Sitting here with a 19 year old hard drive

500 and summink meg.

Sorry let me rephrase.

I would like to make an image of the drive.

I actually have a box of drives ranging from 120meg to about 3tb so plenty options to choose from.
 
The_Librarian said:
Did we really had drives that small back then? :D :D :D

I fondly remember the old 20Mb MFM jobbies... :D
Click to expand...

I was the first kid on my block to get 40 mb. And a 386. :D
As for making a image - I think there is a freeware app from Acronis that can handle old drives.
But why make a image? Are you trying to recover the data?
 
I think it is for archiving. Do raw imaging to the file (no compression, no space saving options), you will be able to open in any virtual disk software. If disk has multiple partitions, you have to verify if all drive letters can be mounted.

+1 to Acronis (on Hiren's boot CD)
 
Compton_effect said:
I was the first kid on my block to get 40 mb. And a 386. :D
As for making a image - I think there is a freeware app from Acronis that can handle old drives.
But why make a image? Are you trying to recover the data?
Click to expand...

Because it has a very old version of cad on it and the 19 odd years of files are still used today.

Newer versions of cad can not open the files and when I export to DXF they end up being thousands of tiny lines instead of a single solid line (it's outlines we use on wirecutters).
 
AstroTurf said:
Because it has a very old version of cad on it and the 19 odd years of files are still used today.

Newer versions of cad can not open the files and when I export to DXF they end up being thousands of tiny lines instead of a single solid line (it's outlines we use on wirecutters).
Click to expand...

Eish. So much for backwards compatibility. Hope you get it sorted out.
 
not sure im understanding the question but anyways why not plug the drive in via IDE, get the data off then throw that drive far away?
 
Charm said:
not sure im understanding the question but anyways why not plug the drive in via IDE, get the data off then throw that drive far away?
Click to expand...

Old version of cad comes with it's own specialised hardware and dongles.
Digitiser tablet as an example. Can't run cad without it.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kurta-XLP...utoCAD-Overlay-12X12-w-Pen-Puck-/300880717810 Type thing.

Fun times :)

Basically you can't just plug any old Serial/LPT card into the machine and expect the old hardware to work on it, believe me I have tried.

It comes out of an old machine I managed to upgrade to a 486 years back (can't go anywhere near pentium, it simply does not work, to fast i think).
 
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So if I understand it correctly - you really just need the old CAD files, but you can't open them in the newest version?
What about middle ground, a newer version of Cad that runs of newer hardware - say 10 years old, but can still open the files correctly?
That old digitizer and hardware dependency is a scary point of failure to have. :wtf:
Have you contacted the company and asked their advice?
 
Compton_effect said:
So if I understand it correctly - you really just need the old CAD files, but you can't open them in the newest version?
What about middle ground, a newer version of Cad that runs of newer hardware - say 10 years old, but can still open the files correctly?
That old digitizer and hardware dependency is a scary point of failure to have. :wtf:
Have you contacted the company and asked their advice?
Click to expand...

yep, I hate the whole system.
Have gone through all this countless times.

I have exported the lot to dxf and backed up

I have tried many versions of cad without success.

My solution for them is to just import the old dxf, group it and then redraw it as needed but due to several stuck in their ways (there are seriously a few people here that would no longer be able to use a computer when this thing eventually burns) I have to get it working every now and then.

I have one last 486 machine besides this one and basically I intend to just turn that into the last round for this insanity.

If this machine breaks they can use the last one, if that one breaks they can go to hell. If the digitizer breaks or anything else breaks, well not my problem.
 
It is scary how many times I've heard of this type of scenario before.:cry:
Once had a Unix machine in the server room. Sole task - to extract a 1 mb file off a magtape sent to us every month.
Why? The bank in question didn't want to ftp it to me, as they would then have to get rid of their magtape drive, and someone in senior management believed it was the most reliable method of data storage. :wtf:
I'm so glad I'm out of finance and retail.
 
Take it to a Tech exhibition, wasn't it Drive of the Year or something?
 
AstroTurf said:
It comes out of an old machine I managed to upgrade to a 486 years back (can't go anywhere near pentium, it simply does not work, to fast i think).
Click to expand...
Did you try to disable CPU/MB cache? It worked for me up to PII.

You also need to establish connection between this machine and modern world. Do you still use floppies? I suggest laplink software over serial or parallel port. Some Windows software can establish connection over Laplink protocol. I think I used Total Commander.
 
sajunky said:
Did you try to disable CPU/MB cache? It worked for me up to PII.

You also need to establish connection between this machine and modern world. Do you still use floppies? I suggest laplink software over serial or parallel port. Some Windows software can establish connection over Laplink protocol. I think I used Total Commander.
Click to expand...

Machine is networked (using a windows 98vm to save files to and from).
And yes, tried that.
 
Try these guys. They specialise in new PC hardware MB's with interface and drivers to old ISA slots . I recovered and gave new life to a old "junk" industrial piece of test equipment with one of their MB's which required ISA slots for propriety hardware and drivers.

http://www.industrialpc.co.za/about-us

I may still have old ISA harddrive Interface card in my scrap if required. Will check let me know.
 
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