Subject: Software preservation......

From: peter tremewen <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon Jul 7 20:05:11 2003

Hi all,

        I'm fairly new to computer collection as a hobby. One thing that has
recently become an issue is "software preservation".  I have just inhereted
a bucket load of C64 and C128 origainal software. I'm wondering how best to
preserve this ciollection in a workable state?? I know there are sites out
there in web land that have copies of software for the commodore archived,
but how do I place these copies to a disk that a commodore 64/128 could
read?? Also what is the best way to store my origainal disks so they might
be usable in years to come??

                Hope to hear from you all soon

                        Peter T.

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From: Ian Primus <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon Jul 7 20:09:44 2003

There is software out there called Star Commander. ( The Star Commander 
homepage is http://sta.c64.org/sc.html , although it is currently down) 
  It runs in DOS on PC hardware, although it runs best on older PC's 
(486 and earlier Pentiums). You have to build a fairly simple adapter 
cable, and that allows you to connect a Commodore 1541 or compatible 
drive to the PC's parallel port. Once you have it all set up, it is a 
simple matter to copy either individual files or make disk images. 
Also, you can go the other way, making real disks from the images. It 
is kinda slow, the Commodore disk drives were not known for their 
speed, but there is a way to modify the drive to provide a faster, 
parallel interface, instead of the Commodore serial. As for preserving 
the original floppies, keep them in a cool, dry place, preferably 
standing on end as opposed to laying flat so they don't warp, and in 
some sort of covered box to keep dust and moisture out. Keep them away 
from heat, extreme cold, and magnetic fields. 5 1/4 floppies are pretty 
resilient, and can generally take quite a lot of mishandling before 
failing, but it's best not to chance it. Also, be careful of mildew. 
There is a certain type that likes to live on the disk media, and shows 
up as white blotches on the media itself. This generally destroys the 
disk, although I have heard it is possible to take the media out of the 
jacket, carefully clean it, and put it in a fresh jacket and recover 
the data.

Ian Primus
[email-masked]