General Discussion

csziggy

(34,189 posts)

40. I've still got some documents I created with PC Write on an XT clone

Mon Dec 9, 2013, 09:10 PM

Dec 2013

Converted them to WordPerfect format when I upgraded and got WP5.1 on the new machine. I should covert all of them to PDF and Word format to keep them usable, but my current WP X6 can still read most of those old format files. Sometimes I run into formatting problems, but WordPerfect is pretty damn good at preserving the old formatting across versions - unlike Word in its many iterations.

Even the databases I made with PC File can be read by most of the modern database/spreadsheet programs. Heck, I can import them into WordPerfect and create tables from most of them since they are mostly Comma Separated Value files.

I guess I was just lucky with my choices of programs to use once I left Apple products in the dust.

On the other hand, we just tossed a pile of 5.25" floppies my Dad had saved from when he had his Commodore. While I might have been able to locate the hardware and software to covert the data, no one has needed it for over 20 years and no one will miss it now.

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Slowly They Modernize: A Federal Agency That Still Uses Floppy Disks [View all] Are_grits_groceries Dec 2013 OP

You may have to explain to the kids here what a floppy disk is Yavin4 Dec 2013 #1

I'd forgotten that 3.5s were called floppies too... JHB Dec 2013 #4

magnetic tapes pipoman Dec 2013 #6

Yes, but that wasn't called "floppies"... JHB Dec 2013 #9

Actually the 5 and quarter floppy is newer that the 8 inch floppy. RC Dec 2013 #16

True pipoman Dec 2013 #17

I remember 8" floppies Aerows Dec 2013 #34

I remember disks being huge platters (between 12 and 15 inches) sorta like LPs notadmblnd Dec 2013 #39

Way before my time :D Aerows Dec 2013 #41

I remember those platter stacks with the plastic cover. drm604 Dec 2013 #43

300MB CDCs didn't need washing jmowreader Dec 2013 #53

gawd we're getting old. notadmblnd Dec 2013 #56

This is how old I am... jmowreader Dec 2013 #57

I worked with those when I was in the Air Force. NaturalHigh Dec 2013 #31

All of the papers from my Master's Degree program are on 3.5 floppy discs. CTyankee Dec 2013 #10

I recently found an old box of 3.5s. Bought a reader with USB bus to transfer them JHB Dec 2013 #14

It wasn't that long ago! I started my Masters in the fall of 1998 and finished in the spring CTyankee Dec 2013 #18

Once writable CDs came around, the 3.5's days were numbered JHB Dec 2013 #20

Ah, Zip drives we hardly knew ye! You were gone so soon! CTyankee Dec 2013 #23

Yes, the 8" ones were bendy, too. tosh Dec 2013 #13

The eight-inchers were so floppy you had to put them in with both hands jmowreader Dec 2013 #52

Might want to explain what a babbage engine is and how to work one, instead Scootaloo Dec 2013 #5

Oh. Wow. GladRagDahl Dec 2013 #2

Meh, that's not a floppy disk. Rex Dec 2013 #3

Who had the magnetic pipoman Dec 2013 #7

YES! Rex Dec 2013 #8

Hey, watch that! I was driving a truck for FoMoCo when I saw my first UNIX mini with Egalitarian Thug Dec 2013 #11

There were programs for my Apple ][ that called for tapes csziggy Dec 2013 #37

I actually worked on one of these in 1973. Le Taz Hot Dec 2013 #49

I still have a USB floppy drive and a Zip drive Xithras Dec 2013 #12

If you don't have hard copies of your stuff you are SOL... CTyankee Dec 2013 #15

I have hard copies of my stuff. Still lots of people with floppy libraries though. Xithras Dec 2013 #19

Oh, yes, of course...for you I can see it...I was just thinking about my stuff... CTyankee Dec 2013 #22

It's not the files that are tough, it's the software JHB Dec 2013 #24

Yeah, I kinda figured that...it's OK, tho...I got over it... CTyankee Dec 2013 #25

I've still got some documents I created with PC Write on an XT clone csziggy Dec 2013 #40

I bet they Niceguy1 Dec 2013 #21

You should see how antiquated some of the equipment we still use in the FAA is. nt eqfan592 Dec 2013 #26

Do you still use punch cards? Art_from_Ark Dec 2013 #28

LOL! Thankfully, no. :) eqfan592 Dec 2013 #30

I wonder if some of the "high-tech" computer stuff in this video looks familiar? Art_from_Ark Dec 2013 #32

The VORs that establish airways in the National Aerospace System are actually WWII technology Major Nikon Dec 2013 #54

I thought the main reason for that was because Blue_Tires Dec 2013 #59

GPS technology is not required for IFR flight Major Nikon Dec 2013 #62

Yep. They are basically letting a lot of them just fail with no intention of replacing or repairing. eqfan592 Dec 2013 #61

Not for the most part Major Nikon Dec 2013 #63

There's at least one VOR in our airspace that i know for a fact defines an airway.. eqfan592 Dec 2013 #65

What area and what VOR? Major Nikon Dec 2013 #68

I'll PM you the info. eqfan592 Dec 2013 #70

You should see how old some of the stuff in the airplanes are Major Nikon Dec 2013 #55

I still use 5 1/4" floppies, as well as 3 1/2" - and ZIP disks too. Archival storage sucks. FMalone Dec 2013 #27

All of my old 3.5" disks have gone bad Art_from_Ark Dec 2013 #29

So did mine. All of the source code for the software MineralMan Dec 2013 #64

A big part of the problem is trying to run government on the cheap. Gormy Cuss Dec 2013 #33

It also would surprise me if the supplier of the 3.5 diskettes wasn't making a killing Blue_Tires Dec 2013 #60

Bathtub sized government has been implemented since at least reagan Cerridwen Dec 2013 #35

I have the Windows 95 Install on 3.5" floppies. lpbk2713 Dec 2013 #36

They should ask the NSA for technical support jsr Dec 2013 #38

Do AOL disks count? AuntFester Dec 2013 #42

I don't know about other parts of the federal government, SheilaT Dec 2013 #44

SABRE still runs on the same systems Recursion Dec 2013 #46

New complex systems always have problems when first implemented Major Nikon Dec 2013 #50

Bingo. It's why I use Slackware (nt) Recursion Dec 2013 #51

The issue was a lot more complicated than that Major Nikon Dec 2013 #48

Laugh away, but this actually makes sense to me. Recursion Dec 2013 #45

As a fed employee Le Taz Hot Dec 2013 #47

3.5 inch diskettes? I don't think I've used them in 20 years badtoworse Dec 2013 #58

Our SNAP and Medicaid app system is DOS based. Puzzledtraveller Dec 2013 #66

I'm a state employee. I do most of my work on paper. yewberry Dec 2013 #67

People should keep this in mind when they think about the NSA Silent3 Dec 2013 #69

I remember going to a government office in the mid 80s treestar Dec 2013 #71