Quothe Chandra Bajpai, from writings of Sun, Apr 20, 2003 at 09:07:24AM -0400:
> I had a small accident in my basement a couple of days ago and in
> cleaning everything out I discovered an old box of 5.25 TRS-80/Heathkit
> floppies with all my old stuff on them were damp with water. I let them
> air dry overnight, but some of them still don't spin freely.
Did you open the jackets to allow them to dry, and attempt to clean
the floppies? If not, think of all of the contaminants that may have
been in the water (if it was a water leak or flooding, etc.).
> What can I do to recover these disks - I hate to lose them. What sort of
> damage does water cause to floppies?
In some cases, none. E.g., cleaning dirty floppy media with distilled
water and putting them in new jackets. Of course, if they don't dry,
the dreaded 'm' word (mildew) can set in. Perhaps you just need to
disassemble the floppies, give them a good cleaning with distilled
water, then hang them by the holes in a reasonably warm location
that's well-lit. ventilated and dust-free. Perhaps clean the jackets
as well, or, better yet, replace them.
Good luck!
--
Copyright (C) 2003 R. D. Davis The difference between humans & other animals:
All Rights Reserved an unnatural belief that we're above Nature &
rdd_at_rddavis.org 410-744-4900 her other creatures, using dogma to justify such
http://www.rddavis.org beliefs and to justify much human cruelty.
Received on Sun Apr 20 2003 - 22:07:01 BST