Reading mac files in windows

[Peter RL]

I have a pile of floppy disks which were created on an old Mac (I don't
know which one or which version). I have no experience at all with the
world of Apple. When the disks were created, I was told that they were
all just text files with a .doc extension. I'm trying to read them on
a pc running XP and can't get past an error message that the diskx are
not formatted. Does anyone know of a utility which will allow me to
view the contents of these floppies and convertor save as the contents
in Windows .doc or, if I have to, .txt format. Many thanks, Peter

 

[macropod]

Hi Peter,

One way to deal with this is to find someone with a Mac who can either:
.. email the files to you; or
.. copy them onto a Windows-formatted floppy disk.

Alternatively, you could install a utility program like MacInDOS (see
http://www.bbs.motion-bg.com/index.php?file=749) and use that

Cheers

 

[Peter RL]

Thanks M,

This is the kind of utility that I was having trouble finding.
Unfortunately, a I'm really confusedll I am getting are error messages
telling me that the disks were not formatted in Mac. Now I'm really
confused I think I just need to scrounge up someone with a Mac &
see how they read on that machine.

Hi Peter,

One way to deal with this is to find someone with a Mac who can either:
. email the files to you; or
. copy them onto a Windows-formatted floppy disk.

Alternatively, you could install a utility program like MacInDOS (see
http://www.bbs.motion-bg.com/index.php?file=749) and use that

Cheers

--
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]

I have a pile of floppy disks which were created on an old Mac (I don't
know which one or which version). I have no experience at all with the
world of Apple. When the disks were created, I was told that they were
all just text files with a .doc extension. I'm trying to read them on
a pc running XP and can't get past an error message that the diskx are
not formatted. Does anyone know of a utility which will allow me to
view the contents of these floppies and convertor save as the contents
in Windows .doc or, if I have to, .txt format. Many thanks, Peter

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

Hi Peter:

The error message is correct: the disk is NOT formatted in a format that the
PC's drive can read.

Elliott explained that: a PC floppy drive cannot understand the physical
arrangement of the magnetic information on a Mac floppy disk.

It's returning an "Unreadable Disk" error to the software, which is
translating that and displaying it as "Disk is not formatted".

A drive expects always to be able to read the magnetic information on the
disk. It's not until he information gets into the software that we can tell
whether it contains any "data" or not -- it may be all 0's. But the drive
expects always to be able to read it. If it can't read the magnetic tracks
on the disk, it thinks the disk hasn't been formatted.

First, you need to find an old Mac floppy drive able to read those disks:
they have a variable-speed motor able to read the old Mac format.

You should be aware that even if you do get a drive that can read the disks,
you may find that the data on the disk is trash. The disks are so old the
data may not have survived. But we can't tell that until we get a drive
that can read the format.

Cheers

Thanks M,

This is the kind of utility that I was having trouble finding.
Unfortunately, a I'm really confusedll I am getting are error messages
telling me that the disks were not formatted in Mac. Now I'm really
confused I think I just need to scrounge up someone with a Mac &
see how they read on that machine.

Hi Peter,

One way to deal with this is to find someone with a Mac who can either:
. email the files to you; or
. copy them onto a Windows-formatted floppy disk.

Alternatively, you could install a utility program like MacInDOS (see
http://www.bbs.motion-bg.com/index.php?file=749) and use that

Cheers

--
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]

I have a pile of floppy disks which were created on an old Mac (I don't
know which one or which version). I have no experience at all with the
world of Apple. When the disks were created, I was told that they were
all just text files with a .doc extension. I'm trying to read them on
a pc running XP and can't get past an error message that the diskx are
not formatted. Does anyone know of a utility which will allow me to
view the contents of these floppies and convertor save as the contents
in Windows .doc or, if I have to, .txt format. Many thanks, Peter

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Business Analyst, Consultant
Technical Writer.
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[macropod]

Hi John,

PC & Mac 1.44Mb FDDs are mechanically compatible and can read both the Mac
and PC formats - it's just the PC OS that doesn't know what to do with a Mac
disk. With MacInDOS, the PC's disk drive *can* read a 1.44Mb Mac disk. Maybe
the OP's disk is an even older 800Kb job, which MacInDOS can't read. Or
maybe the disk has become corrupt after all this time.

Cheers

--
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]

Hi Peter:

The error message is correct: the disk is NOT formatted in a format that the
PC's drive can read.

Elliott explained that: a PC floppy drive cannot understand the physical
arrangement of the magnetic information on a Mac floppy disk.

It's returning an "Unreadable Disk" error to the software, which is
translating that and displaying it as "Disk is not formatted".

