
can it be purchased?

ALSO, I some DECTAPE II tape cassettes that were
written on a TU-58. Does anyone have a dual external
TU-58 drive they would be willing to sell? The tapes
have some important data, so the need for a TU-58
is high.
Received on Mon Feb 25 2002 - 21:20:09 GMT