Greetings,
Amidst all the floppy archiving discussion, here's a slightly different
question:
The weather is warmer now where I live, so it's starting to be a good time
to do messy work outdoors. I have some mouldy floppy diskettes that I'd
like to try to read (mostly 5.25"), plus a good flux reader. What is the
best way to attempt to image these floppies?
My thinking right now is that for each floppy I can attempt this procedure:
- remove the mouldy cookie from the infected disk jacket; discard the latter
- give the cookie the best clean I can (how?) and allow to dry
- place the cookie in a clean disk jacket
- attempt to image
- clean floppy drive heads
Does this seem like a sensible plan? If so, what would be the best way to
clean as much mould off the cookie as I can? Tools that come to mind are
distilled water (tap water here is full of chalk), dish soap,
cyclomethicone, and of course more fearsome solvents. I have kimwipes,
microfibre cloths, and... 200-grit sandpaper, I guess :-)
Thanks for any advice,
--Tom