Firemind

Computer Capers

Working with old computers can be a challenge. As I mentioned previously I decided to use my USB mp3 player to transfer files from an old computer. The files have been sitting on the computer for at least four years.

The computer is a Pentium 2 and doesn’t have a CD-rw drive. It has an LS-120 drive but that format became obsolete years ago. The computer had over 200 mb of music, art, and other files that I wanted to keep. I ended up saving the whole computer in my storage room.

Getting the old computer to run was a bit of a pain. Luckily I had an old serial mouse and a keyboard around. My modern ones wouldn’t work.

Booting into first edition Windows 98 was a blast. Everything looked slightly clunky. The computer clock assured me it had updated to daylight savings… January 1, 1999. Uhuh.

I poked around, checked the files to transfer, and then attached the USB. Windows recognized it but I couldn’t access it.

Luckily I had a Knoppix Linux live CD. I could access the USB through Knoppix and managed to transfer files once I relearned some linux commands. The biggest problem I faced was running out of RAM. The old computer only has 256 megs. That meant rebooting, remounting the USB drive, and copying until another lock up.

Once I returned to my current computer I found many of the files were corrupted. Copying between Windows and Linux, and back again, seemed to be the problem. I really wanted to save the mp3s and videos so a better solution was needed.

I searched online and found a site offering generic USB drivers for Windows 98. This allowed me to directly access the USB drive and I transferred my music and videos without a problem. What a relief!

I have more files to transfer but things should go smoothly. As I review my art and music I will post some of the better items here.