Contribution

[DarthMuppet]

I have come across some software from the 80s whilst clearing out my father's study, and I'd like to contribute. Everything is diskette-based and for the PC. How do I go about this?

Thanks

DM

[NLS]

So you have floppies?
First of all you need to find a way to make images of them.
Then you need to cross-check those images (hash check) with existing collections TOSEC and others.
Then if anything remains, it is certainly useful.

[mictlantecuhtle]

Just to add a little more to this to hopefully get you started on the right path, there are a few things you will need to preserve the floppy disks.

Hardware

It might seem obvious, but you will need access to the right hardware. Given the time period you're talking about, I'm assuming you're likely to have a mix of 3.5" and 5.25" disks. 3.5" disks are relatively simple, as most external USB floppy drives should work for dumping and preserving the disks.

Unfortunately, for 5.25" disks, this is not quite as simple a process on modern machines. You really have a few options at this stage:

• Use an older machine and software which will run on this
• Purchase a device to allow you to read older floppies using a modern machine*
• Use a commercial service to back up the data for you
• Find a volunteer to help you preserve the disks*

* The Archiveteam wiki has a good overview of the different kinds of hardware, and details of some volunteers who are willing to help out.

Software

For many floppies, WinImage should work fine to create a backup of the disk. There may be some for which it doesn't work, due to copy protection or other issues, in which case you may need to try something else. There's a decent overview of different disk imaging and editing tools at The Good Old Days forums.

In some cases, due to either particularly difficult/obscure copy protection or other issues with the disks and their format, you may need to resort to a low-level capture of the floppy data. This will require the use of specialised hardware and software, such as KryoFlux or Applesauce.


I've really reached the limits of my knowledge here, but hope that's gone some way to helping you get started with these disks.

[DarthMuppet]

I've already made images of them (using dd), and I have some that are not in the current DATs. I think the old PC is still around somewhere too, but all the items of interest are in 3.5" :-)

I pointed an unpopulated romvault at the folder with the images and scanned for missing content - it identified Win 3.1 and Personal Netware, but not WfWg 3.11 (surprised at that).

I have the following

Borland Turbo BASIC v1.1
Novell DOS 7
Netware Lite 1.1
Turbo C++ for Windows 3.1
Professional Draw 1 (with serial - do you want serials? this is unusable without one, and modifies the install disks)

What next?

Thanks

[mictlantecuhtle]

I've already made images of them (using dd), and I have some that are not in the current DATs. I think the old PC is still around somewhere too, but all the items of interest are in 3.5" :-)

I pointed an unpopulated romvault at the folder with the images and scanned for missing content - it identified Win 3.1 and Personal Netware, but not WfWg 3.11 (surprised at that).

I have the following

Borland Turbo BASIC v1.1
Novell DOS 7
Netware Lite 1.1
Turbo C++ for Windows 3.1
Professional Draw 1 (with serial - do you want serials? this is unusable without one, and modifies the install disks)

What next?

Thanks

Hey that's excellent! Will send you a PM about next steps