[Coco] Advice on copying old floppies

[Robert Gault]

Carey Eugene wrote:

> Robert;
> 
> 
>>You haven't said what OS is running on your PC and that is important. 
>>Most of the PC programs that can read Coco Disk Basic or OS-9 disks need 
>>to run in DOS so can't be used with WinNT or WinXP systems.
>>
>>If you are using WinXP, you have two choices that make sense. Make a DOS 
> 
> 
> I am running in XP.
> 
> I didn't know the disk imaging programs wouldn't work right.
> 
> The last time I accessed a CoCo or OS9 floppy was.... Oh.... Probably around 1998 or so.  I would have been using DOS or had just switched to Win98.
> 
> So I just tried what worked before.  It didn't even occur to me that XP might be the problem.
> 
WinXP or other NT system will not permit direct access of hardware. 
That's why most of the programs written to read Coco or OS-9 disks fail. 
It is not the format but the inability to talk directly to the floppy drive.

> 
> 
>>boot disk which WinXP can do and then use a program that reads a Coco 
>>disk. Obtain OmniFlop
>>http://www.shlock.co.uk/Utils/OmniFlop/OmniFlop.htm
>>which runs under WinXP, Win2000, and WinNT.
> 
> 
> Booting to DOS would be difficult....
> 
> The hard drive is NTFS, so I wouldn't be able to save the image.  I would rather avoid backing up the disk, reformating it and installing DOS or Win98 to do this.  I could it, but I'd rather avoid it...
> 
  Should not be a problem. WinXP will create a bootable floppy that 
stops at DOS. Since the WinXP floppies hold more data than most Coco 
floppies, you could read the Coco disk to a RAM disk, and save the image 
back to a blank PC floppy.
  Once the image is on the floppy, boot into your normal WinXP which can 
read the FAT formatted floppy.

> I'm giving the OmniFlop a try.  It needs a reg code to work on CoCo disks, and the program isn't wanting to activate with the code that was sent to me.  I've got an email out to the author, so hopefully I will hear something soon.
> 
It took me about a week to get a registration code. However, the author 
once contacted is very responsive and will help you with any problems 
regarding OmniFlop. Or you could post any problems here and those of us 
that have used the program might be able to provide help.

 ><snip>