A drive expects always to be able to read the magnetic information on the
disk. It's not until he information gets into the software that we can tell
whether it contains any "data" or not -- it may be all 0's. But the drive
expects always to be able to read it. If it can't read the magnetic tracks
on the disk, it thinks the disk hasn't been formatted.

First, you need to find an old Mac floppy drive able to read those disks:
they have a variable-speed motor able to read the old Mac format.

You should be aware that even if you do get a drive that can read the disks,
you may find that the data on the disk is trash. The disks are so old the
data may not have survived. But we can't tell that until we get a drive
that can read the format.

Cheers

Thanks M,

This is the kind of utility that I was having trouble finding.
Unfortunately, a I'm really confusedll I am getting are error messages
telling me that the disks were not formatted in Mac. Now I'm really
confused I think I just need to scrounge up someone with a Mac &
see how they read on that machine.

Hi Peter,

One way to deal with this is to find someone with a Mac who can either:
. email the files to you; or
. copy them onto a Windows-formatted floppy disk.

Alternatively, you could install a utility program like MacInDOS (see
http://www.bbs.motion-bg.com/index.php?file=749) and use that

Cheers

--
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]


I have a pile of floppy disks which were created on an old Mac (I don't
know which one or which version). I have no experience at all with the
world of Apple. When the disks were created, I was told that they were
all just text files with a .doc extension. I'm trying to read them on
a pc running XP and can't get past an error message that the diskx are
not formatted. Does anyone know of a utility which will allow me to
view the contents of these floppies and convertor save as the contents
in Windows .doc or, if I have to, .txt format. Many thanks, Peter

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Business Analyst, Consultant
Technical Writer.
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[Peter RL]

Thanks for all the input guys. I appreciate it & I am in California.
In summary:
The data is very important to me for personal reasons.
The Mac is old & the data was copied to them ~1 year ago, but I now
see that I have a mix of 800kb, 1.0Mb & 1.44 Mb. I was just figuring
that Mac-In-DOS would account for the difference & read them. I need
to sit down & run all of the disks to see if I can read any of the
newer ones.
Worst case, I was thinking about a data recovery service too.

Happy Holidays to you all,

Peter

Hi John,

PC & Mac 1.44Mb FDDs are mechanically compatible and can read both the Mac
and PC formats - it's just the PC OS that doesn't know what to do with a Mac
disk. With MacInDOS, the PC's disk drive *can* read a 1.44Mb Mac disk. Maybe
the OP's disk is an even older 800Kb job, which MacInDOS can't read. Or
maybe the disk has become corrupt after all this time.

Cheers

--
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]

Hi Peter:

The error message is correct: the disk is NOT formatted in a format that the
PC's drive can read.

Elliott explained that: a PC floppy drive cannot understand the physical
arrangement of the magnetic information on a Mac floppy disk.

It's returning an "Unreadable Disk" error to the software, which is
translating that and displaying it as "Disk is not formatted".

A drive expects always to be able to read the magnetic information on the
disk. It's not until he information gets into the software that we can tell
whether it contains any "data" or not -- it may be all 0's. But the drive
expects always to be able to read it. If it can't read the magnetic tracks
on the disk, it thinks the disk hasn't been formatted.

First, you need to find an old Mac floppy drive able to read those disks:
they have a variable-speed motor able to read the old Mac format.

You should be aware that even if you do get a drive that can read the disks,
you may find that the data on the disk is trash. The disks are so old the
data may not have survived. But we can't tell that until we get a drive
that can read the format.

Cheers

Thanks M,

This is the kind of utility that I was having trouble finding.
Unfortunately, a I'm really confusedll I am getting are error messages
telling me that the disks were not formatted in Mac. Now I'm really
confused I think I just need to scrounge up someone with a Mac &
see how they read on that machine.


macropod wrote:
Hi Peter,

One way to deal with this is to find someone with a Mac who can either:
. email the files to you; or
. copy them onto a Windows-formatted floppy disk.

Alternatively, you could install a utility program like MacInDOS (see
http://www.bbs.motion-bg.com/index.php?file=749) and use that

Cheers

--
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]


I have a pile of floppy disks which were created on an old Mac (I don't
know which one or which version). I have no experience at all with the
world of Apple. When the disks were created, I was told that they were
all just text files with a .doc extension. I'm trying to read them on
a pc running XP and can't get past an error message that the diskx are
not formatted. Does anyone know of a utility which will allow me to
view the contents of these floppies and convertor save as the contents
in Windows .doc or, if I have to, .txt format. Many thanks, Peter

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Business Analyst, Consultant
Technical Writer.
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410