Re: What can be done to preserve a working vintage HDD?

The 5MB ProFile can be low level formatted (which re-writes the control data), so its demise will be from some other hazard. I'd guess mechanical failure of the bearings or the magnetic medium detaching from the disk platter. Even at that, I believe someone has successfully replaced the bearings in one of these, so it might be possible to repair it indefinitely.

For more protection, you could store them: - in a static shielding container (eg. a metallized bag or a corstat box or equivalent)

- where the temperature fluctuates as little as possible
- where the humidity is low, and controlled
- in an acid-free container (not ordinary cardboard)
- with VCI (Volatile Corrosion Inhibitor) sheets
- in a fire & theft protection safe

And you could collect some non-working units to use for spare parts.

Any other ideas?

>I'm fortunate (lucky?) enough to have a working Widget disk in my
>2/10, and a 5mb Profile as well. The Profile has no bad sectors
>currently, and after some initial troubles when I first got the
>machine going the widget has been flawless. I would like to keep both
>of these disks that way. Besides not moving the machine wile the disks
>are spinning, and running them periodically, are there any other
>measures I can take to ensure the disks will keep going?

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