Re-Attaching Labels to Floppies

[bunnspecial]

I came across an old "Picaso" plastic box in my closet the other day that I'd forgotten about.

In any case, it was stuffed full disks, including a couple of system disks and things like MacWrite and MacPaint.

The problem is that quite a few of these have labels that are falling off. The label is still fully intact, but just no longer attached to the disk.

Is there a way to reattach the label without harming the disk or label, and do so in such a way that it can still be safely used in a computer?

 

[MacTech68]

I came across an old "Picaso" plastic box in my closet the other day that I'd forgotten about.

In any case, it was stuffed full disks, including a couple of system disks and things like MacWrite and MacPaint.

The problem is that quite a few of these have labels that are falling off. The label is still fully intact, but just no longer attached to the disk.

Is there a way to reattach the label without harming the disk or label, and do so in such a way that it can still be safely used in a computer?

I can't make any recommendations as to what glue to use, but it would need to be something pretty special. I'd be looking for paper to plastic, acid free, or something of that nature if it were me. I've never had to do it - I don't have any originals at all.

BTW, for any labels that have completely come off, flatten them in your scanner and make some nice hi-res scans of them (pretty please?)

 

[bunnspecial]

BTW, for any labels that have completely come off, flatten them in your scanner and make some nice hi-res scans of them (pretty please?)

Mine are all either completely on or completely off, so I'd be happy to do so.

I'm actually sort of leaning toward just bagging the floppies with loose labels(I have a big stash of the "floppy bags" that you use to be able to get) and pulling the labels when I want to use the disk. As they really just slip on and off at the moment, that shouldn't be a problem.

Actually, I should probably just stock up on 800K disks and make "working copies" of everything...

 

[MacTech68]

Mine are all either completely on or completely off, so I'd be happy to do so.

I'm actually sort of leaning toward just bagging the floppies with loose labels(I have a big stash of the "floppy bags" that you use to be able to get) and pulling the labels when I want to use the disk. As they really just slip on and off at the moment, that shouldn't be a problem.

Actually, I should probably just stock up on 800K disks and make "working copies" of everything...

Better yet, DiskCopy 4.2 or 6.3.3 images.

 

[bunnspecial]

Better yet, DiskCopy 4.2 or 6.3.3 images.

Don't worry-I never "copy" a disk...I always image it so that I can generate copies on demand.

I took the time to image all my OS install disks from OS 8 all the way up to 10.6, along with several other pieces of software. They're stored safely on an external FW HDD, as well as on the computer where I imaged them.

That's not to mention that for software, I'll often drop the images onto a USB stick since I have plenty of computers with non-working optical drives. I even "burn" OS install images to USB drives frequently for installation in place of using the physical media. If the computer has USB 2.0, it's a LOT faster than the optical. I like to work with copies and not my pressed originals. For Leopard in particular I always have a terrible time burning a copy and get really nervous every time I get my original out as it still runs $50-60 on Ebay.

On a totally unrelated note, I wish that the myth about not being able to boot a PPC Mac from USB would die. Most NWR Macs can-I think the exceptions are the B&W G3, tray load iMacs, pre-FW iBooks, and the Lombard.

 

[weckart]

I came across an old "Picaso" plastic box in my closet the other day that I'd forgotten about.

In any case, it was stuffed full disks, including a couple of system disks and things like MacWrite and MacPaint.

The problem is that quite a few of these have labels that are falling off. The label is still fully intact, but just no longer attached to the disk.

Is there a way to reattach the label without harming the disk or label, and do so in such a way that it can still be safely used in a computer?

I have done this recently. I just used a glue stick. The thing is to clean the floppy surface and remove any traces of dried glue or grease and to make sure it is dry for the glue to adhere. Afterwards, make sure there is pressure on the entire label for a few hours to stop the corners curling up until the glue dries thoroughly. Seems to work for me and does not discolour the label further as the glue on my particular brand of glue stick (Bostik Blutack) dries clear.