A friend of mine has an old computer with all of her genealogy in it. I can't get the A drive to work, and one of her grandkids shoved a DVD into the 5.25 floppy drive. We don't have any 5.25 floppies anyway. It has a serial and a parallel port that should work.
Is there an easy way to get the data out to put on another computer? She has 30,000 names...we don't really want to type them all again.
Thanks, Rain
Posted by vwiggin (Member # 926) on :
Can you set up a dial up internet access and email the relevant files to another computer? Yahoo accounts now allow up to 100mb of information. If you need more space, I can lend you my gmail account.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
You're not real clear, here, Rain.
What is keeping her from getting the data off? I mean, the A: drive doesn't work, and obviously now the 5.25 drive doesn't work, but what is preventing her from getting the information off the hard disk? (C: drive probably)??
Or is this one that is so old it BOOTS from the 5.25?
Farmgirl
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
Oh -- I see.
She can access the data - but not transfer it out. I should have read more carefully.
Farmgirl
Posted by Dead_Horse (Member # 3027) on :
You guys are quick!
It has no modem, either. We can afford to spend a little money to fix this problem, maybe $50 or so. I just don't know what to do.
Thanks, Rain
Posted by vwiggin (Member # 926) on :
Another possibility is using an external floppy drive. But if your computer is really old, it might not have "plug and play" support. What operating system is it running on? Windows 3.0?
Posted by Dead_Horse (Member # 3027) on :
Nope. No plug and play, no windows. It's really old.
Thanks, Rain
Posted by vwiggin (Member # 926) on :
I'll bet one of your friends have an old 28k modem lying around somewhere...
The only other thing I can think of is to remove the hard drive and install it into a newer computer. Don't worry, I'm sure someone will figure out something for you. Posted by Wonder Dog (Member # 5691) on :
The most hassle free way of doing this is to take out the hard disk and slap it in another machine. Any reputable tech shop should be able to do that on the cheap... of course, you'll save more by having the drive out already. It's not a hard thing to do.
Why would I say remove the hd over using one of the other ports? Getting your serial or parrellel port to transfer data to another pc will depend on your OS and you configuration of those ports already. That could get sticky.
If youd like, you can email me and I can give you a step-by-step to removing your old hd, or even msn me and I can talk you through it from another machine. (If your setup allows such a solution.)
Let me know.
Woof.
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
A dial-up modem would cost you, $20? Give or take?
A replacement 3.5" floppy will run you 10-15 dollars.
If you're feeling brave, crack open the case and swap the cables from the floppy drives and see if the power cable just came loose.
Otherwise, I'll go with the "swap out the hard drive" notion.
And on a completely unrelated note - the CD/DVD accident was too, too funny.
-Trevor
Posted by Bekenn (Member # 6602) on :
Move the hard drive to another machine, just as these fine folks have suggested. If the machine really is as old as it seems to be, then 1) how much do you want for it, and 2) you're not likely to be able to get any modems or network cards working with it.
Posted by Dead_Horse (Member # 3027) on :
thanks, everyone. I think I'll go and get the thing and bring it home to work on. I have another old computer that's in better shape...only the battery is dead. Maybe between the two I can come up with one that works?
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
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