Question How can I copy VHS and Video8 to computer ?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
L

low2020

Reputable
Sep 12, 2020
18
0
4,510
Hi all,

I have some VHS and Video8 cassette tapes which contain some documents (i believe Word and PDF).
I'd like to copy the content to a computer. How can I do that?
I have no player for them, only VHS and cassette, what should i buy in order to copy files to a computer?

Thanks
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
As for the VHS tape is this such as a video taken of the documents or the actual file data was written to those mediums?

Tape format gets very sticky over time. It could be possible that they are already gone...however it is not uncommon for some public library to have an old VHS machine around. Might call and ask.
On the other format, yeah you may need to seek a specialist.

Just as an aside, there is a pretty prevalent VHS enthusiast site on Facebook that might be able to offer suggestions but again would consider that from the video format.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lordmogul
Upvote 0 Downvote
USAFRet said:
The question is...how did computer files get copied to a VHS tape?
That is, while not impossible, a VERY strange concept.
And requires special software to extract.
Click to expand...

What i'm sure about is that VHS and Cassettes contains document file but not sure about the type.
I can only see some threads talking about audio/video extraction from these devices to computer but not for document files.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
low2020 said:
What i'm sure about is that VHS and Cassettes contains document file but not sure about the type.
I can only see some threads talking about audio/video extraction from these devices to computer but not for document files.
Click to expand...
Long ago, there was a procedure to save computer data to VHS tape.

Before that, systems like a Commodore 64 used cassette tape for data and program storage.
I still have one of these.

But aside from the Commodore and similar era low end systems, copying computer data to magnetic tape was very much a non-consumer thing.

You really need to discover what and how this was saved to the mag tape.
And magnetic tape that is 30+ years old? Good luck.
 
  • Like
Reactions: low2020
Upvote 0 Downvote
I had a Tandy Color Computer 2 that used cassette tape medium. That was probably 1984-ish?

Was not aware that any use of a VHS tape or the like. I am also semi familiar with the old reel to reel medium as my mother's work used those extensively.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
  • Like
Reactions: punkncat
Upvote 0 Downvote
Yeah, you probably need to find out with what software was used to write the data onto the tape and if it used any specific compression or odd format.

For just getting things off the tape, you could always get a TV tuner card (or one over USB) that has composite in and connect that to a VCR. That would give you quite literally a video of the data.
Which isn't super useful by itself, unless someone has written software to decode the video back into data.
Perhaps even an emulator to run a virtual VHS backup device, similar to virtual floppy and CD drives.

But again, the first step is finding out what was used to copy the files onto the tape.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom