Are floppys worth keeping

[vrxguy]

Throwing it out there.
Are people still keeping their floppy disks? I have around 1000 which includes almost every magazine cover disk. They smell musty and I dont think I would use them again as everything is either Gotek or WHDloader but the labels (esp Amiga Format & Power) are a nostalgic reminder of when I first played the game.

What does everyone else do? keep them or chuck them?

[Jope]

Make images of the ones not in tosec, then chuck or sell :-) if they smell bad, they will probably be struck with mould, then they are unsellable.

[dlfrsilver]

You need to clean them before dumping them.

[solarmon]

They will be of use and value to somebody.

Don't throw them away. Sell or donate them to somebody that would appreciate them.

A lot of them will be recoverable/restorable with a good clean.

[chip]

Agree with solarmon

Give them to someone with the will to preserve them for example

[kremiso]

i have a big trunk of floppies in my hometown waiting for my return;
last time i checked, were still functioning well

i would like to make a little order also in many old magazines i still have,
never succeded until now

[coldacid]

How do you clean a moldy floppy, anyway?

[jotd]

floppies seem to last longer than floppy drives

[Nobby_UK]

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[klx300r]

I use and keep all of mine and slowly trying to make ADF’s
of them all to back them up too!

I love my Amiga floppies to

[vrxguy]

Thanks Guys!!! no I will clean what I want to keep and donate the rest to my local Amiga group

[DDNI]

I get a nostalgia kick from reading my old hand written floppy labels. Sometimes, when sorting through them I vividly remember the moment of writing them, memories that I haven’t recalled for 35 years!

[phx]

I keep all the old disks for nostalgia reasons as well.
And also for new projects. How else would you test new games on your real hardware? I never saw a need for Gotek and I certainly wouldn't want to equip all my Amigas with it.

Working, error-free, DD floppy disks are worth a fortune. Dumping them is a crime! Whenever there is a physical game release these disks are despairingly searched for!

[Marce]

Floppies are worth keeping them, I guarantee they can last centuries if you keep them away from humidity and dust

Despite I play most of Amiga games from hardisk
I still use real floppies on my A1200 sometimes just to play the best one-disk games as: Turrican 2, Turrican 3, BCkid,Troddlers,Arcade pool,Nicky boom,chessmaster 2000,lethal weapon,War zone, Switchblade 2 etc
The sensation of playing an Amiga game from a real floppy is fantastic

TO conserve them away from humidity and dust you must keep them in a sealed box and open such box only when the floppies will be used

I keep them safe in a plastic box , of course the lid of such box closes hermetically

[Marce]

Originally Posted by jotd

floppies seem to last longer than floppy drives

well , is very well know that Amstrad 3 inch floppy drives were very buggy,and there is no one that works well today
and some 3.5 PC floppy drives are very buggy as well

but the original Amiga floppy drives Chinon or Mitsumi generally last forever if you treat them carefully with good disks

Never had a problem with the floppy drive of my A1200, is a Mitsumi, I don't remember now which model is but never failed and work perfect until now

[gimbal]

Originally Posted by DDNI

I get a nostalgia kick from reading my old hand written floppy labels. Sometimes, when sorting through them I vividly remember the moment of writing them, memories that I haven’t recalled for 35 years!

Yeah nice. I often have the same with music. When I hear a classic tune I haven't heard in ages it usually takes me back to some moment where it was playing, probably when I was younger than 10.

[Photon]

If it's an answer I have not less than 1500 DSDD disks. In working order, these can fetch 1 USD/EUR/GBP per disk.

If they smell musty, there's a risk of mold, but if stored in cardboard boxes, it could be the box. You can select a few good-looking disks and hold the flap open while turning the disk inside under a good light. Dust can be blown off; never touch the disk inside.

I regularly pluck 10 disks or so from my stash (indoors, like my computers) and do this. I format them or copy disk images to them, and listen. If there's any repeated writes I mercilessly throw them (into a separate box for bad disks "for later").

There hasn't been any "later", because I have so many disks. Maybe there will be a long, dark, floppy-cleaning-time of the soul... someday.

But yes, I would not put a floppy disk in a drive without inspecting it first. Floppy habits die hard.

There is a sticky thread with floppy-cleaning advice; this is sometimes the only way to get rare disks preserved.

[WDeranged]

Keep the ones that really mean something to you and sell/donate the rest.

[Vstech]

I have cases and cases of floppys... I wouldn't get rid of them for any thing....

c64 stuff, 128 stuff, amiga stuff... even some windows stuff... anybody remember windows 95 on a FLOPPY install??? huge pile of disks!

[Waxhead]

If you don't mind, I know a dude that might want those disks. Contact me and I'll pass on the details