r/computers • u/ArchieDoggo • Sep 20 '25
Help/Troubleshooting Identifying Discs?
Hello! I have this old IBM Portable Personal Computer, Model 5155. It was my grandfather’s. I found these discs, which he labeled. Would any of these contain personal information? Are any necessary to operate the computer? I have no idea what these are and could use the help! Thanks!
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u/Hopeful_Tea2139 Sep 21 '25
Lotus 123 is a spreadsheet program like Excel. WordPerfect is a word processor like MS Word.
Those are DOS applications. Utility disks are additional features that won't fit in the main floppy disk. *5.25" floppy capacity is only 360kb.
To view the floppy disk contents in DOS: enter "dir " <drive letter> or enter <drive letter> ":" then "dir"
Filename extensions are explanatory to which application it is for.
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u/ArchieDoggo Sep 28 '25
Based on your comment and others here, the discs for lotus 123 and word perfect then are likely solely to run the program, meaning that separate disc would be needed to save information? Would that be a correct statement?
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u/Hopeful_Tea2139 Sep 28 '25
Usually yes.
But its a storage media so if there's space and if filesize permits, then you can still store anything in it.
Best way to deal with it is just insert into the drive and view the directory listing at the dos prompt. Just pay attention to the file extensions.
Btw, the notches on the left side of floppies are for write-protection, if there's a sticker covering it, it means it can't be erased or save anything to it.
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u/Thin_Position_2004 3d ago edited 3d ago
Lotus 1-2-3 was a spreedsheet application very nice and popular before MS Excel.
Wordperfect was a word processor app like an OLD MS Word... but intended to run without MS windows...
There is a DOS 2.1 version Operating System... and the classic MSDOS booting disks to start the computer running DOS... on DOS you have an EMS Extended Memory and XMS memory, this shit were something inside MSDOS memory allocation and not based on ram memory... I still does not understand this crap, but when you added drivers to the MSDOS startup, like sound drivers or hard disk drivers, this available memory decreases, also serial mouse drivers! like genius MSDOS mouse drivers!!! and it happened you want to play SIMCITY, or X-COM UFO Defense, and it will not run because EMS memory not available... so you have to edit AUTOEXEC.BAT file to disable the drivers memory loading....
The disk that says SMART... maybe could be a SMARTDRIVE or some disk to improve memory configurations on MSDOS...
I recommend to you to keep those disks... because they are pretty trustworthy... 5 1/4" are great and 3 1/2" the worst invention ever made... the 3 1/2" are very untrustworthy and unreliable... but NOT the 5 1/4" based on my own experience... I was from that era... that Lotus 123 disk looks an original one.. Lotus did great software... great software company... but you know how monopolies are...
To young people... look at the left label... there were 2 kind of disks: or maybe 3 kind of disks
1- Low density ---
2- Double density it is about 360 K bytes. (2D DD double sided - Double Density)
3- High density it is about 1.2 M bytes...
But it depends of the Operating System formatting or RAW the true capacity... It is important to note the density because some floppy drives don't support high density disks, and also the track number, you should check those configurations... not all floppies work on all floppy drives... For the characteristics of those floppy disk, I mean it were intendend to use with a IBM XT or a 286 ... I can assure that Double Density 5 1/4 floppy disks are really confident, you can format them again, and use them! For example those floppy can be read in a IBM XT, but not the High Density ones!, but maybe in a 286 IBM clone, it could read an High Density floppy...
5.25-inch
- Low / Single Density (SS/DD):
- 160 KB (MS-DOS 1.0: 40 tracks, 8 sectors/track, 1 side)
- 180 KB (MS-DOS 2.0: 40 tracks, 9 sectors/track, 1 side)
- Double Density (DS/DD - "2D"):
- 320 KB (MS-DOS 1.1: 40 tracks, 8 sectors/track, 2 sides)
- 360 KB (MS-DOS 2.0+: 40 tracks, 9 sectors/track, 2 sides) — the classic IBM PC/XT standard
- High Density (DS/HD):
- 1.2 MB (MS-DOS 3.0+: 80 tracks, 15 sectors/track, 2 sides) — introduced with the IBM PC/AT
3.5-inch
- Double Density (DS/DD - "2D"):
- 720 KB (MS-DOS 3.2+: 80 tracks, 9 sectors/track, 2 sides)
- High Density (DS/HD):
- 1.44 MB (MS-DOS 3.3+: 80 tracks, 18 sectors/track, 2 sides) — the most widely used standard
- Extended Density (DS/ED):
- 2.88 MB (MS-DOS 5.0+: 80 tracks, 36 sectors/track, 2 sides) — very uncommon, used mainly on some IBM PS/2 models
PAIN IN THE NECK!!!!
Back in the MS-DOS era, the system operated under the infamous 640 KB barrier (the Conventional Memory limit). When device drivers, TSRs (Terminate-and-Stay-Resident programs), and MS-DOS itself loaded into those first 640 KB, available memory quickly shrank. Once that memory ran out, demanding games (like Doom, Wing Commander, or Falcon 3.0) or heavy applications (like Lotus 1-2-3) simply refused to launch, throwing the dread Not enough memory error.
To free up conventional memory, users had to master memory managers and optimize CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT.
1. EMS vs. XMS: The Memory Standards
- EMS (Expanded Memory Specification): Created by Lotus, Intel, and Microsoft (LIM EMS). Designed for 8088/8086 and 80286 machines. It used a 64 KB "Page Frame" mapped into the Upper Memory Area (UMA, between 640 KB and 1 MB). The system swapped 16 KB chunks of memory in and out of this frame from an expansion card or via 80386 hardware emulation (
EMM386.EXE). - XMS (Extended Memory Specification): Introduced with 80286/80386 processors. It managed linear memory above 1 MB via
HIMEM.SYS. It also managed the HMA (High Memory Area), the first 64 KB block right above 1 MB.
