computer storage

[duffski]

i have a real old lab top and i wanna take some music files off of it. i can't hook it up to the internet and i can't burn cd's with it, i can only use floppy discs. How can i get the music off it cos they won't fit on a floppy disc?

[e404pnf]

Buy yourself a USB Flash drive. EBuyer have a good 1GB drive (I pretty sure they ship to Ireland). It's a generic, but I've just received mine - absolutely cracking for under £40!

- e404pnf

EDIT: If you find eBuyer don't ship to Ireland try Dabs - they definately do! (1GB USB Flash Drives Here...)

[VegasBud]

A free way to do it would be to use a file splitter/joiner program to split each music file into parts that would fit on a floppy, and then use the same program on the other computer to rejoin the parts.

HJSplit should work for you, is freeware and has versions available for a variety of OS's including Windows3 and even DOS.

[Prot]

You may have to connect the two computers together with a serial cable and transfer the files that way, if your laptop is as old as you say it is.

How did you get the music files on there to begin with?

[SLK001]

There is an old DOS program written by PC Magazine called ZCOPY.COM that will transfer programs from machine to machine via a null serial cable. I have the .COM file, but you can probably GOOGLE for it on the internet.

Here's a "usage" file that I wrote up (for me) years ago (NOTE: This file is best viewed using a COURIER font - cut and paste this to a NOTEPAD file and select COURIER as your font):

Using ZCOPY.COM

PURPOSE: Transfers files at high speed, via a serial link, between
machines that do not share a common disk format.

FORMAT: ZCOPY source [target] [/w][/n][/u][/o][/a][/p][/d]

REMARKS: The two machines must be IBM-compatible and must be
connected by a standard "null-modem" cable (SEE BELOW).
ZCOPY is executed, with appropriate parameters, on both
machines; a 30-second (default) connect timeout is provided.

On the sending machine both a SOURCE (filename plus any
needed drive and path) and a TARGET (COM1 or COM2) must
be specified. ZCOPY supports the * and ? DOS filename
"wildcards", but it does not permit renaming files during
transfer. On the receiving machine the SOURCE is COM1 or
COM2, and the TARGET, if specified, must be a directory path.
(Any needed subdirectories must be created on the receiving
machine before using ZCOPY.)

The optional /w and /n switches operate before connection
is established, and so are entered on the ZCOPY command
line of each machine. The /w parameter prolongs the
default connection timeout indefinitely; it can be canceled
with Ctrl-Break. The /n parameter sets the highest bit-per-
second (bps) rate at which ZCOPY will attempt to transfer
data. If used, it must be the same on both machines. The
default is /1 (115 kilobits per second). Other acceptable
values are /2 through /6 (57.6 kbps, 38.4 kbps, 19.2 kbps,
9600 bps, and 4800 bps, respectively). If ZCOPY cannot
maintain error-free transfer at a given transfer rate, it
automatically steps down to the next lower speed.

The other optional parameters may be entered on either
machine's ZCOPY command line. The /u (Update) switch
permits overwriting same-named files on the receiving
machine without operator conformation if the SOURCE file is
more recent. The /o (Overwrite) switch suppresses the
confirmation prompt for all files. By default, when ZCOPY
receives a disk-full signal, before aborting it tries to find a
smaller selected SOURCE file that will fit on the receiving disk.
The /a (Abort on Full) aborts at the first disk-full indication.
The /p (Pause) switch creates a pause before the transfer
operation begins after the connection between machines has
been made, permitting changing a disk. The /d (Date) option
changes the date of a received file to that of the receiving
machine.

CONSTRUCTING A NULL-MODEM CABLE

DB-25 CONNECTOR 1 PIN NO. DB-25 CONNECTOR 2 PIN NO.

2 --->Transmit data ------------\ /------------ Transmit data <--- 2
X
3 <---Receive data <------------/ \------------>Receive data <---- 3

4 ----+ RTS RTS +---- 4
| |
5 ----+ CTS CTS +---- 5
| |
6 ----)----+ DSR DSR +----)---- 6
| | | |
7 ----)----)------------------ GROUND ------------------)----)---- 7
| | | |
8 ----+ CD | | CD +---- 8
| |
20 ---------+ DTR DTR +--------- 20
------------------------------------ NOTES ---------------------------------
+ Indicates wires are connected
) Indicates wires jump (no connection)
X Indicates wires cross (no connection)

END OF TEXT

If I can get the link correct, here is the zip file:
zcopy.zip