Re: of Fungus and Foam

[Ronny Svedman <rosv4119@student.uu.se>]

Rubywand wrote:
> 
> Ronny Svedman writes ...
> 
>  ....
> 
> >>     As you may recall, a number of the classier 5.25" diskette brands
> >> employed (still employ?) a lubricant on their jacket liners. While
> >> the lube worked to reduce drag and noise, it also, evidently, served
> >> as a growth medium for a particularly nasty plastic and/or
> >> oxide-eating fungus!
> >>
> >>     It's probably a good idea to check each of your old diskettes.
> >> Immediately backup any diskettes with splotchy discolorations.
> >
> > -- snap---
> >
> > i'd like to add the following line:
> >
> > ", and then clean your reading diskdrive. The fungus is contagious." ;-)
> >
> > -- snoot --
> >
> > ----------------------
> >
> > Actually, the mold could attack the little felt puff that pressesthe
> > floppy surface against the r/w head, and from there spread to other
> > disks.
> >
>  ....
> 
> > Come to think of it: a biological computer virus is kind of a scary
> > perspective!, maybe that line should be left out after all, so as to not
> > worrying people ?

Oppps.  It seem i forgot a smilie or two here.. I didnt really mean to
suggest that line.. It was more of a pfilosophical ranting... 

but i do know for a fact that diskettes do mold, as i said.

>      The notion that the etching on some old diskette surfaces relates
> to a fungus (or mold) growing in liner lubricant seems to make sense;
> but, as far as I know, it is an inference rather than a known fact.

I have seen it, or atleast what must be it.

 
>      One problem with suggesting that a user disinfect the head and
> pressure pad of any drive which accesses a splotched diskette is that
> the process would be quite a lot of bother for, perhaps, no benefit.
> Even if the fungus exists, it does not seem to bother non-lubricated
> diskettes and it seems likely that most susceptible diskettes have
> already been splotched.

thats right; and as i said above.. that message lacked a smilie or two.
sorry to everyone who misunderstood it..



>      If you have any meters, cameras, etc. in foam-lined cases, you may
> want to check the foam. You could save yourself a really messy cleaning
> task later on.
> 
> Rubywand


true words. very true.