I have a 3.5" floppy, and on it is a file that was created by a Panasonic Word Processor (model KXW 1505). I’m wondering if there is anyway that I can convert this file to something that my PC will recognize. Anytime I try to access the A: drive on my machine (in Windows or DOS), I get the message “The disk media is not recognized”.
I thought I would be able to at least try a “type <filename>” in DOS but I can’t even get the drive to be active when the disc is in it.
It’s probably worth noting that I do not have the word processor.
Your problem is not with file conversion, at least not yet, you have a diskette system apparently not compatible with your operating system. I won’t say it can’t be done but you may check with Panasonic to see if there is a utlity or driver to allow your PC to read the disk format. If that is possible then you have the matter of converting the file - if that is even applicable to this diskette - to something a PC application can use.
Unfortunatley, you probably won’t be able to get anything off of it as the odler word processors did NOT format floppies to any normal standard before saving info on them. I know this from experience in the Army. The officers tended to use these WP’s to type up memo’s at home then bring the disk in, toss it on someone’s desk and say “All the info is on there”. Needless to say, this was more than a little frustrating.
You should be able to do this, although it could be painful. The problem is that your Microsoft OS only understands a handful of filesystems : FAT16 in DOS, later OSes can also read and write FAT32 and NTFS.
Basically, a filesystem describes how and where files are stored. There has never been any real agreement as to the best way to do this, so the industry is littered with different standards which are almost always incompatible with each other. Also, each OS has very definite ideas about which filesystem(s) are best and will usually support those and only those.
However, you should be able to take a copy of the raw disk image. You will not be able to immediately pull your file out of that image, since it will almost certainly be broken up into chunks, each chunk doubtless prefixed with Panasonic filesystem -specific data that will look like meaningless garbage; and the chunks may not be in logical order. However, you should be able to see what is valid data and what is not and be able to recreate your information from it.
So what you need is something to create a file from the diskette image. Go to http://dvalot.free.fr/emtcopy.htm and download DSK4WIN.ZIP. Extract all files and run the app. Use the wizard to build a diskette image. Be sure to select the “Simple Disk Image”, ie non-compressed.
Searching on Alta-Vista, I found this page which seems to be from a website for a company in the UK which performs data conversions like what you need.
ZenBeam – thanks for the link. I will use that as a last resort (don’t really want to ship this disc overseas if I don’t have to)
Reuben – wow. Great info, I thought it was going to work. However, that app you pointed me to keeps crapping out on me. I tried to load it on a NT as well as a Win95 machine, and I get illegal operations on both machines when it is about 50% of the way through processing. Another friend of mine (pretty knowledgeable) said that I would probably have better luck running the app on a 95 machine, because NT could possible block (as a security measure) some of the lower level commands the app might utilize. Your thoughts?
Also, any other apps I might try, similar to the one you pointed me too? That seems to be exactly what I need, except I can’t get that specific one to work. I searched download.com, but had no luck there.
Thanks for your help.
Here’s a thought… is the disk possibly a 1.44 MB diskette that has been formatted to 720k? If that is the case, your PC is trying to read it as a 1.44, and this could be the problem.
Try putting tape over the holes on the edge of the diskette, then put it back in the drive to see if it reads it as a 720.