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retrieving data from an old tandy 1000 computer

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by prairierose44

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my mother has a fully functional tandy 1000 computer that she wants to retrieve data from. what she wants is to take the program and data from that computer save and access it in a newer computer ie: windows 7. Does anyone know how to do this or know of anyone who can do it for her? Someone in the Seattle, Tacoma, Washington area. It happens to be our family tree that took her years to compile and she really does not want to spend months retyping it into a new program. thanks so much for any ideas on what to do or where to go.

10 replies

by oh smeg

The unit uses what is effectively DOS so what we need to know is what Software she used to do the Family Tree and then we may be able to suggest software that can import the data in a usable form.

Col

by prairierose44

it is Family tree journel version 10.0 from 1980 and while we were looking for the disc program , which we couldnt find, we found several back up disc's in 3.5 inch and one family geneology floppy in 5.25 inch. She does not have a 3.5 inch or a 5.25 inch floppy in the new computer.

by robo_dev

they make 3.5" external USB-connected floppy drives. Not sure about 5.25 though...

by robo_dev

It depends on what model of Tandy 1000.

Some had an XT-type IDE interface, and some later models had the AT IDE interface. If it has the latter, then the 10 or 20 MB drive could be removed and installed in a USB drive case, which could be plugged into any PC. I would be careful, however, if no backups exist, for an old hard drive might be prone to failure if you do this.

If the machine has a 3.5" double-density (1.44MB) floppy drive, many DOS based programs had data files that could be copied onto floppy disks, then you would need a USB-attached floppy drive for the new PC.

There is also a program known as LAP-LINK that is a dos program that lets you transfer data using the serial or parallel ports of two comptuers, using a serial or parallel cable. Of course many new computers have neither serial nor parallel (thus need a USB-to-Serial converter) and you would need to find or make a laplink cable and the program.

by prairierose44

I believe her tandy 1000 is the first generation released on the market. If I remember correctly it was purchased in 1987.

by prairierose44

I got more info about the computer it is a tandy 1000 TL. It was purchased in 1989. Any more info then that we do not know. My mom is not too tech savy and I live a bit of distance from her. If anyone knows someone who would be willing to do this for her in the seattle-tacoma, Washington area their contact info would be greatly appreciated.

by earlehartshorn

I work in Tacoma, live in S Seattle. earlehartshorn at live com. I used to own a Tandy 1000, don't think it would be much trouble to transfer the data. Does she have a newer version of Family Tree, and will it import data from the old version? would be the most critical question. I think it doubtful that the old version will run under Win 7.

by prairierose44

Hi
No she does not have a newer version of Family Tree. I'm sure the older version will not run on win 7 it was made for windows 3. lol. I will give her your web address and she or my brother can take it from there. maybe they know something that can help save all her hard work. thanks. I will also let her know that maybe she should invest in the newer version just in case.

by oh smeg

That is all you need to copy the Floppy Disc's to the new computer. However the Existing Program being a 8 Bit Application is unlikely to run on a 32 Bit OS let alone a 64 Bit OS which should be what is loaded on any new hardware that is currently sold.

You'll need to approach the owners of Family Tree Journal and see what they have currently and hopefully it will be able to import the data from older versions of the program. This seems to be Cheery Tree as the owner of the software and their Web Site is here

http://www.cherrytreesoftware .com/

Just remember to remove the space from between [b]cherrytreesoftware[/b] and the [b].com[/b] ;)

Col

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