Data on a 3.5 diskette
in [Windows XP]
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From: Billns on 9 Mar 2010 16:49 On 3/5/2010 12:06 PM, Den wrote: > I realize this may be somewhat old school, but I have a problem with > some data on a 3.5 diskette using WinXP. I put some personal data in a > '.xls' file on a 3.5 diskette and update it every now and then. The > other day when I put the disk in to enter some new data, I received the > following error msg: "book1.xls" cannot be accessed. The file may be > read-only, or you may be trying to access a read-only location. Or, the > server the document is stored on may not be responding. My options at > this point are "RETRY" or "CANCEL". > > I check the disk drive with other diskettes to see if it worked with > them, and they opened fine. I copied another *.xls file to the diskette > to see if I could access it, and it worked fine. I had no problem > opening the 2nd xls file on the diskette. I ran error checking on the > disk, and it came up clean. I tried disk-copy with no luck either. Can > anyone help me with this, or advise me where I can get help? > > Thank you! > Dennis Interesting thread, but it sure got off topic quickly. Gord Dibben is right, though, that you shouldn't read or write directly to floppy disks from within Excel. If you can copy the file from the diskette to the hard drive you may be able to access it. As to life of components, I have diskettes from 20 years ago that are still readable. I also have diskettes of more recent vintage that are now unreadable. YMMV. I also have a couple of CD data disks that became unreadable after only a year or two. And I have cassette tapes from 25 years ago that are still playable in my 1979 Ampex tape deck. My 5 1/4-inch floppies are unreadable because they won't fit in my 3.5-inch drive. I used to remove these disks from their folders to show my beginning computer class why they are called floppies. Nowadays they probably wouldn't have any idea what I was talking about. Bill
From: Twayne on 9 Mar 2010 19:52 In news:%23yoCmO2vKHA.404(a)TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl, Gordon <gordonbparker(a)yahoo.com> typed: > "Unknown" <unknown(a)unknown.kom> wrote in message > news:uHDSQewvKHA.6140(a)TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl... >> Not really. Whenever friends, relatives etc. want to give >> others a program or similar, we do it via the floppy. > > > Lat time I saw a PROGRAM that fitted on a floppy there were > 24 of them...... That's the wonder and glory of the windows GUI: 800 Meg for pretty stuff and 200k of program data and it's just one program. But I do have several that would fit on floppy: VB language. -- -- Life is the only real counselor; wisdom unfiltered through personal experience does not become a part of the moral tissue.
From: Twayne on 9 Mar 2010 19:59 In news:Oyzzca5vKHA.1692(a)TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl, Unknown <unknown(a)unknown.kom> typed: > No idea where you get your specs. I have floppies over ten > years old and still working great. > Magnetic media? Disks can retain their data for many years. > Tapes? I have 8 tracks and cassettes > over 25 years old and still working. You're either a liar, have very expensive hi Qual floppies and tapes kept in an environmentally controlled room and they're never accessed (in which case you can't know they're good), or haven't looked at them in over 8 years. Those "specs" are very easy to find on the 'net, are well known (and vary some but not by magnitudes or anything close to what you alleged) if you want to look for them. I'll bet a floppy by floppy complete access test comes up corrupted on most of them. Twayne` > "Twayne" <nobody(a)spamcop.net> wrote in message > news:OIzNkRyvKHA.732(a)TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl... >> Unknown, you may already know, but ... floppies lose their >> magnetic properties over time (thus they become unusable >> or the data corrupts). It starts at about two month point >> depending on the quality and age of the floppy, usually >> being closer to 6 months for el-cheapos and around a year >> for higher quality with good care. Before data corrupts, I >> mean. To prevent that, it's best to copy them to CD/DVD for long >> term storage. It's quick & easy to make a new floppy. >> >> The way to keep the floppy "refreshed" is to copy all the >> data off it to your hard drive and then simply copy all >> the data back to the floppy. In business, we used to do >> that monthly. I'd still do it monthly if I wanted a floppy >> to persist for the long term. But don't let the floppy be >> the only copy of the files; back them up too so you can >> always make another floppy. In the real world, I >> discovered a cache of about 100 floppies, some with some >> interesting files on them, and after over 5 years, still >> managed to get the data off over 55% of them. I was >> astonished! The software I used was a 100-pass program: >> It would try to read the data 100 times and then pick the >> sequence with the same identical data per try, and if it >> was over a certain number, call that the "data". It was >> surprisingly accurate for some of the "iffy" floppies. Now I have them on >> CD-R for long term storage - fun to >> play with sometimes. HTH, >> >> Twayne` >> >> >> n news:ueN8VdvvKHA.3564(a)TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl, >> Unknown <unknown(a)unknown.kom> typed: >>> The manufacturer of my computer updates my BIOS by me >>> downloading the update which is >>> written to a floppy. I then boot with the floppy inserted >>> and my BIOS is updated. >>> Should something happen to my BIOS, I have a copy of it on >>> a floppy. This is why I use a floppy in the 21st century. >>> "Gordon" <gordonbparker(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message >>> news:OKB2gGkvKHA.5008(a)TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl... >>>> >>>> "Twayne" <nobody(a)spamcop.net> wrote in message >>>> news:Oi8QeCkvKHA.732(a)TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl... >>>>> >>>>> But off topic and irrelevant since it has nothing to do >>>>> with the OPs query. >>>> >>>> Not at all. The question is - why would anyone want to >>>> use 1.44 MB floppy discs anyway in the 21st century? >> >> >> >> -- >> -- >> Life is the only real counselor; wisdom unfiltered >> through personal experience does not become a >> part of the moral tissue. -- -- Life is the only real counselor; wisdom unfiltered through personal experience does not become a part of the moral tissue.
