486 Data Copy to USB Drive?

[edro]

We have an old 486 HP Vectra that has a floppy drive and 2 RS232 ports.

What are my options on copying data in Windows 3.1 (or DOS) to s USB drive?

We have 500mb of data and using the floppy drive ~500 times is laborious.
The solutions should not include removing the hard drive.

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[mmntech]

There's really not much you can do with Windows 3.1 since it doesn't support USB. You can't even throw a cheap USB card in there. Does it have an ethernet port? If so, you could use another computer as a server and copy it that way.

 

[lxskllr]

You could do it through the serial port.

 

[drum]

would a serial to usb cable work?

Text

edit: oh yeah forgot about 3.1

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: edro

What are my options on copying data in Windows 3.1 (or DOS) to s USB drive?

We have 500mb of data and using the floppy drive ~500 times is laborious.
The solutions should not include removing the hard drive.

Leave the HD in place and connect it via an IDE cable to the MB of your newer PC.
This is the fastest way of copying data without the possibility of dislodging dust from the internal HD filter.

 

[PottedMeat]

Originally posted by: Blain

Originally posted by: edro

What are my options on copying data in Windows 3.1 (or DOS) to s USB drive?

We have 500mb of data and using the floppy drive ~500 times is laborious.
The solutions should not include removing the hard drive.

Leave the HD in place and connect it via an IDE cable to the MB of your newer PC.
This is the fastest way of copying data without the possibility of dislodging dust from the internal HD filter.

Yeah what's wrong with doing that? Least hassle ( shows up as a drive and most new motherboards have 1 IDE connector ) and it's the fastest way.

 

[JackMDS]

If the HD is IDE, get a $10 IDE to USB converter take the HD out put the converter and plug it elsewhere.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16812189122

 

[Blain]

Moving the old HD may dislodge dust from the HD's internal filter... killing the drive.
With such an old drive it's better to err on the side of caution and leave it in place, when copying data from it.

 

[mmntech]

Originally posted by: lxskllr
You could do it through the serial port.

Serial port is slow as hell though. It's supposedly limited to 230kbps according to Wikipedia. Ethernet is still the best bet, even if it's just BASE 10.

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: mmntech

Originally posted by: lxskllr
You could do it through the serial port.

Serial port is slow as hell though. It's supposedly limited to 230kbps according to Wikipedia. Ethernet is still the best bet, even if it's just BASE 10.

Yea, it might not have ethernet though. That's from the day when networking was optional, and a computer very well might not have it. I agree though, if ethernet's there it would be best, otherwise all a serial takes is time. Get it going and check on it every so often.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I vote for ethernet, myself. But one of those USB-to-IDE interface cables could work too.
I didn't know about the internal dust filters, first I've heard of moving an IDE drive could kill it. (I killed a 120MB IDE drive the natural way, I dropped a keyboard with a metal base onto the drive, while it was spinning. It was fun running the drive, watching the reallocated sectors going up in realtime.)


Edit: just to note, there ARE DOS drivers for USB external HDs. I was messing around with creating a DOS Ghost 2003 boot disk that could access USB external HDs. I might be able to dig it up for you.

 

[RebateMonger]

A null modem cable should work, but setting it up can be a pain. Networking might also be a problem (because of drivers) unless the PC is already set up.

Since the PC has probably been sitting on various shelves or floors for several years and has probably already been bumped around quite a bit, I'd probably risk an IDE-to-USB cable and just be careful.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
I didn't know about the internal dust filters, first I've heard of moving an IDE drive could kill it.

As per Scott Moulton of My Hard Drive Died (data recovery service).

 

[tcsenter]

Ethernet to USB adapter/converter is also an option. e.g.

TrendNet TU2-ET100

I picked-up a couple on Amazon last week for about $20 delivered (each), because many of the netbooks don't freaking feature ethernet connectivity and I've had a few people ask how to get ethernet onto their netbook.

 

[Schmide]

Originally posted by: Blain
Moving the old HD may dislodge dust from the HD's internal filter... killing the drive.
With such an old drive it's better to err on the side of caution and leave it in place, when copying data from it.

