The contents of this directory are dumps of diskettes that are currently or 
were formerly in my collection of early IBM PC game and application software.  
These archives are neither organized nor documented, though you can make a 
good educated guess what each one is via the filenames, or by looking at the 
text description embedded inside the files in each archive (see below for a 
description of each file type).

The data in these files and archives was dumped from original protected 
diskettes via several methods:

- *.imd: Dave Dunfield's Imagedisk.  File format is publically available as 
well as the source code that creates these files, but if you want to turn them 
into raw disk dumps (ie. a 360K disk of a non-protected original) then use the 
program IMGU to do that which comes with the original distribution.

- *.td0: Teledisk image.  Program was EOL'd in the 1990s but the file format 
has been reverse-engineered and is supported by some emulators.

- *.cp2: CopyIIPC + Snatchit image.  If you don't own an Option Board, this is 
your best chance at getting some of the more squirrely protected programs back 
onto a diskette and working on the original hardware.

- *.tc:  Central Point Option Board Transcopy v5.4 image.  Default settings 
were used (although if a diskette was clearly single-sided sometimes number of 
sides was set to 1 to speed dumping -- yes, it is possible there was a 
protection scheme out there that used a single formatted track on the second 
side but in 30+ years of dealing with PC games I've never seen that in the 
wild).  Must use v5.4 (and a Deluxe Central Point Option Board!) to write back 
to disk.  Rename to *.img before using with Transcopy.

For generic 360K diskettes that were not protected (such as personal archives, 
collections, shareware, etc.), a .zip of its contents, plus a raw 360K dump 
(in case the diskette contained bootable files), plus a .txt file that 
describes the contents are all included with the same basename (ie. app47.zip, 
app47.360, app47.txt).

The hardware used for dumping these disks was an IBM Model 5160 (PC/XT).



Q&A:

Q: How can I write these back to floppy disks to demonstrate my vintage 
hardware?
A: Use each program that created them.  The versions used to dump these files 
should be included in a subdirectory called "PROGS".

Q: How can I use these with emulators?
A: PCEM, I'm told, can load and use Transcopy and Teledisk images of protected 
disks.  DOSBox can use images of unprotected disks.  Beyond that, you're on 
your own.  These are provided for research only; if you "just want to play the 
game" then go find an unprotected copy or, better yet, pay the $5 it takes to 
get what you want from a licensed legal source such as GOG.com who have put in 
the time and money to make sure you can "just play the game" very easily (plus 
you get the manual!)

Q: How can I transfer them to different disk formats?
A: 5.25" images can usually be written to 720K (3.5" DSDD) disks verbatim 
without any special handling and will work.  Any other translations require 
efforts beyond the scope of my available free time.



DISCLAIMER:

I make NO WARRANTY as to the authenticity or correctness of these images.  It 
is possible that some disks were damaged prior to imaging.  99% or more of 
these diskettes worked on original hardware at some point in the 30 years 
prior to imaging, but I didn't verify each one *directly* prior to imaging.  
Also note that it is possible I have some non-protected disks only in 
protected formats (an inconvenince; use IMGU with the *.imd files to generate 
a raw image), or protected disks in (whoops!) non-protected file-only formats.  
I am human and can make mistakes.  You have been warned.

This data is provided for demonstration, historical preservation, and 
educational/research purposes only.  This data is not to be sold or, through 
action or inaction, used to financially harm the current or original copyright 
holders.  If you use these images for something against your country's 
copyright law then you do so at your own peril.

--trixter, 20130622