u9hx@vax5.cit.cornell.edu (03/12/91)
Does anyone own one of those disk notchers that punches a hole so that you can format a 720k disk into a high density disk? If so, does it really work? How reliable is such device? I have heard stories on both sides, and am trying to decide if I should invest in one myself. Thanks
sguerke@brahms.udel.edu (Stephen Guerke) (03/13/91)
In article <1991Mar11.182336.3274@vax5.cit.cornell.edu> u9hx@vax5.cit.cornell.edu writes: >Does anyone own one of those disk notchers that punches a hole so that you can >format a 720k disk into a high density disk? If so, does it really work? How >reliable is such device? > >I have heard stories on both sides, and am trying to decide if I should invest >in one myself. Thanks IMHO you're taking a chance. The media on a HD diskette is much much more dense than that on a 720K diskette. It is my understanding that at the factory(s) the diskettes are tested for density and those that pass are marked HD and those that don't are marked DD. I wouldn't trust MY data to such a diskette. One of the faculty members that I support, who used DD density diskettes formatted HD for backing up data, had data on one of the diskettes just sorta fade away, he has since invested in HD diskettes and transferred his surviving data.
py@meadow.uucp (Peter Yeung) (03/13/91)
In article <1991Mar11.182336.3274@vax5.cit.cornell.edu> u9hx@vax5.cit.cornell.edu writes: >Does anyone own one of those disk notchers that punches a hole so that you can >format a 720k disk into a high density disk? If so, does it really work? How >reliable is such device? > >I have heard stories on both sides, and am trying to decide if I should invest >in one myself. Thanks A friend of mine actually drill the small hole which indicates a HD diskette, he has one of those cheapo "drill press" which convert your power drill into a mini drill press. He uses a lot of them regularly and never seems to have any problem with the converted HD diskettes. BTW, he is using the diskettets on an Apple IIfx. -- Peter Yeung Amdahl Canada Ltd., Software Development Center 2000 Argentia Road, Plaza 2, Suite 300 Mississauga, Ont. L5N 1V8 Phone: (416) 542-6300 Fax: (416) 858-2233
klingler@triton.unm.edu (David Klingler) (03/14/91)
I've been using very generic 720k disks (from MEI at $0.39) at 1.44 for about 9 months now. No problems so far, but it may be to early to tell. Needless to say I have backups on 5.25 1.2m diskettes. BTW, I bypasses the notcher method and installed a switch on the back of my computer that switches pin 2 on the floppy drive High or Low (sort of like bypassing the notch sensing switch).