Help! Getting games onto OLD laptop!

[Soylent]

Hey everyone!
First post!

I recently ordered a Toshiba Satellite Pro 430CDT on eBay... how do I transfer games over onto it? I have a few iso's downloaded and burned onto CDs to use in the CD drive... but as I do not any floppy disks and the toshiba does not come with a floppy drive, how do I transfer older games to the Toshiba? I have a WIN95 virtual machine on my modern PC to download floppy images to install games onto the vm... but how could I transfer the game files to the laptop?

The games I would like to play (I am a broke teenager and so I can only get free downloads of these games fyi):
GTA (1997)
SimCity 2000
Doom(2)
Stunts (4d Sports Driving)
Cannon Fodder
Skyroads
Commander Keen
(those are the high priority ones)

[MrFlibble]

Hi!

A Satellite Pro should have an external floppy drive, maybe one is available for purchase in good condition.

What problem does it have with the CD-ROM drive so that you cannot use that to transfer files?

[K1n9_Duk3]

If the laptop has a CD drive then burning the files onto a CD would be the most straightforward option, assuming you have enough CD-Rs. Rewritable CDs might be more economic in the long run, but old CD drives may not be able to read them correctly.

If your laptop has PCMCIA slots, you could try installing a PCMCIA network card and connecting your laptop to another PC or file server. PCMCIA card readers for CompactFlash or SD cards might also be an option.

If you have other computers that still have serial or parallel ports, you could use those to connect the machines and transfer files.

And finally, you could remove the HDD from the laptop and connect it to a modern machine (using a USB to IDE adapter, for example). And while you're at it, you might want to consider replacing the old HDD with a CF to IDE or an SD to IDE adapter. If you go the SD route, you can also get an SD extension cable that might allow you to have the SD hard hanging out of the laptop for quick and easy access.

You'll have to decide for yourself what would be the most cost effective and convenient way.

[Soylent]

Thanks so much everyone!
I do have a usb/ide converter for an old external drive I have... that would probably be the best way... Where is the best place to download the games I am looking to play?

[DOSGuy]

The specs don't mention support for reading CD-R and CD-RW. Early CD-ROM drives couldn't read recordable CDs because they didn't reflect as much light as CD-ROMs.

The specs indicate that you can attach an external floppy, but you'd have to find one. They also mention a PC Card slot, which you could use to connect a modem or network card to connect to the internet or a home network. If there's a PC Card that adds a USB port, you could use a thumb drive or external hard drive. There's also a 9-pin serial port which could use a null modem cable to connect to another computer to establish a terminal connection for file transfer. Finally, you could take the hard drive out of it and connect it to another computer to put files onto it.

[MrFlibble]

I actually had a Satellite Pro and I remember using a parallel port cable once to transfer a large file to another PC. I did not suggest this because I'm not sure if modern computers even still have a parallel port to begin with, or if such cables are still available for purchase.

[griffithkortemeier]

I can think of making a disk image with different programs, such as Diamond Tools or something like that. Another option is to try the following. Here is a site called salvagedata. You can use it to recover data ranging from business documents to game files. Try their services. They might be able to help you. It's just that I've honestly encountered such problems, as I've somehow always managed to solve problems with my laptop quite easily. I looked at a couple of tutorials on YouTube and fixed it. But you have a special case, so try what I told you, and if it does not help, then take it to the service center.