Re: Sooty floppy help! (fwd)

["Rick Povich - UPJ AV Dept." <SHUTTER@VMS.CIS.PITT.EDU>]

Melissa Davis writes:

>A friend needs help. There was a fire in one bedroom of his house. Not too
>much damage, but the soot & smoke got everywhere upstairs including his
>office that was down the hall! His 2 computers are being professionally
>cleaned. But what about all the floppies he has (had?) ? He thinks the ones
>that were in containers are probably ok but there were quite a few laying
>out on his desk that he's not sure of.
>
>Is there a way to clean either a 5.25 or 3.5 diskette? How can you tell if
>it needs cleaning? Should he junk them all and start over?

If it were me, I'd use isopropol alcohol (no scents or colorings) and clean the
exposed portion of the diskette (if it wasn't in a protective sleeve).
You can turn the diskette fro the center and clean the areas nearest the
exposed portions.  After cleaning, check them out on a machine and if you're
able to read the info, make a copy of the diskette.

As for the 3.5" floppy, it may be safe because of the inherent protective
covering.  Just to be safe, I'd make a backup of those as quickly as
possible to be safe.

Both of these suggestions are on the assumption that the smoke damage isn't
severe enough to discolor ore deposit heavy amounts of grime on the media.
You can also buy compressed air that photographers use to clean their
negatives.  This method can be used to blow off any dust particles that
may have settled on the media.  The cans of air and nozzles can be found
at any photo store (or if you know a photographer, you might be able to
borrow the cans).

Good luck with the retrieval.

Rick Povich
Media Producer
University of Pittsburgh
Audiovisual Department
Johnstown, Pa.  15904
SHUTTER@VMS.CIS.PITT.EDU