[Ti] [OT] Floppy problem

[cheshirekat]

On Mon, May 24, 2004, the following words from Richard Meyeroff
rem at meyeroff-c-c.com, emerged from a plethora of SPAM ...

>Can a floppy drive be out of register?  If so how can I tell and/or correct?

Floppy diskettes are the least reliable backup method for repeated
rewrites and long-term storage.

<http://www.scitrav.com/labtips/flopdisk.htm>
<http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:w0f76yI4qugJ:www.npowerseattle.org/
tools/digital%2Bmedia%2Blife%2Bexpect
ancy%2Band%2Bcare.pdf+How+long+can+data+be+stored+on+floppy+disks%3F&hl=en>

<http://www.howstuffworks.com/floppy-disk-drive2.htm>

Because floppy diskette access was extremely slow and data integrity
unreliable, I was very happy when the Zip drives came out. After buying a
Syquest drive, I can remember spending several weeks just transferring
data from my floppy diskettes. When the external CD burners became
affordable, I transferred data to CD for storage.

I haven't used floppy media for any of my personal data since about 1995.
However, I've been instructed to use the media on various jobs. My
husband was flabbergasted by Apple's decision to ship new models sans
floppy drives. As a musician, many organs in use today, including the
newest models still use floppy diskettes as a major feature. A computer
isn't required, but the diskettes can be used from model to model and
with varying brands to store and change personalized settings. It has
only been in the last couple of years that he has suggested to customers
and his music students that they store backups of their data to their
computers.

I know many people (including those who are supposed to be a company's
computer expert) who still teach use of floppy diskettes as a reliable
storage media. When the data suddenly is inaccessible, the user is blamed
for improper copying. It's really difficult sometimes to teach unskilled
computer users that switching to a different format will solve the
problem of lost data they've encountered when they were convinced otherwise.

It's possible, that by repeatedly trying the diskette in different
computers, you may get lucky and find one that sees the data, but a good
outcome is improbable - especially if they are very old. I've also heard
that toggling the lock tab might help, though I've never witnessed it.
Commercial diskettes use a different duplication process and usually last
longer, but recorded ones are affected by storage conditions, dust,
handling, magnetic interference, etc, at a quicker rate of deterioration
without warning. Some data recovery companies claim they can recover the
data from unreadable diskettes, so that is an option if the data is
valuable and the cost of recovery services isn't prohibitive.

cheshirekat
-- 
Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature,
music - the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures,
beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself. 
- Henry Miller (1891 - 1980) 

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