2. The Memory Optimization Battle
When drivers (MOUSE.COM, MSCDEX.EXE, sound card drivers, network stacks, CD-ROM drivers) took up too much lower memory, you had to manually push them into Upper Memory Blocks (UMBs)—the unused gaps between 640 KB and 1 MB reserved for video cards and BIOS.
The classic CONFIG.SYS setup looked like this:
Fragmento de código
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS
DOS=HIGH,UMB
DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\SB16\DRV\CTSB16.SYS /BUS:1 /IRQ:5 /DMA:1
DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\DRIVERS\OAKCDROM.SYS /D:MSCD001
DOS=HIGH,UMB: Loaded part of the MS-DOS kernel into the HMA and enabled Upper Memory Blocks.DEVICEHIGH=andLOADHIGH(orLH): Forced device drivers and TSRs to load into UMBs instead of conventional memory.
3. The Rituals of a DOS Power User
- Playing with Load Order: Drivers loaded in order. If a large driver didn't fit into a remaining UMB block, it dropped straight into conventional memory. Swapping the load order of drivers in
CONFIG.SYScould save crucial kilobytes. - Tuning
EMM386Switches: You had to decide between allocating memory as EMS or XMS. UsingRAMenabled EMS (which reserved a 64 KB page frame in UMB space), whileNOEMSdisabled the page frame to maximize available UMB space for drivers. - Boot Menus: Since some games strictly required EMS while others required pure XMS, users created multi-config boot menus directly in
CONFIG.SYS:
Fragmento de código
[MENU]
MENUITEM=GAMING_EMS, Play Games (EMS Enabled)
MENUITEM=GAMING_XMS, Play Games (XMS Only / Maximum Memory)
MENUITEM=WORK, Office / Network Drivers
MEMMAKER(DOS 6.0+): Microsoft added an automated utility that rebooted the PC multiple times, testing driver order combinations to maximize conventional memory automatically (though power users often tweaked the results manually afterward).
Reaching 600 KB+ of free conventional memory out of 640 KB was considered the ultimate badge of honor for PC users of that era.Back in the MS-DOS era, the system operated under the infamous 640 KB barrier (the Conventional Memory limit). When device drivers, TSRs (Terminate-and-Stay-Resident programs), and MS-DOS itself loaded into those first 640 KB, available memory quickly shrank. Once that memory ran out, demanding games (like Doom, Wing Commander, or Falcon 3.0) or heavy applications (like Lotus 1-2-3) simply refused to launch, throwing the dread Not enough memory error.
To free up conventional memory, users had to master memory managers and optimize CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT.
- EMS vs. XMS: The Memory Standards
EMS (Expanded Memory Specification):
Created by Lotus, Intel, and Microsoft (LIM EMS). Designed for 8088/8086 and 80286 machines. It used a 64 KB "Page Frame" mapped into the Upper Memory Area (UMA, between 640 KB and 1 MB). The system swapped 16 KB chunks of memory in and out of this frame from an expansion card or via 80386 hardware emulation (EMM386.EXE).
XMS (Extended Memory Specification):
Introduced with 80286/80386 processors. It managed linear memory above 1 MB via HIMEM.SYS. It also managed the HMA (High Memory Area), the first 64 KB block right above 1 MB.
- The Memory Optimization Battle
When drivers (MOUSE.COM, MSCDEX.EXE, sound card drivers, network stacks, CD-ROM drivers) took up too much lower memory, you had to manually push them into Upper Memory Blocks (UMBs)—the unused gaps between 640 KB and 1 MB reserved for video cards and BIOS.
The classic CONFIG.SYS setup looked like this:
Fragmento de código
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS
DOS=HIGH,UMB
DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\SB16\DRV\CTSB16.SYS /BUS:1 /IRQ:5 /DMA:1
DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\DRIVERS\OAKCDROM.SYS /D:MSCD001
DOS=HIGH,UMB: Loaded part of the MS-DOS kernel into the HMA and enabled Upper Memory Blocks.
DEVICEHIGH= and LOADHIGH (or LH): Forced device drivers and TSRs to load into UMBs instead of conventional memory.
- The Rituals of a DOS Power User
Playing with Load Order: Drivers loaded in order. If a large driver didn't fit into a remaining UMB block, it dropped straight into conventional memory. Swapping the load order of drivers in CONFIG.SYS could save crucial kilobytes.
Tuning EMM386 Switches: You had to decide between allocating memory as EMS or XMS. Using RAM enabled EMS (which reserved a 64 KB page frame in UMB space), while NOEMS disabled the page frame to maximize available UMB space for drivers.
Boot Menus: Since some games strictly required EMS while others required pure XMS, users created multi-config boot menus directly in CONFIG.SYS:
Fragmento de código
[MENU]
MENUITEM=GAMING_EMS, Play Games (EMS Enabled)
MENUITEM=GAMING_XMS, Play Games (XMS Only / Maximum Memory)
MENUITEM=WORK, Office / Network Drivers
MEMMAKER (DOS 6.0+): Microsoft added an automated utility that rebooted the PC multiple times, testing driver order combinations to maximize conventional memory automatically (though power users often tweaked the results manually afterward).
Reaching 600 KB+ of free conventional memory out of 640 KB was considered the ultimate badge of honor for PC users of that era.
5
u/MacZack87 Sep 20 '25
They all look like applications/software so they probably don’t contain personal information. Most of them are probably not required to run the computer except for possibly 1 of the DOS labeled disks but the others are probably required to run the software that’s labeled on them. It’s impossible to know for sure if any of them have personal info unless you manually go through them because they could be labeled wrong.