Brown Bread?

[parcher9]

I've recently dug out my A1200 and am in the process of towering it up etc, however on trying to install some of my old favourites, Theme Park, Monkey Island 2, Syndicate, Premier Manager 3 etc, I'm getting numerous disk block/read errors.

I've bought a new disk drive so I don't think it's a dirty disk head, and the games have been stored away from any kind of magnetic interference.

Is there anything I can do save the disks or are they brown bread? Am I forced to have to buy new copies at about £30 each, if I can find them?

Any help would be appreciated from this frustrated geezer

 

[thecellartroll]

3.5" disks do not have a high survival rate over time

If you own the originals I don't see why you shouldn't download some disk images and make backup copies.

 

[fitzsteve]

Could the Disks have got damp in storage? Or subjected to dramatic changes in heat?

If so there could be mould on the surfcae of the Disk, you can open them up and clean the disk with a cotton bud and IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) some people have had success with this method.

My advice is to box them up and keep the original Disks only for sentimental reasons and download ADF's and write them to new floppy's or play games via WHDLoad, for this method you might need to upgrade your A1200 with some Fast Ram but it's still cheaper than replacing all your Disks!

If you go the ADF route you can do the installations in WinUAE and then copy the data over to your Amiga, it's quicker and you wont have to worry about read/write errors or you could even invest in a HxC Floppy Emulator

Could still work out cheaper than replacing you Disks and then you can have an 'almost' authentic experience

 

[supaduper]

I totaly concur with the guys, you own the originals so go the adf route bud,but the method suggested by steve is worth a try

 

[roy_bates]

it all depends where they were kept,even if they wasent around magnetic fields they can still get damaged from humidity or damp.

even the computer can be damaged just sitting doing nothing for a decade,even if it was stored in a safe place.(you can do alot of damage to a computer by not using it)

dont take anything for granted.

 

[fitzsteve]

I forgot to mention that after you put one bad disk in there is can leave gunk on the read/write head and then the next Disk's you try might not work, worse still I had some Disks I got off eBay years ago that must have been in a flood or something because they had sand or something in them that actually came off in my drive and ruined the next Disk's I put in.

Make sure you run a Head cleaner through ASAP!

 

[BluesBrothers]

Yes I also have used the IPA disk cleaning method. Takes a fair bit of time but well worth trying if an expensive disk to replace. Drives are also a bit of a bane and you should certainly make sure there is no dirt on the heads. Either a cleaning disc or open up the drive and clean with IPA.