You don't say whether your problem is (a) not having a suitable disc drive; (b) having a disc drive but being unable to read the data; or (c) being able to address disc but not having the right software to read the files. If (a), then you have to get hold of a computer with a suitable old-style drive (remember that if you buy or borrow an old drive your present computer may not have the right connections to fit it). If (b), the data is unreadable and you learn the lesson that you need to have a programme of backing up important files. If (c), you should be able to restore the data to a modern file format though it may be more complicated than it's worth restoring all the formatting. There are specialist firms that will do it for you, for a fee. -- Christopher Pipe BA DipLib MCLIP researching and indexing Norfolk history cp@wmk.demon.co.uk (and see www.cromerdictionary.co.uk) -----Original Message----- From: norfolk-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:norfolk-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of David Scott Sent: 05 January 2012 15:59 To: norfolk@rootsweb.com Subject: [NFK] Old Computer Disks Hi All, I hope this is not too off topic, but some of the information is on Norfolk. I have taken the opportunity of holidays and bad weather to do some genealogical spring-cleaning. I have discovered a host of old disks, 5.25 inch and 3.5, which are between ten and thirty years old. Several computers on, I find I cannot access these pearls of family history, and wonder whether anyone knows of ways of retrieving them. I think they are probably in Wordstar (God bless it!) Any suggestions much appreciated, even if, sadly, that is to bin the lot~! David Scott. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NORFOLK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message