From: Twayne on 9 Mar 2010 20:01 In news:e9D2Iy5vKHA.4752(a)TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl, John John - MVP <audetweld(a)nbnet.nb.ca> typed: > Floppies are known to be rather fragile and they can fail > for no apparent reason but Twayne is making up stories > again. Like you I have floppies from the DOS/Windows 95 > era (Chips Challenge, anyone?) and they are still good. Of > course, knowing that they are prone to fail at any given > time, if the floppies contain anything of value they should > be backed up to a more reliable media. Bottom line is yes, > floppies are fragile and they can fail in 15 minutes or in > 15 years, there is no 1 year expiry date on them. Of course not. But if you want to keep a store of floppies working for the long term, those are the usual numbers that were used for the refrech cycles. Your ignorance is only outshone by your complete lack of actual experience with most things you talk about. YOu're an interesting clown if nothing else. Twayne > > John > > Unknown wrote: >> No idea where you get your specs. I have floppies over ten >> years old and still working great. >> Magnetic media? Disks can retain their data for many >> years. Tapes? I have 8 tracks and cassettes >> over 25 years old and still working. >> "Twayne" <nobody(a)spamcop.net> wrote in message >> news:OIzNkRyvKHA.732(a)TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl... >>> Unknown, you may already know, but ... floppies lose >>> their magnetic properties over time (thus they become >>> unusable or the data corrupts). It starts at about two >>> month point depending on the quality and age of the >>> floppy, usually being closer to 6 months for el-cheapos >>> and around a year for higher quality with good care. >>> Before data corrupts, I mean. To prevent that, it's best to copy them >>> to CD/DVD for >>> long term storage. It's quick & easy to make a new floppy. >>> >>> The way to keep the floppy "refreshed" is to copy all the >>> data off it to your hard drive and then simply copy all >>> the data back to the floppy. In business, we used to do >>> that monthly. I'd still do it monthly if I wanted a >>> floppy to persist for the long term. But don't let the >>> floppy be the only copy of the files; back them up too so >>> you can always make another floppy. In the real world, >>> I discovered a cache of about 100 floppies, some with >>> some interesting files on them, and after over 5 years, >>> still managed to get the data off over 55% of them. I >>> was astonished! The software I used was a 100-pass >>> program: It would try to read the data 100 times and then >>> pick the sequence with the same identical data per try, >>> and if it was over a certain number, call that the >>> "data". It was surprisingly accurate for some of the >>> "iffy" floppies. Now I have them on CD-R for long term >>> storage - fun to play with sometimes. HTH, >>> >>> Twayne` >>> >>> >>> n news:ueN8VdvvKHA.3564(a)TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl, >>> Unknown <unknown(a)unknown.kom> typed: >>>> The manufacturer of my computer updates my BIOS by me >>>> downloading the update which is >>>> written to a floppy. I then boot with the floppy inserted >>>> and my BIOS is updated. >>>> Should something happen to my BIOS, I have a copy of it >>>> on a floppy. This is why I use a floppy in the 21st >>>> century. "Gordon" <gordonbparker(a)yahoo.com> wrote in >>>> message news:OKB2gGkvKHA.5008(a)TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl... >>>>> "Twayne" <nobody(a)spamcop.net> wrote in message >>>>> news:Oi8QeCkvKHA.732(a)TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl... >>>>>> But off topic and irrelevant since it has nothing to do >>>>>> with the OPs query. >>>>> Not at all. The question is - why would anyone want to >>>>> use 1.44 MB floppy discs anyway in the 21st century? >>> >>> >>> -- >>> -- >>> Life is the only real counselor; wisdom unfiltered >>> through personal experience does not become a >>> part of the moral tissue. -- -- Life is the only real counselor; wisdom unfiltered through personal experience does not become a part of the moral tissue.
From: Twayne on 9 Mar 2010 20:06
In news:%23aOSuI6vKHA.1692(a)TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl, Gordon <gordonbparker(a)yahoo.com> typed: > "Unknown" <unknown(a)unknown.kom> wrote in message > news:Oyzzca5vKHA.1692(a)TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... >> No idea where you get your specs. I have floppies over ten >> years old and still working great. > > Then you a) don't use them much and b) you have been > EXTREMELY lucky. > > >> Magnetic media? Disks can retain their data for many >> years. Tapes? I have 8 tracks and cassettes >> over 25 years old and still working. > > See above. > > Every time you use a cassette and 8 track a little bit of > the surface is worn away. So you obviously hardly use them > at all. Mmm, it's not actually the surface being "worn" away in properly functioning drives as it is that: It has more to do with magnetic retentivity in the thin oxide layer than anything else and of course care of the disks w/r to heat, cold, stray fields near them, normal flux migration (rounding of square waves) and the like, to put it simply. Twayne` -- -- Life is the only real counselor; wisdom unfiltered through personal experience does not become a part of the moral tissue. |