I thought HDD were sealed? If a drive is going to die, I doubt dust is what causes it.

I found the article here

I didn't find anything about not moving a drive because of dust.

 

[wwswimming]

how about adding a SCSI Zip drive to the 486, which would be 5-6 Zip disks. so you would need an ISA SCSI card for the old system and a PCI or PCI-E SCSI card for the new system.

or, putting a slave IDE (not SATA) drive in the 486 system & taking THAT over to the new system. after copying the data of course.

 

[Colt45]

Ain't no dust getting in the drive. Just pull it and be done with it.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: Schmide

Originally posted by: Blain
Moving the old HD may dislodge dust from the HD's internal filter... killing the drive.
With such an old drive it's better to err on the side of caution and leave it in place, when copying data from it.

I thought HDD were sealed? If a drive is going to die, I doubt dust is what causes it.

I found the article here

I didn't find anything about not moving a drive because of dust.

Originally posted by: Colt45
Ain't no dust getting in the drive. Just pull it and be done with it.

Both issues...
The internal filter and moving a drive are addressed by Scott Moulton in This Podcast about 47 minutes into the interview.
Listen for yourself

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: Schmide
I thought HDD were sealed?

They have a filtered opening.

 

[Schmide]

Originally posted by: Blain

Both issues...
The internal filter and moving a drive are addressed by Scott Moulton in This Podcast about 47 minutes into the interview.
Listen for yourself

I'm not affirming or denying the issue, but 47min into one guys podcast, hardly constitutes a reason not to remove an old drive to get the info off it.

Done it 100 times, never had one die in the transport. If there was any statistically noticeable value to this, it would be well known.

 

[SoulAssassin]

Got an old parallel Zip Drive? That's at least 100MB. Or find an old parallel cd burner.

 

[JackMDS]

Originally posted by: Schmide

Originally posted by: Blain

Both issues...
The internal filter and moving a drive are addressed by Scott Moulton in This Podcast about 47 minutes into the interview.
Listen for yourself

Done it 100 times, never had one die in the transport. If there was any statistically noticeable value to this, it would be well known.

Same here.

Actually done it last week with two 10GB Drive and two 15GB Drive.

I did a clean install of Win 7 Starter and was positively surprise to find out that as is, it takes only 8-9 GB.

Add to it Office 2007 and few other need applications, and it takes about 12GB

So I am installing few old computers as a default computer for Network purposes using old P-4 and this small old drives. In the whole process of this playing around, taking in and out the Drives, and caring them around I did not lose any thing.

That said I am not saying that there is some probability that the a dust dislodge would happen, but I doubt that it is a High probability occurrence.

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: Schmide
Done it 100 times, never had one die in the transport. If there was any statistically noticeable value to this, it would be well known.

Really? So the status of all drives you shipped were recorded/tracked for statistical purposes?

i.e. Nobody is doing statistical failure analysis on 15+ year-old hard drives.

 

[Schmide]

Originally posted by: tcsenter
Really? So the status of all drives you shipped were recorded/tracked for statistical purposes?

i.e. Nobody is doing statistical failure analysis on 15+ year-old hard drives.

Not the point at all. Inferring failure or success based on unknowns has the same statistical weight as a non existent or unknown cause.

Which is why I started my statements with.

Originally posted by: Schmide
I'm not affirming or denying the issue

Done it 100 times, never had one die in the transport. If there was any statistically noticeable value to this, it would be well known.

[/quote]

I have a a bunch of 10+ year old drives I transported from across the country a few years back, I just took 4 and they all started up fine. (I just did this) This has more statistical weight than inferring failure based on dust during transport.

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: Schmide
I have a a bunch of 10+ year old drives I transported from across the country a few years back, I just took 4 and they all started up fine. (I just did this) This has more statistical weight than inferring failure based on dust during transport.

Right. Surely this is a larger sample than someone who has done professional and forensic data recovery and hard drive repair for the past 8+ years. :roll: