Another thing to watch for is fading of earlier printed work...... I got my 1st computer & printer about 1990. I typed frantically for days and weeks, transcribing my notes into the new miracle medium. When a bunch of notes had been typed in, I printed them, filed them, and burned the handwritten ones. Thank goodness, my fingers ran out of steam before I'd made my way thru more than a quarter of my collection. A few weeks ago I needed to look up an obscure reference that I remembered typing into that early computer. When I looked at the computer generated print, I could barely read it. It had been printed on a dot matrix and the original black ink was faded to a pale, pale blue. The print had been in a dark, dry file cabinet. Typical of of early dot matrix ribbons? Thank goodness I'd had the good sense to heed the warning, back it up, back it up, back it up. I still have those backed up floppies and the info on them is still intact. Don't know if that's typical or just good luck. With each new computer I've gotten since then, I've had a 3.5" floppy drive installed. Amazing how many computer shops think its a waste of time. just a thought annie