My Mac Q & A Question: I have a bunch of old Mac floppy disks I need to get the files off to save them on a new Mac. What’s the best way to do that? L.C., Missoula
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There are a few things going on: the disks themselves and the format the files will be in. You need to be able to read the disks and then also possibly translate the files that are on them into newer formats.
First, try and find an old Mac with a floppy drive to use, because if you use a Windows PC with a floppy drive, you’ll need MacDrive or some other similar software to enable the PC to read Mac disks. (Macs have always been able to read PC disks, but not the other way around.) You can get a free demo of MacDrive from Mediafour.
All Macs with floppy drives (except a very old Mac) will read disks in both 800K and 1.4 meg disks, and you may have a mix of both. Free pdf reader for mac. Look on your disks: the 1.4 meg floppies will have “HD” printed near the metal slide.
Then you need to be able to go from that older Mac – which will have a SCSI disk drive port – to a USB drive to get the files to a newer Windows PC or Mac. One way is to use a “Zip” drive, which have been around in years. They came in both SCSI and USB models that used the same disk size, so that’s a way to use external drives to get the files to a newer, USB Mac. External disk reader for mac. But once again, you’ve got to find that hardware.
The other way to transfer files is by networking the two Macs via Ethernet the old Mac with the floppy drive and a newer one in order to transfer the files. What is the best free pdf reader for mac. But you may run into trouble configuring a link between two Macs of significantly different age.
Maybe the easiest way is to buy a new external USB floppy drive. There is one on the market right now that is advertised as being able to handle Mac disks in both 800K and 1.4 meg sizes, and it’s USB, so you can plug it right into a newer Mac: Floppy Disk Drive – Best Buy.
Second, when you’re able to read the files on the disks, you will need the program to open the files, or something like MacLinkPLus to translate the files into a newer format. Old word processing formats like Clarisworks and MacWrite can’t be opened by Word, etc., but can be opened with some newer programs or can be translated. Pages will open Appleworks word processing files, but not Clarisworks files. Windows Microsoft Word can open Mac Word files. Excel files are mostly portable, too.
And is it “disk” or “disc”? I don’t know; I think the spelling and meaning is mostly interchangeable. But Apple says that “They’re pronounced the same, but, technically speaking, there is a distinct difference between a disc and a disk.”Apple.com: What’s the difference between a “disc” and a “disk?” And Wikipedia outlines the different Spellings of disc. And then there’s the Oxford English Dictionary, which says (and this is just part of the extensive definition(s):
DRIVE - 3.5' USB External floppy disk reader, Reads 3.5' Floppy Disks. ESynic 3.5' USB Floppy Drive 1.44 MB FDD Portable External Floppy Disk Drive USB Floppy Drive Reader Plug and Play for PC Windows 10 8 7 Windows 98 2000 Windows XP Vista Mac - White. Gift Certificates/Cards International Hot New Releases Best Sellers Today's Deals Sell Your Stuff. The Macintosh External Disk Drive is the original of a series of external 3 1 ⁄ 2-inch floppy disk drives manufactured and sold by Apple Computer exclusively for the Macintosh series of computers introduced in January 1984.
disc, disk
Floppy Disk Reader Usb
[ad. L. disc-us, dish, disc: cf. F. disque, (1556).
The earlier and better spelling is disk, but disc is now the more usual form in British English, except in sense 2?g, where disk is commoner as a result of US influence.]
Usb Floppy Disk Drive For Mac
Computing. A rotatable disc used to store data in digitally coded form, e.g. in a magnetic coating or optically.
Additions 1993
Add: [8.] [f.]8.f disc emulator Computing, a program that enables part of a memory to be used as if it were a disc.
1982 Interface Age Nov. 102/1 With the Semidisk *disk emulator, Semidisk Systems?incorporates the 64K-bit memory chip into a half-Mbyte memory board that is configured to look like a disk drive.
disc file Computing, a file consisting of or stored on a disc or discs.
1961 Instruments & Control Syst. XXXIV. 2063/1 *Disc files are becoming increasingly popular for data storage where access to large amounts of data is required in milliseconds.
1984 Which Micro? Dec. 15 (Advt.), By creating special disc files?you can link?spreadsheets together.
Active7 years, 11 months ago
For fun, I'm trying to use an Apple PowerBook 5300c (Mac OS 7.5.2) to do some programming. I've found the software I want to use (thanks to some answers on SO) but I'm unfamiliar with these formats (I've always been a PC guy). I've searched for things like 'Windows Mac write floppy', but I only really see pages about reading Mac format on PC (not exactly what I need).
My first thought is to buy a USB floppy disk drive and some floppies -- is this what I need to buy? I have no idea what I'm doing really. Did PCs and Macs use the same floppies? Do I need write in Mac format? Should I use maybe dd or something like that to write .bin files? Maybe if the Mac can read PC format? I also see some .sit (Stuffit) files; will the Mac recognise these? How do I use a .hqx file? Some advice would be very handy.
Windows cannot write to a Mac formatted floppy disk (without help), but Mac can read a Windows formatted floppy disk if it's formatted in FAT and not NTFS. While Macs and PCs use the size floppy disks, the file system format is different. So what you can do is download the files using your PC and put them onto a FAT16 floppy disk. The Mac should be able to read the disk and you can copy them off from there.
Another option might be if you can find an Ethernet internal expansion card for the 5300c (if it doesn't already have one) and you could attach it to a network and grab the files off a shared drive.