Webecedarian
Member
- Joined
- May 8, 2023
- Messages
- 19
It was suggested that this was a software question, but it seem like hardware to me.
I mostly use the antiquated Word Perfect 5.1 DOS for word processing in a computer not hooked up to the internet, just for text, with a floppy drive. It was custom-assembled for me by a friend who liked to tinker for fun, and it's about 30 years old.
It may be finally dying, though, and I'm looking for a replacement--but also something now obsolete: A computer that has both an A-drive for floppies and USB portx. These were being made probably about a decade ago, apparently especially by Dell. It would be hard enough just to find any floppy-USB combination, but it's even harder to find one to accommodate WP5.1. And even harder because I'm not a techie myself, and I don't know the language.
So I'm hoping for something with both an A-drive and USB ports, preferably weighing under 28 pounds, that would be able to have WP5.1, Corel 11, Microsoft Word (preferably an older version), and Excel. I've discovered that Dell made some models maybe about 10-15 years ago (Optiplex, Inspiron, Precision), but I don't know the difference between them, whether they could be used for WP5.1, or how to choose between them. (I called Dell, ending up talking to some guy in India who was no help.) But I get the feeling that choosing the machine and choosing the operating system are two entirely separate questions, so I'm just asking here about the computer itself.
I'd be very grateful for any guidance.
I mostly use the antiquated Word Perfect 5.1 DOS for word processing in a computer not hooked up to the internet, just for text, with a floppy drive. It was custom-assembled for me by a friend who liked to tinker for fun, and it's about 30 years old.
It may be finally dying, though, and I'm looking for a replacement--but also something now obsolete: A computer that has both an A-drive for floppies and USB portx. These were being made probably about a decade ago, apparently especially by Dell. It would be hard enough just to find any floppy-USB combination, but it's even harder to find one to accommodate WP5.1. And even harder because I'm not a techie myself, and I don't know the language.
So I'm hoping for something with both an A-drive and USB ports, preferably weighing under 28 pounds, that would be able to have WP5.1, Corel 11, Microsoft Word (preferably an older version), and Excel. I've discovered that Dell made some models maybe about 10-15 years ago (Optiplex, Inspiron, Precision), but I don't know the difference between them, whether they could be used for WP5.1, or how to choose between them. (I called Dell, ending up talking to some guy in India who was no help.) But I get the feeling that choosing the machine and choosing the operating system are two entirely separate questions, so I'm just asking here about the computer itself.
I'd be very grateful for any guidance.
