8 Jun
2005
8 Jun
'05
11:28 a.m.
> ... but I dont have the foggiest idea
>whether the data is "decodeable". The best way to save the data, is to
get a
>copy of the program which wrote the data in the
first place. I have the
>funny feeling that the data is written in _huge_ blocks.
>
Two things needed, a tape drive and something to
interpret
the data. Many times, important information about the
data is external to the recorded data on the tape.
Like pdf or zip files, I suspect that some pieces may
be missing to recover the information. I doubt that
the major issue is the obsolete computer.
I quite agree, in a broad sense. I'm presently doing some digging in files
coming from an 8" floppy originating from a CT Scanner. The data is
perfectly readable, but part of the data is compressed, and no details on
decompression are available. And the manufacturer cant/wont assist.
Anyway, the first thing to do is to copy things to a modern media; data
manipulation can be worried about later.
So, let's try to read a tape...
Nico