How to read old floppy disks?
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BEDFORD8824
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Hello
I am on MAC OS High Sierra and I found some old disks (Verbatim) containing word processing files that are probably around twenty years old.
I just found them and tried to open them with a La Cie drive.
Impossible.
Could someone give me a tip or tell me what to do or what to get to see what they contain?
Thanks in advance
I am on MAC OS High Sierra and I found some old disks (Verbatim) containing word processing files that are probably around twenty years old.
I just found them and tried to open them with a La Cie drive.
Impossible.
Could someone give me a tip or tell me what to do or what to get to see what they contain?
Thanks in advance
2 réponses
Hello,
Given the age of the floppy disks, it is highly unlikely that the data is still present on the medium: the magnetization, as the micro-particles of magnetic oxide that are oriented to create the 1s and 0s of binary codes do not have an infinite lifespan, unlike 33 or 45 RPM audio discs where audio signals are etched into the wax.
You could try to find a disk drive from that time to ensure that the floppy disk is read at the correct speed and that the reading head is compatible.
Otherwise, you could try contacting a company specialized in data recovery.
Ritchi
Given the age of the floppy disks, it is highly unlikely that the data is still present on the medium: the magnetization, as the micro-particles of magnetic oxide that are oriented to create the 1s and 0s of binary codes do not have an infinite lifespan, unlike 33 or 45 RPM audio discs where audio signals are etched into the wax.
You could try to find a disk drive from that time to ensure that the floppy disk is read at the correct speed and that the reading head is compatible.
Otherwise, you could try contacting a company specialized in data recovery.
Ritchi
Thank you very much for your reply.
I’m joining this thread a bit late, taking the time to get an old PC up and running and do some testing.
Contrary to what you say, my floppy disks are still perfectly readable. I’m talking about 3.5-inch floppies, which are over 20 years old and have been stored without any special precautions.
Some are disks provided by software publishers, while others are my own backup disks.
I obviously haven’t tested everything, but I haven’t found any defects.
It was a little trip down memory lane!
This is encouraging, as one might think the same applies to hard drives, except that they also have mechanical components that may have aged poorly.
Best regards.