The 1.2MB disks are DSHD. The ones marked as 1.6MB are just giving the unformatted capacity, they're still regular DSHD disks.

Perhaps it'd be a good idea for you to hunt down a copy of "Upgrading and Repairing PCs"... you can probably find older revisions fairly cheaply, and it covers all the basic stuff in great detail.

tpi : Tracks Per Inch

96 tpi would be high density

Double sided double density are 360Kb disks 😀 Just to clarify 😀

Davros wrote:

tpi : Tracks Per Inch

96 tpi would be high density

96tpi is also available in quad density flavors (720k) ... so let's better stick with just hd.

As for the physical look of the disk, make sure that no fungus are invested inside the disk. The disk jacket (the plastic part of the disk covering the black data part, not the removable protecting sleeve/envelope) usually will be as 'crunchy' as a biscuit because of the humidity and temperature. (I had several disks from the 80s era - originally intended for 80286-- which the disk jacket would just crack and separated if I flexed the disk a little)

You can format any 2SHD (or DSHD) 5.25" disks to 1.2MB and less. Higher than 1.2MB may require the FDREAD TSR utility to read them. You can go for the linked floppy disks. Just make sure to do a full format for all the disks (even if they're pre-formatted - due to the age) to make sure no bad sectors are present, or to rectify that problem, before making the backups. (Bad-Marked sectors will prevent data from being written on them, saving precious data.)

(I have special attachment to these 5.25" disks and drives. I grew up with them! 😀)

Thanks a lot for the info, people! 😀 I have one follow up question: Can you format a double sided high density disk (1.2mb), so that it acts like it's a double sided double density disk (360Kb), because I think that some of my other SSI RPGs are in this format. Thanks.

retro games 100 wrote:

Thanks a lot for the info, people! 😀 I have one follow up question: Can you format a double sided high density disk (1.2mb), so that it acts like it's a double sided double density disk (360Kb), because I think that some of my other SSI RPGs are in this format. Thanks.

Sure! You can do that to a 1.44MB 3.5" disks too.

Usual MS-DOS FORMAT command switches :

format [options] drive FORMAT drive: [/V[:label]] [/Q] [/F:size] [/B | /S] [/C] FORMAT drive: [/V[:label]] [/Q] [/T:tracks /N:se […]
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format [options] drive
FORMAT drive: [/V[:label]] [/Q] [/F:size] [/B | /S] [/C]
FORMAT drive: [/V[:label]] [/Q] [/T:tracks /N:sectors] [/B | /S] [/C]
FORMAT drive: [/V[:label]] [/Q] [/1] [/4] [/B | /S] [/C]
FORMAT drive: [/Q] [/1] [/4] [/8] [/B | /S] [/C]
/V[:label] Specifies the volume label.
/Q Performs a quick format.
/F:size Specifies the size of the floppy disk to format (such
as 160, 180, 320, 360, 720, 1.2, 1.44, 2.88.)
/B Allocates space on the formatted disk for system files.
/S Copies system files to the formatted disk.
/T:tracks Specifies the number of tracks per disk side.
/N:sectors Specifies the number of sectors per track.
/1 Formats a single side of a floppy disk.
/4 Formats a 5.25-inch 360K floppy disk in a high-density drive.
/8 Formats eight sectors per track.
/C Tests clusters that are currently marked "bad."

The /F switch will obey your commands! 😁

Thanks a lot Malik! 😀