Software preservation......

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 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 ian_primus(a)yahoo.com On Monday, July 7, 2003, at 12:08 AM, peter tremewen wrote: