Convert word processor doc. to Microsof?

[mamabear4]

I cleaned out an old closet today and guess what I found. A file box filled with old floppy disks of a partially finished novel and several years worth of work on my husband's aunt's poetry. They were done on a Brother Word Processor. Can anyone tell me if there's a way to convert these documents from Brother WP to Microsoft Word?

 

[rstrahan]

It depends. If the file was saved as ASCII text, it may be possible to recover them...if the old floppys are even readable. However, if it was saved as a proprietary file format, then I don't think there's a way. Now, I'm assuming that they're standard floppies for PC, not the oversized floppies. Finally, even if the files were saved as ASCII text, the files may not be readable from a PC. It has to do with track size, formatting, etc. I'm not holding out much hope here.

 

[mamabear4]

It depends. If the file was saved as ASCII text, it may be possible to recover them...if the old floppys are even readable. However, if it was saved as a proprietary file format, then I don't think there's a way. Now, I'm assuming that they're standard floppies for PC, not the oversized floppies. Finally, even if the files were saved as ASCII text, the files may not be readable from a PC. It has to do with track size, formatting, etc. I'm not holding out much hope here.

I'm pretty sure they're ACSII, but not 100%. They are on the standard 3" floppies, not the big ones. I was afraid they're down the drain. Do you know where I can go to find out if they can be converted?

 

[flaglady]

I suggest you ring round to find a one-man business that does computer maintenance and such. They're often computer buffs who have extensive knowledge of playing around with things like these. Or a small shop of like type. Or they may know someone who can. You might also try http://www.hardwareforums.com and see if anyone there can help. I have found it very helpful in the past.

Good luck - it's very satisfying to bring an older relative's musings to light - I've done it myself in the past.

 

[agapehost]

The first thing you should do is to copy all files from floppy disk to your hard disk, if you able to copy all files then its easy to convert them to word format, if the floppy disk damage, may be a computer maintenance can save several part (files) from the floppy.