i'm still using many of my original Atari floppies on a regular basis. At 90K per disk, the data density is so low, I don't know they just seem to hold up very well. As such, I wouldn't be too concerned about "the first read is your last" type situation with these. I think that's much more of a concern with tape media where the magnetic layer separates from the plastic film. Atari 810 drives would write in "Single Density" or 90K/disk. 1050 drivers could write SD 90K OR Enhanced Density 130K/disk. It depended on the DOS used. AtariDos 2.0 could only do SD, even with a 1050 drive. Atari Dos 2.5 and 3, could do ED with a 1050 Drive. The 1050's are generally regarded as being a bit more robust that the 810 drives, though personally I've had less headaches with my 810 then my 1050s. Also if you have some ED formatted disks, you'll definitely need a 1050 or better( XF551 or Indus GT for example) to read them. But, yes the cable and the software should be all you need to take disk images. I *think*, but I am not certain that you'd need a "Happy" 1050 to be able to take images (or make copies) of disks with write protection schemes. As far as I know there was no "Happy" format, but I could be mistaken on that. I know the Happy 1050 board is fairy popular for doing this type of work and is readily available. --Jason. On 12/13/2015 12:36 PM, John Heritage via vcf-midatlantic wrote:

Dear Hobbyists,

I went to VCF East 2014 and I remember a really good presentation on the best practices for getting data off of old floppies.. things like assuming your first read may be your only successful read, etc..

Can someone point me to a web link or send me the tips for restoring data off of old floppies?

I have a # of old floppies including (I believe) snapshots of an Atari 8bit BBS I used to run with my father. Some floppies are in OK condition, others not.. and I need to know the order of operations for preventing damage to 'future floppies', etc.. Should I be cleaning the drive after every single disk? what's the best way to clean the drive?, etc...

I plan to use a USB or RS232 to SIO type adapter and probably the Atarimax APE software (windows or DOS, tbd) as the 'destination',

Thanks much :)

P.S. Bonus points if someone can tell me if a 1050 is suitable for doing all of this work.. My old floppies are a mixture of 810 format (single density) and 1050 (dual density). I also think some 810 disks were written in happy drive format, but I believe a 1050 will still read them, just not as fast as a happy 810 drive would..

John H

On Dec 13, 2015, at 3:36 PM, John Heritage via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote:

Dear Hobbyists,

I went to VCF East 2014 and I remember a really good presentation on the best practices for getting data off of old floppies.. things like assuming your first read may be your only successful read, etc..

John H

This may be the presentation you saw at VCFE. Lot’s of good info here on disk imaging. Not sure if it’s Atari relevant though. http://www.avitech.com.au/disk-imaging/disk-imaging-vcfe-2014.pdf

On 12/13/2015 3:36 PM, John Heritage via vcf-midatlantic wrote:

Dear Hobbyists,

I went to VCF East 2014 and I remember a really good presentation on the best practices for getting data off of old floppies.. things like assuming your first read may be your only successful read, etc..

Can someone point me to a web link or send me the tips for restoring data off of old floppies?

I have a # of old floppies including (I believe) snapshots of an Atari 8bit BBS I used to run with my father. Some floppies are in OK condition, others not.. and I need to know the order of operations for preventing damage to 'future floppies', etc.. Should I be cleaning the drive after every single disk? what's the best way to clean the drive?, etc...

I plan to use a USB or RS232 to SIO type adapter and probably the Atarimax APE software (windows or DOS, tbd) as the 'destination',

Thanks much :)

P.S. Bonus points if someone can tell me if a 1050 is suitable for doing all of this work.. My old floppies are a mixture of 810 format (single density) and 1050 (dual density). I also think some 810 disks were written in happy drive format, but I believe a 1050 will still read them, just not as fast as a happy 810 drive would..

John H

One thing I really don't like about old floppies is that for certain brands etc of 5.25" floppies (and possibly 8" floppies) the media turns to mush and will get all over the drive heads (and destroy the disk) when attempting to read it. This is particularly prevalent for wabash-branded floppies. You can tell if the floppy is going to be a problem by scratching the ring at the center of the floppy (where there's no actual data) with a fingernail a few times and see if the media starts to come off onto your fingernail. If it does, do NOT try to read the floppy as it will be destroyed! Supposedly (Based on info from Chuck Guzis/sydex, though I've never tried this myself), if you dismantle the floppy by cutting open the vinyl case and removing the "cookie" inside, and put it on a baking sheet and bake it in the oven at 300F(?) for maybe 8 hours, they can be made readable again. You may need to apply some sort of sealant to the outside of the disk after baking. Note: I've yet to see any 3.5" floppies which disintegrate this way, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. Note2: I've seen 5.25" and 3.5" floppies with mold growing on the disk surface which can also somewhat gum up the drive head and causes severe data errors; this can be very carefully removed with an alcohol-soaked q-tip. -- Jonathan Gevaryahu jgevaryahu@gmail.com jgevaryahu@hotmail.com