3.5" Discs

[ComSoft6128]

I recently purchased ten 3.5" disks which I formatted, using ParaDos, to Romdos D20 (792K) format. Eight verified OK the other two showed errors. With the two dodgy ones I then used DES to format them to D20 as a check, again (as expected) both showed errors.
I then formatted these two to data (178K) format using DES and then ParaDos and both verified  100%.

My question is this, at 178K - are these disks OK to use or should their next destination be the bin?

Cheers,

Peter 

[tjohnson]

Well if they work and you aren't keeping irreplaceable software on them then why not use them while they work.


What is DES?

[Bryce]

Use them as "transfer disks". If there's an error while copying it will let you know.

Bryce.

[Audronic]

@ComSoft6128


The 2 disks that have faults. Erase the disks with a magnet (out of an old hard drive) or Bulk erase the disks.
and then try and re format .
I have recovered stubborn 3" disks this way


Good luck     Ray

[ComSoft6128]

Thanks for the replies.

tjohnson - DES is the Desktop Environment System - a GUI for the CPC and Plus machines. It was released in 1994. Here is the link to the CPCWiki page:
http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Desktop_Environment_System

h
Cheers,

Peter

[Vyper68]

@ComSoft6128


The 2 disks that have faults. Erase the disks with a magnet (out of an old hard drive) or Bulk erase the disks.
and then try and re format .
I have recovered stubborn 3" disks this way


Good luck     Ray

How do you erase disks with a old HDD magnet? - could you explain the process i have never heard of this before and it might come in handy. I binned a load of 3" disks i bought off eBay as i could not get the old corrupted data to format.

[Audronic]

@Vyper68


Hold the magnet flat against the Front and wipe it in circles and then do the back.
Format the disk and see if it formats all the way to the last track.
Keep good disks AWAY from the magnet .
Thats it


Good luck    Ray

[Vyper68]

@Vyper68


Hold the magnet flat against the Front and wipe it in circles and then do the back.
Format the disk and see if it formats all the way to the last track.
Keep good disks AWAY from the magnet .
Thats it


Good luck    Ray

Are we talking about modern 3.5" HDD or older models - I have a couple of 2.5" Notebook drives i would not mind cracking open.

[Audronic]

@Vyper68


Preferably the 3.5" old hard drive.
the smaller drives probably won't have enough Flux to do a good job.


Or if you have a head demagnetiser that would work.


Ray

[Vyper68]

@Vyper68


Preferably the 3.5" old hard drive.
the smaller drives probably won't have enough Flux to do a good job.


Or if you have a head demagnetiser that would work.


Ray

Thanks for this - I think i have an old Maxtor Plus 9 IDE HDD in the Junk pile in the garage i will dig it out.

[tjohnson]

You might find some of the disks don't work fully as they may have some physical surface damage and I'm guessing it won't work if that's the case.  Going to give this a try myself i have some magnets i salvaged from old hdd at work when we destroyed them for disposal.

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk

[Bryce]

Thanks for this - I think i have an old Maxtor Plus 9 IDE HDD in the Junk pile in the garage i will dig it out.

It doesn't need to be a HDD magnet. Any old speaker magnet will do the same and you don't even have to dis-assemble the speaker to do it.

Bryce.

[khaz]

Using a magnet isn't a good idea: you are magnetising the disc  and in turn magnetising the drive head, which can damage it over time. A bulk eraser flip the polarity very quickly, so that the resulting blank disk has a neutral charge overall.

In my experience, bad sectors are most often due to dirt. Formatting the disc several times makes it spin a lot, displacing the dirt thanks to the felt pads in the floppy shell. I've had discs that had been unused for a while returning lots of bad sector after their first format, which simply go away after formatting them a couple more times. Using a bulk eraser didn't help in these cases.

Bulk eraser are less about bad sectors and more about removing the previous format entirely, as it can lead to read errors when changing density (storing 720k on a 1.44M).

[khaz]

I've had my share of trouble using floppies that you can still buy new online, like the Imation with a plastic flap. These were made at the end of the floppy commercial life, and are very cheap: cheap plastic, cheap construction, and I assume the least possible amount of magnetic coating. I wouldn't trust those for storage. Older stock from known brands, even used, are much more likely to hold your data safe.

[GeoffB17]

Clearly, I've been VERY lucky for 20+ years!

I've been using the exact method described above to clear disks, using something like a bar magnet bought from a shop somewhere (Maplin ??) long long ago.   The one I still have is about 2cm by 4 cm by 1 cm thick, and it's fairly powerful.

Pretty much essential when moving disks from one format to another.   Often helpful for disks being used to transfer data between two machines (wipe disk, format and write on one machine, read ONLY on the other machine).

Often, I've had a disk that will not properly format, even after repeated attempts.   Wipe it, then it formats fine, and works perfectly.  If all this still does not work, only then to the bin.

Geoff