Old piece of software ,driver needed
 

I have a piece of kit I bought for my first "Notebook"computer many moons ago.Now all the driver and bits were on floppies and do not work anymore as my laptop has no hole for floppies!!!
The piece of kit is a "Backpack "model 164700 and the company was www.Microsolutions.com they do not appear to be in business anymore,can anyone help!!!

USB floppy drive?

What Mike-Bracknell says, although I suspect you may have compatability issues trying to use drivers from the dark ages on a new OS.

Using the Micro Solutions Backpack CD-ROM Drive w/ Windows NT

Using the Micro Solutions Backpack CD-ROM Drive w/ Windows NT

And download drivers from: http://www.micro-solutions.com/

Erm ..... gg....

Did you actually visit the micro-solutions dot com site ?

It's one of those PPC spam sites..... seems like the domain was abandoned by its original owner some time ago.

I had a quick glance at it just to see if it connected , but I didn't play with it I must admit. :(


Bit more info:

Backpack CD-ROM (External/Parallel Port) from Micro Solutions
The Backpack CD-ROM drive has a proprietary parallel port interface and is not automatically recognized by Windows or Windows NT 3.51 and 4.0. Current Backpack CD-ROM drive models can use a 32-bit protected-mode driver obtainable from the manufacturer for compatibility with Windows and Windows NT 3.51 and 4.0. This driver can be downloaded from the Software Library at Micro Solutions' Web site at:
http://www.micro-solutions.com
This 32-bit driver loads under SCSI Devices and appears in Device Manager in Windows or Control Panel in Windows NT.

The Backpack CD-ROM drive 16-bit real-mode driver can also be used as an alternative in Windows if it is loaded in the Config.sys file and Mscdex.exe (or equivalent) is loaded in the Autoexec.bat file. Early models of Backpack CD-ROM drives (single-speed model 160550 and double- speed model 162550) must use the 16-bit driver, as they are not compatible with Micro Solutions' 32-bit driver. Therefore, these early models of Backpack CD-ROM drives are not compatible with Windows NT 3.51 or 4.0.

If Windows or Windows NT still does not access the Backpack CD-ROM drive, or for information about driver parameters, configuration options, or Windows NT installation steps, please refer to the driver documentation or check the Technical Support area of Micro Solutions' Web site at http://www.micro-solutions.com before you call Micro Solutions.

This site seems better it says membership is free, and appears to have the drivers, worth having a sniff around. : Micro Solutions Drivers - Micro Solutions Windows Drivers

I would have a rummage around DriverGuide - XP Drivers, Windows 7 Drivers, Printer Drivers, Audio Drivers, CDROM Drivers, Network Drivers, USB Drivers, Device Drivers, Driver Downl. This is a pretty good place to start a search for defunct drivers.

My Micro-solutions BackPack CD and Harddisk were so slow. IIRC the read rate was x2. I tried using it with a Windows ME laptop a few years back and gave up.
Go for a USB one.

Backpack
 

Thanks all for the info.I guess having a (almost)mint piece of equipent and not being able to use it really niggles!I changed my laptop back to XP from windows 7 to be able to use a device for putting videos onto your PC!You cannot get drivers for it after XP !!Planned obsolescence!!!?

Not so much planned obsolescence as unfortunate incompatibility. It would not be obsolescent if you were running Windows for Workgroups 3.51 or whatever with a 486 and so forth! Not being facetious either.

Also, as far as I know my decidedly mediocre broadband connection is considerably faster than that drive :}