
Originally Posted by
Chuck(G)
Magnetic tape, if stored correctly, is quite robust. It's the other stuff (e.g., in the case of QIC drive, capstans and tension bands) that spoils the picture. I've processed 1/2" tapes in excess of 50 years old. Recently, I was hunting for some old bit of software and was surprised pleasantly that both the 8mm and DDS tapes made during the early 90s were perfectly readable. (But I didn't find what I was looking for).
Another trap is backup software. You'd think that tapes made with a Microsoft program called NTBACKUP under Windows NT 4 would be readable by later versions of the program on 2K and XP. Nope. MS apparently didn't believe in backward compatibility when designing backup programs. I finally had to resort to booting NT 4 to get my data. Some third-party software (e.g. Sytos) can be not only platform and OS-specific, but also hardware (i.e. tape drive and interface) specific. So don't toss your old copy of Trantor TMATE...
I should send you my tapes, I couldn't get any of my old backups to restore anything and one of them completely destroyed itself. Sigh. Appear to be mostly Qic tapes and as you mentioned, I have no idea how or what I used to back most of them up. One of them I was sure was iomega but that wouldn't even restore. Eventually gave up.
-- Brian
Working Retro PC's: Apple IIe/II+, Atari 800, Atari 520STFM, Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga 3000, Commodore SX-64, IBM PS/1 2121-B82, Kaypro II, Tandy 1000 SX, TI-99/4A, TRS-80 Model 4 GA
Bookmarks