Huge 80s software estate find
Posted by Urbeto@reddit | vintagecomputing | View on Reddit | 46 comments
I don’t even know where to start. So much stuff ahaha.
Mostly PC and Tandy 1000. Some C64 and then a lone CD. Bunch of sealed 5.25 floppy’s Most random assortment of things. I’m sure there was a lot more too.
PuzzleheadedSweet145@reddit
Who didn’t love good old Oregon Trail??
sidusnare@reddit
Get it on the Archive.
Urbeto@reddit (OP)
This is something I want to do. Any advice ?
sidusnare@reddit
I have a bash script and dedicated hardware, advice is going to depend on your gear and skills.
What do you have? What can you do? What are you most comfortable with?
Urbeto@reddit (OP)
If it meant me shipping all of this to someone I’d be beyond glad to do so at some point. I’m not that confident in much beyond basic understanding of computing. I have a few 90s rigs with 5.25 drives but nothing specific for this sort of thing.
BrightonDBA@reddit
package it up and post it to us! https://x86.world as part of our community archiving programme. Well even ship your disks back afterwards free of charge :)
teknosophy_com@reddit
dude this site is sick. great mission.
BrightonDBA@reddit
Thank you! Forever a work in progress and hopefully one that keeps us busy on the ‘free public services’ side forever. I just wish teenage me hadn’t thrown away the mountains of disks I viewed as worthless back in the day! What a fool I was.
Urbeto@reddit (OP)
I will reach out to you, thank you
sidusnare@reddit
I'm super eager to archive and preserve legacy software, and as much as I'd like it to be me, it's best to start with where you are. Shipping is not without risk, and if anyone with half a brain and a greaseweazle is local to you, that would be a better option.
I'm in Atlanta. Let us know your general metropolitan area and if it's not Atlanta, I'm sure someone with similar skills and equipment will chime in.
BrightonDBA@reddit
Completely agree. London is not a first choice given the OP location. Less miles the better. But we’re here as an option
Urbeto@reddit (OP)
Salt Lake City! Genuinely if anyone would want to do it I’d be glad. If anything, they could even have most of it. I only really would wanna keep a few things for sure in the end.
sidusnare@reddit
I'm in Atlanta, if nobody else is local to you, I'd be glad to receive these and upload them.
My dad is in Preston Idaho, I'm.tempted to use it as an excuse to visit them.
Urbeto@reddit (OP)
Wow Preston! I haven’t been I awhile. I was just an hour from there about a week ago. Doing a flea market. If it meant shipping them though, I will definitely figure something out. I ship packages almost daily around the world so I am pretty good at that part aha. I’ll PM you about it.
sidusnare@reddit
It's more about the magnetic issues than anything else. I'll let things settle while anyone local has an opportunity to chime in on this thread.
If you don't get a solid local lead, let me know, I'll see what plan B was can arrange.
BrightonDBA@reddit
We had some old 5.25” disks shipped from Canada to London recently as part of our preservation programme and every single one was 100% recoverable despite being nearly 40 years old. Good times. I really enjoyed that day!
teknosophy_com@reddit
Ahhh software... back when you could buy it, and then use it as long as you wished without paying eternally! Don't tell anyone you have this :o
beeper212@reddit
Turbo Pascal was the nuts!!
Glidepath22@reddit
It was my second language after Basic, $150 in 1990, good times learning it’s though
phillymjs@reddit
Same, I pirated it off the lab computers in high school and taught myself by also copying programs left on the computers by the upperclassmen that were allowed to take the Pascal class. When I was finally a junior I aced that class.
Freshman year of college, Pascal was required and I did so well I got an A and was exempted from having to take the final.
khumprp@reddit
O programmed so much Turbo Pascal, such a great language to learn
ChiefWeedsmoke@reddit
No way they got math rabbit homie
Think_Fault_7525@reddit
By The Learning Company, which was bought out in a hostile takeover and sold off to Mattel by that Kevin O’Leary shark tank asshole.
struggling-sturgeon@reddit
Ah space quest! Had that exact disk. Awesome games. My favorite was the Quest for glory series with my favorite I and II.
linkardtankard@reddit
MEGA Mouse Software!!
What happened to creative cover art?
UrWHThurtZ@reddit
Underwear instead of banana!
eurobanknote@reddit
Great stuff, in their original packaging! They bring us back old memories; I remember when I started with Turbo Pascal on the Amstrad 1640 with 2 5¼-inch floppy disks.
Practical-Writer-228@reddit
Oh Math Rabbit! Ha! Good times..
homerdulu@reddit
Turbo Pascal 6!!! 😍😍😍
HighlySeasonedGamer@reddit
This is a great haul! Some good stuff in there.
docshipley@reddit
You should get in touch with the ExoDOS community about including your games in their collection.
It's an ongoing project with 2 goals - preserving DOS-based games and making it easy to play them on modern hardware.
Urbeto@reddit (OP)
I will look into this. Thank you.
couchmaster518@reddit
Dr Halo, wow, I haven’t thought of that in a long time
LittlePooky@reddit
I get so excited looking at these photos. My first real computer was a Compaq Portable. It was quite expensive for someone who just enlisted in the United States Air Force. My late aunt cosigned a lone with me. My first program was MS-DOS 2.1 and WordStar 3.3.
Programs then came with a printed manual, and many of them came in a beautiful slipcase like what you have.
The good old days!
Urbeto@reddit (OP)
It’s just crazy to think about all the software people poured effort into and that might be lost to time or just on a random floppy some place. So much cool stuff to be seen.
LittlePooky@reddit
My first version of Xerox Ventura Publisher said on the first page of the manual, "Read the next 2 pages even if you don't read anything else."
Glidepath22@reddit
I loved the way IBM titles came with a 3 ring binder manual with a disc holders inside the back jacket
LittlePooky@reddit
I bought IBM Macro Assembler and it came with 2 printed manuals like that. They looked absolutely gorgeous, but looking through them, there were reference manuals, and they didn't make any sense to me, but they looked beautiful on the shelf.
randombits0110@reddit
Disappointed that the big blue disk wasn’t blue lol
DoodleJake@reddit
Damn that's the first time I've seen a real copy of Oregon Trail. I always played that on bootlegged copies.
Urbeto@reddit (OP)
You know what.. I just realized that is literally the original copy of Oregon trail. 1.0
PortableGeneration@reddit
I remember facemaker on Atari. Barely. We lost it in a move.
I cannot imagine those floppy’s are still readable.
Urbeto@reddit (OP)
I’m scared to even try… I honestly haven’t even tried my 5.25 drive so the whole thing is scary. Used to 90s stuff over here.
LuigiTeaching@reddit
The Oregon Trail and Flight Simulator II !!
Urbeto@reddit (OP)
Very cool to see a few games.. I was hoping for more but I can’t complain
khumprp@reddit
Quite the find!