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I have 100's of 5.25 Floppies

T

Trumpkinz

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Nov 26, 2007
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Ok going through this collection of stuff I have 100's of 5.25 Floppies. Does anyone has any suggestions on what the best way to sort them is. Some may be back-ups, I know I have games, programs and more.
Anyone looking for something specific?
They are from various machines, commodores, atari etc....

It is midblowing........
Help!!!!
 
Glad to know I'm not alone XD

I have a box in my basement that has roughly 100+ 5.25 floppies. I need to sort though them and such too. Mine are all for PC's though.
 
This problem gets a bit more complicated when disks from multiple machines are all mixed together into a random pile.

Honestly, I think your best approach is to just take the pile to your machines and try to identify which disks go with which machine. That is the first step. Once they are separated, keep them apart as it will make your life much easier.

I am not aware of any tools which a generic PC can identify which format is on a random disk. Probably the closest is the Catweasel but I doubt it would be worth the effort.

Good luck with your project but I think many hours of sorting and trying disks on various machines awaits you.

Thanks!

Andrew Lynch
 
What I do is wait until a slooow moving day. I then gather all the disks, and get all the storage containers I will keep the in. Certain boxes work perfectly, like I have one that used to hold paper, and if I split it down the middle with a cardboard slot, it holds two long rows of disks. So anyways, I first sort them into boxes by machine type(CP/M, DOS, Tandy, etc). Then, By type(not name) I make a few sections, depending on the disks. I use "System Software(O/S related, drivers), Games, Educational, Programs(Works, WordPerfect, Internet, etc)." Sometimes there is another catagory or two, depending on what type of machine I am looking at, but it usually comes down to "other," or in Apple's case, I usually have a section for the learning disks, like "The Apple at Play," "The Apple at Work" and the other related disks. If you really want organization, go ahead and do it alphabetically, but that would take ALOT of time, and it would all just get messed up anyways.

--Ryan
 
I image all my commercial non game floppies (Winimage for PC, Diskcopy for Mac, adf for amiga etc) and archive them on my server. Atleast I know what I have at a glance, and can recreate it if I run my chair over a floppy on the floor and kill it.

For storage I have 14 fellows disk drawers that you can interconnect (2 are for 5.25" and 12 are for 3.5" floppy) that hold most of my disks. I use color coded bezels to remind me which drawers are for Amiga/Mac/PC. I also have frequently used floppies in small containers by my computer desk in the basement lab, stuff like utility disk and operating systems.

Then there is a pile of disks that I have scattered about that I am too lazy to put back in the drawers. I also keep 100's of new blanks in the media cart under my photocopier (5.25" DD, 3.5"DD/HD).
 

So I hate so sound like a grumpy old git but a few words of caution ... from one who is 90% the way through regenerating my 1980's diskette collection

If the diskettes are not clearly labelled and you dont know what system they were generated on then you have an uphill struggle to figure out what generation of machine they came from.

If it is pre IBM PC then the formats were pretty much vendor specific. Something like diskette sector interleave might prevent you reading one CP/M 2.2 diskette from one vendor to another

But my main point is this:

Unless stored in a nice dry environment some diskettes may start oxide shedding.

If you put one of these into a diskette drive it can really refuse to be read (assuming you know the format) but also complete "gum up" the diskette drive read write heads.

It might then take you minutes to hours of cleaning to get the drive working again.

Overall if you want to keep the data on the diskettes RECREATE the diskette and discard the original. It sounds harsh I know:

So what I have done is:

search EBAY for sellers of new 5.25 inch diskettes. Several US milatary systems seem to have needed both 360K and 1.2M diskettes resulting is some large, shrink wrapped oversupply opportunities.

Take new diskettes and format correctly and run a surface scan program to check ALL data areas of your new diskette. When OK ..

Take your original diskette and make a copy

Trash your original diskette.

Safely store your diskettes in an airtight, moisture free container.

You are now probably good for another 25 years.


 
yes, it seems to me that 5.25 inch disks are the "weakest link" when it comes to maintaining an old computer system that uses them due to the oxidation problems mentioned (capacitors would come second).

That's why I'm quite interested in devices that emulate disk drives for old computers, where the device either sits between the vintage machine and a modern one (where the disk images are) or reads disk images off a flash memory card or the like. I know such things exist for the C64 and Atari machines. Someone built a few for the TRS-80 Model 1 too, but these are now out of production. :(

I wonder if we will see more of these kinds of devices? I certainly hope so although the market will never be large enough for the mainstream. It is a way to maintain the "vintage" experience. At least mostly. I accept that hearing the old disk drive clattering away is part of that experience.

So much so actually, that in the TRS-80 M1/3/4 emulator I use by Matthew Reed, there is audio that sounds just like an old drive in action when disk images are being accessed. It's very cool. :)
 
Intestingly enough, I have never had oxidation issue with a disk or any capacitor issue. I have only had two problems with electricity in computers. The first, my AT&T 6300 power supply mysteriously went out. It's HD would start autoparking while it idled, and I would have to shake the case to get it to work. Sometimes the slightest tap would make the screen go out, or it to reset, other times the hardest bang on the desk left it unaffected. That was probably a cable, though. The problem I have had with disks is limited to dirt, dust, and me accidentally mis-treating them(I.E. running my chair over them, having them right next to the monitor when I degauss it...) but have never had a oxidation issue. But then again, I don't typically buy computers with a mysterious past life. All the oldies I have have clearly defined pasts. My Apple IIc, and my newer(working) AT&T 6300 were both one owner systems, and my future Packard I will be getting is as well. My IBM is mysterious, but I was able to test it in the shop of defects, none found. I love one or low owner systems, as you get to know the past of the PC, and in my experiance always get all the disks and manuals it came with, as well as original boxes. One guy even gave me the papers to the loan he requested from his company to get it! He also well documented all phone calls about it, repairs done on it, and didn't throw a single thing away that was related to the system. I even have the original chip from the keyboard, from when he upgraded it so it could better support a mouse!

--Ryan
 
Once you've heard the "Scree, scree" of some treasured disks afflicted with "bit-rot" one never forgets it. I had that happen on the first disk of the DRI's Gem installation. I never tried any of the rest. According to some of the authorities on classiccomp what you can try is to put a light oil on the disks and then try to copy them. Sometimes they say you are able to rescue the disks. It was so disconcerting I've never tried to do this on the remaining disks. Me bad. Fortunately the disks are available on Gabi's site and the manuals are still fine.

Lawrence
 
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