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I've got a stack of old floppies, some going back the early 90's, some of which have stuff I want to keep. Thinking of getting something like this





They were written with various WP software - old versions of Word Star, Word Perfect, & I think, older versions of Word, running on Windows 3.1, 3.2 & 95.

Am I likely to have problems reading the discs now (Windows Vista, Word 2007)?

You'll be able to read the disks, but may have issues opening some of the files without the appropriate programs to run them. However, with the wonderful machine that is the internet, finding such programs shouldn't be too much hassle.

Just had a thought.

I've still got the old Windows 95 PC. Might it be possible, and less hassle, to convert the Word Perfect/Word Star files to Word files on that, then store the coverted files on a floppy, & transfer those to the Vista PC?

openoffice.org's openoffice should be able to open them. it can read most obscure stuff

Also there are a plethora of other online converters but if you get it on the 95 PC can you not store it other than back on a floppy? Or even mail it to yourself. I can always lend you bits and bobs for IT purposes

It also depends on whether the magnetic data on the floppies has "smeared". What was once a lovely arrangement of magnetic ones and zeros may now be a random mix of ones, zeros and values in between.

Good luck!

(Having been through a similar process a while ago, I can assure you that cheap floppy disks don't last as long as expensive ones, and you'll get a lot that you won't be able to read properly.)

TBH Mart if it's been on there that long without being used do you really need it ?

Some of it has what you might call sentimental value. Transcripts of interviews I carried out in 1995 with Black Country veterans of WW2 in the Far East, done for an oral history project commemorating the 50th. anniversary of VJ day. Some very moving and inspiring stuff in there. I wanted to hand the transcripts, in a usable form, over to the Burma Star Association, for their archives. I doubt that my employers at the time, Sandwell MBC, ever did anything useful with them (I left shortly after that exercise).

Very good sir. If when you do it the files don't look good give me a shout I may be able to repair some corruptions

Quite why they were called floppy I don't know, but IMO it should have been flappy