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Backing up old hard drive (c. 1985)

T

Travis Schau

New Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2012
Messages
3
Location
Oakland, California, United States
Hey folks,

I'm looking for information about an old hard drive (c. 1985) and how to get files off of it. My dad has a lot of old files on his old IBM PC, and we're looking to get them backed up elsewhere. I thought I would take out the hard drive and see if I could put it in a USB external enclosure, but I don't recognize the hard drive's interface at all. It was plugged directly into a board (vertically, right where that big blue tab is in the photo), no cables involved. I don't even know what that board (coming off of the motherboard?) is, and my attempts at googling about historic personal computer hard drives have turned up empty handed.

Any information would be appreciated! I could use floppy disks and shuttle the data over, but that would take a while, and I don't have a floppy drive on my modern PC, so that's also a barrier.

I'm also just really curious to learn a bit about this.

thanks,

-Travis


Just the hard drive
IMG_1355.jpg

The computer itself
IMG_1354.jpg
 
The system you have is a PS/2 Model 50. You can't attach that hard drive to anything other than the model of card IBM included. If you are lucky and the IBM still works, then getting the files off would be relatively easy if someone close by could loan you a parallel port zip drive then hook up a USB zip drive to a modern system. If the IBM does not work, you will need to send the drive to someone with a matching controller setup.

Don't throw that away. PS/2 machines are surprisingly popular and because of the unique parts someone will want the hard drive and floppy and memory to keep their own PS/2 model 50 running. Or even pick up the whole system as a replacement.
 
Thanks for the quick reply, Krebizfan! The IBM still works perfectly (25 years later), so I'll look into the solution you mentioned.

Regarding not throwing it away -- do you have any suggestions for how to get the computer into the right new hands? Posting it on our regional Craigslist comes to mind, but if you think there's a better avenue that would be good to know.
 
Travis Schau said:
I could use floppy disks and shuttle the data over, but that would take a while, and I don't have a floppy drive on my modern PC, so that's also a barrier.
Click to expand...
Welcome to these forums.

So, an external USB based 1.44M diskette drive could be acquired for your modern PC. The contents of the 20 MB hard drive (assuming full) would require approximately fifteen 1.44M diskettes, or fifteen transfers on one diskette. That may end up being the most cost effective solution.
 
Travis Schau said:
Thanks for the quick reply, Krebizfan! The IBM still works perfectly (25 years later), so I'll look into the solution you mentioned.

Regarding not throwing it away -- do you have any suggestions for how to get the computer into the right new hands? Posting it on our regional Craigslist comes to mind, but if you think there's a better avenue that would be good to know.
Click to expand...
Does it have a modem by any chance?
 
PS/2 Model 50

PS/2 Model 50

I know a volunteer at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View that
was looking for a Model 50 a few weeks ago.
 
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