How do I open an old CD-ROM that was used on Windows 3.1 and Windows 95/98?

[jama53]

I have three CD-ROMs that were used on Windows 3.1 and Windows 95/98. These are research discs and I am quite anxious not to lose the information. I have tried them on my W7 laptop and got error message the CD was not compatible. However - I have a WXP and they work on there. Next month I will be losing security. Can anybody offer advice?

 

[clutchc]

You could go to the command prompt and use DOS commands.

 

[smorizio]

if the drives are still good if they given power they should blink and then you should be able to eject any disk inside if the drive wont open with power most drives the vendor puts in a eject hole on the front of the drives. use a small long tool in the hole to pop open then drive. if a disk fell out of the drive tray and has jammed the drive...you have to take the four screws out on the bottom of the drive and lift the cover off the top of the drive to get the disk out of the drive.

 

[jama53]

You could go to the command prompt and use DOS commands.

 

[jama53]

Oh my - You will have to explain what you are asking me to do. For example - do you mean when I try to run the CD on my W7? Do you mean using safe mode? I do not know what "DOS" commands entails. I was thinking that I could somehow copy all the material on to a workable disc. Am I ignorant or what?

 

[smorizio]

if it a data cd any newer computer with a burner drive and software should be able to make a copy of the disk. as long as there not locked or encrypted.

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

If the discs function on Windows XP, why not just use them on Windows XP? Under Vista, 7, or 8.x, you can create what is known as a virtual machine, which can easily run older copies of Windows, provided you have a license to run them of course, and you can run older software on the virtual machine when you can't otherwise get it to function with new versions of Windows. The caveat is that you usually do not have advanced hardware functions such as 3D support from the graphics card, but often times the older software doesn't need such support.

For Windows 7 through XP, Microsoft provides free of charge, Virtual PC, and for Windows 8.x, virtualization is built in to the OS and no extra software is needed.

Virtual PC can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=4580

Once you have created a virtual machine, you can install any supported operating system that you have a license for, and should even be able to install Windows 98 to support your particular software you are concerned about loosing.

If you are concerned with the lack of new security updates for XP after next month, you can disable the network interface of the virtual machine, and it will not be susceptible to threats from online, as it won't be online without networking, although the host machine will still need proper security in place.