If only there was a mechanism to persuade companies to allow such hobby use of archaic software. It would be great if there was a standard document, perhaps similar to that OpenVMS license, that would eliminate the guilt from violating someone's copyright. "What's the harm" isn't good enough for me. To me, preservation of the rights of the old software is almost as important as the software itself. But it's not easy. It may be impossible. You can get an old system from a dumpster and if you're lucky you find floppies and the manuals. Take an example from one of my pet projects, the Terak computer. Terak was sold to CalComp, and CalComp was bought (or was always owned) by McDonnell-Douglas. The last anyone saw of the Terak assets was a semi driving from Scottsdale to New Hampshire. This Herculean task now consists of finding someone within MD who has the time and the good will to care, and who's been around long enough to know what the heck I'm asking for. Then I've got to persuade them to give me the right to, oh, copy some fifteen-year-old floppies for someone without a legit copy, or to write an emulator that uses the code and allow others to get a copy. I've long heard that some varieties of dark-side hacking involve Social Engineering that can open a door or shoulder-surf a password, but I doubt it's powerful enough magic to persuade a defense contractor to sign a paper to give you something for nothing. - John Jefferson Computer Museum <http://www.threedee.com/jcm>