Re: help with opening up floppies in windows xp

[Sharon F]

On Tue, 8 Apr 2003 16:22:48 -0700, "Bill Sharpe"
> wrote:

>
>"Gord Dibben" > wrote in message
...
>> kal
>>
>> First: NEVER try to open/save files from/to a floppy. Transfer(copy)
>them to
>> Hard Drive then open.
>>
>
>I realize it's faster to open/save files using a hard disk instead of a
>floppy. But why the NEVER admonition?
>
>Bill Sharpe
>


I think they said "never" because opening, editing and saving all from
floppy can greatly increase the chances of data corruption. In most
cases, you don't find out there's a problem until it's too late to
backtrack. The new work or even the entire file is trashed.

By working from file copies on the hard drive - where you can check and
double check that the results are exactly what you want, you can save a
final time on the hard drive and then transfer the file to floppy. This
method increases the chances of keeping your data safe.

Sharon F
MS MVP [Shell/User]

[Sharon F]

On Tue, 8 Apr 2003 16:22:48 -0700, "Bill Sharpe"
> wrote:

>
>"Gord Dibben" > wrote in message
...
>> kal
>>
>> First: NEVER try to open/save files from/to a floppy. Transfer(copy)
>them to
>> Hard Drive then open.
>>
>
>I realize it's faster to open/save files using a hard disk instead of a
>floppy. But why the NEVER admonition?
>
>Bill Sharpe
>


I think they said "never" because opening, editing and saving all from
floppy can greatly increase the chances of data corruption. In most
cases, you don't find out there's a problem until it's too late to
backtrack. The new work or even the entire file is trashed.

By working from file copies on the hard drive - where you can check and
double check that the results are exactly what you want, you can save a
final time on the hard drive and then transfer the file to floppy. This
method increases the chances of keeping your data safe.

Sharon F
MS MVP [Shell/User]

[Ken Blake]

In , Sharon F wrote:

> On Wed, 9 Apr 2003 15:19:56 -0700, "Ken Blake"
> > wrote:
>
>> "Sharon F" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>> On Tue, 8 Apr 2003 16:22:48 -0700, "Bill Sharpe"
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Gord Dibben" > wrote in message
>>>> ...
>>>>> kal
>>>>>
>>>>> First: NEVER try to open/save files from/to a floppy.
>>>>> Transfer(copy) them to Hard Drive then open.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I realize it's faster to open/save files using a hard disk
>> instead of a
>>>> floppy. But why the NEVER admonition?
>>>>
>>>> Bill Sharpe
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I think they said "never" because opening, editing and saving
>> all from
>>> floppy can greatly increase the chances of data corruption.
>>
>>
>> That's true with respect to saving files on a floppy. It's
>> certainly not true with respect to opening them from floppy.
>> Advice not to save important files on diskettes is good
advice.
>> Advice never to open files from a diskette is just silly, in
my
>> view, and is poor advice.
>>
>> There's no practical difference between opening a file on a
>> floppy, editing it, then saving it to a hard drive on the one
>> hand, and copying it from a floppy to the hard drive, then
>> opening it, editing it, and saving it back to the hard drive
on
>> the other hand--except that the first method saves a step and
is
>> therefore slightly faster.
>
> I have to agree with you about not liking the word "never" but
can't
> dispute that situations exist where opening, editing and
resaving a
> file directly from a floppy could end in less than desirable
results.


Yes, I agree; I wasn't disagreeing with that point. I was
disagreeing with the OP's point that files should never be opened
from a floppy, but should first be copied to a hard drive. Any
danger has to do with *saving* to a floppy, not in opening from
it.

--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup

[Ken Blake]

In , Sharon F wrote:

> On Wed, 9 Apr 2003 15:19:56 -0700, "Ken Blake"
> > wrote:
>
>> "Sharon F" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>> On Tue, 8 Apr 2003 16:22:48 -0700, "Bill Sharpe"
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Gord Dibben" > wrote in message
>>>> ...
>>>>> kal
>>>>>
>>>>> First: NEVER try to open/save files from/to a floppy.
>>>>> Transfer(copy) them to Hard Drive then open.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I realize it's faster to open/save files using a hard disk
>> instead of a
>>>> floppy. But why the NEVER admonition?
>>>>
>>>> Bill Sharpe
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I think they said "never" because opening, editing and saving
>> all from
>>> floppy can greatly increase the chances of data corruption.
>>
>>
>> That's true with respect to saving files on a floppy. It's
>> certainly not true with respect to opening them from floppy.
>> Advice not to save important files on diskettes is good
advice.
>> Advice never to open files from a diskette is just silly, in
my
>> view, and is poor advice.
>>
>> There's no practical difference between opening a file on a
>> floppy, editing it, then saving it to a hard drive on the one
>> hand, and copying it from a floppy to the hard drive, then
>> opening it, editing it, and saving it back to the hard drive
on
>> the other hand--except that the first method saves a step and
is
>> therefore slightly faster.
>
> I have to agree with you about not liking the word "never" but
can't
> dispute that situations exist where opening, editing and
resaving a
> file directly from a floppy could end in less than desirable
results.


Yes, I agree; I wasn't disagreeing with that point. I was
disagreeing with the OP's point that files should never be opened
from a floppy, but should first be copied to a hard drive. Any
danger has to do with *saving* to a floppy, not in opening from
it.

--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup