Any obsolete tech gurus here?

**Captain Save** · 03-06-2021, 05:31 PM

not a tech guru .. but I think it has to be compatible with windows 10 .. and see if it says "no driver required" .. this might mean there is no extra step to install a driver. to make it work ...

howevery I've never used one on Windows 10 .. so if someone who has could chime in .. .their words might be more useful than mine.

**disneysteve** · 03-06-2021, 05:44 PM

Originally posted by Captain Save View Post

not a tech guru .. but I think it has to be compatible with windows 10 .. and see if it says "no driver required" .. this might mean there is no extra step to install a driver. to make it work ...

howevery I've never used one on Windows 10 .. so if someone who has could chime in .. .their words might be more useful than mine.

Actually, I'd be using it on a Mac, though I do have a PC laptop I could use it on as well if one works and the other doesn't.

**disneysteve** · 03-06-2021, 05:46 PM

The listings say plug and play compatibility with Windows 7/8/10 and Mac.

**kork13** · 03-06-2021, 05:56 PM

I'd bet that much of the data will still be accessible. Most of the files back then would have been primarily text, spreadsheet, or database files. MS Word can read all kinds of formats, for example. If your existing software can't interpret the data, it shouldn't be hard to Google the file types and find software that can read it. There's a huge cult following out there for antiquated technology & equipment.

**disneysteve** · 03-06-2021, 06:00 PM

Originally posted by kork13 View Post

I'd bet that much of the data will still be accessible. Most of the files back then would have been primarily text, spreadsheet, or database files. MS Word can read all kinds of formats, for example. If your existing software can't interpret the data, it shouldn't be hard to Google the file types and find software that can read it. There's a huge cult following out there for antiquated technology & equipment.

The big thing I want to access if the photos. I'm not sure if they are all photos that we have hard copies of or if they are photos that we took with early digital cameras. I do seem to recall that when we had film developed, we'd get the prints, the negatives, and a disc, so I may not need them but I'd hate to toss them if they are unique copies.

**disneysteve** · 03-06-2021, 06:00 PM

For $20, I think I'll go ahead and take a chance and buy a drive and see what happens. The worst case scenario is I'll have wasted $20.

**kork13** · 03-06-2021, 08:53 PM

Originally posted by disneysteve View Post

The big thing I want to access if the photos. I'm not sure if they are all photos that we have hard copies of or if they are photos that we took with early digital cameras. I do seem to recall that when we had film developed, we'd get the prints, the negatives, and a disc, so I may not need them but I'd hate to toss them if they are unique copies.

Ah, that's great news. Image file types, compression, and processing (at the consumer level) hasn't really changed much at all over the last 20+ years. JPEG, bitmap, RAW, TIFF, PNG, etc... There's all effectively the same decades later, do you should have no problem recovering those files.

**Captain Save** · 03-07-2021, 07:36 AM

Originally posted by disneysteve View Post

The listings say plug and play compatibility with Windows 7/8/10 and Mac.

so it sounds like it should work ...like you I would take the chance .. if It doesn't work .. I would call my brother . he's more of a tech guy than I am.

**HundredK** · 03-07-2021, 09:02 AM

Sounds like you worked it out, just wanted to add that the subject of your post made me giggle. I read it as though you were looking for a tech guru who themselves was obsolete - like had lost their job from not keeping up with new tech. Which I guess maybe you were since you were asking about floppy disks!

LOLOL, thanks for the laugh.

**bjl584** · 03-07-2021, 03:47 PM

Guessing that you will be able to access them
You may have to install a driver but that's probably it

**moneybags** · 03-07-2021, 04:04 PM

I can't wait to hear your results. I have a few disks of my own that I can't access.

**disneysteve** · 03-07-2021, 04:09 PM

Originally posted by moneybags View Post

I can't wait to hear your results. I have a few disks of my own that I can't access.

I’ll be sure to share my experience.

**rennigade** · 03-08-2021, 08:26 AM

We have usb ones at work. Yes, they are plug and play. Matter of fact, we just threw a bunch of them out. No need for them anymore.

**disneysteve** · 03-08-2021, 08:57 AM

Originally posted by rennigade View Post

We have usb ones at work. Yes, they are plug and play. Matter of fact, we just threw a bunch of them out. No need for them anymore.

You should have sent one to me.

I can't think of any ongoing reason to have one once you've harvested any old data. I'm sure nobody is still using floppies for new storage. But it was worth $20 to me to go through the stack of old discs we have and get a hold of any old files. After that, I'll probably try to sell the drive on Marketplace and get back a few bucks for it.

Any obsolete tech gurus here?