How to go about accessing old filetypes?

Question

I was recently given a floppy drive with a bunch of files on it from the early 1990s and was instructed to get access all the data.

Unfortunately, these filetypes cannot be accessed by modern software and I am having difficulty finding older software online that is compatible with the files.

For example, one file is a .tbk (I'm pretty sure it's an old toolbook file) but it is in a 16-bit format so the recent versions of toolbooks cannot access it. I run into similar software compatibility issues with the other file formats.

Is there any way to access these files without scouring the internet and other resources for outdated software?

Answer 1

The problem is a lot of those files are going to be binary files that have a specific structure to them, and that structure was designed and possibly only known by the authors of the old software.

Unless you know that structure, getting reliable data out of it will be VERY hard, if not impossible.

Basically, contacting the authors of the software that created the file and asking if they have a way to get them converted to a newer format, may be the only answer.

Alternatively, if you still have the old program version (which you seem to indicate you do not), fire it up in VM running a compatible OS, and hopefully it'll give you a way to export the file in a more common format that you can use.

Answer 2

Most likely, your .tbk file is a Microsoft FoxPro backup file. The latest version of Microsoft FoxPro, 2.6, is supported on Windows 2000.

Assuming you have a copy of FoxPro 2.6, and you're running Windows 7, I would try installing it using Windows XP Mode (a virtual machine).