I now offer a more comprehensive service than anyone else attempting a like task, at a more professional,
totally confidential and cheaper price, with the converted discs posted back to you within four hours of receiving
them (this applies to overseas customers as well), so you have no need to look elsewhere.
I am also happy to entertain you at my home whilst I convert your precious discs and there is no extra charge
for tea or coffee, but do bring your own cake.
Smoking by visitors is permissible whilst I convert the discs, but not mandatory!

Any profits made are ploughed back into PCW preservation.

Note: I am now receiving so many defective discs for conversion, which have to be tested and returned,
that it has become necessary to charge £1 per faulty disc to cover costs which, to be fair I feel, should not be
passed onto others with increased prices.

NB. Please ensure that your file or group names do not contain any punctuation marks (other than the full stop
before the suffix) or dollar signs as I am normally unable to convert these to DOS as it will not recognize them ---
you should not use them anyway, in your file names! - eight letters/numerals plus three for the suffix at maximum.
I will change the odd one that has slipped through for you at no charge, but if there is a lot, then you will have to pay
as it can only be done one at a time. Still unsure what will or what will not convert -- contact me.

Locoscript 4 users please note: you will need to convert your discs to Locoscript 3 (for how, see your manual)
prior to sending to me, but for those of you who can not, for whatever reason, I am now able to transfer
Locoscript 4 files to PC format (either as R.T.F. files or Word documents) using a new process so the extra
charge will only be £1 per disc and it does not matter if the disc contains other versions of Locoscript.

NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE LOCOSCRIPT. Whilst most of the data conversions received from
outside of Great Britain and Ireland are in the English language it has been proven that, for example,
French Locoscript, converts happily to French PC Rich Text Format using my English language conversion programs.
Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish Locoscript also converts to PC Rich Text Format
with only the loss of a few special characters which, I am informed, can easily be reinstalled by editing on the PC.
I will be happy to attempt any non-English language Locoscript data conversions at a special price,
just so as to increase my information database --- contact me.
Judging from the success with the Hebrew Language Locoscript files, it might be possible, for example,
to create discImages of Cyrillic and other language types, on PCW discs not previously convertible, so they can be read again.

HEBREW LOCOSCRIPT. Whilst it is not possible to convert Hebrew Locoscript
in the normal way, it has been found that if a discImage is created, then your files can be viewed again.
If you are not able to handle the discImages I supply, then the following company can undertake this work for you:-
Tic Tac Technologies Ltd.
Data Recovery and Computer Forensics.
http://www.tictac.co.il
Tel: 972-3-6131555
Fax: 972-3-6131999
Mobile: 972-52-2877477
email: yoav@tictac.co.il
10, Hataas St. Ramat Gan 52512. Israel.

MINI OFFICE. Text documents created in the word processing section of the PCW version of Mini Office
will transport to the PC and only require a little editing once saved as a MS Word Document.
When you open your text file in Word (only tested in 2000 but should be the same in any other version) a box
will appear asking you to 'choose the encoding to use for loading this file' and 'Unicode (UTF-8)'
will be selected so just click the 'OK' button. Your document will then appear, save it as a 'Word Document File'
and edit as required.
Regretfully this does not apply to Mini Office Spreadsheet or Database files, but it should be possible to create a DiscImage.

DATABASES/SPREADSHEETS.
Conversion of Locofile database files are no problem but other types of database conversions never produce a satisfactory result. Unless you are happy to sift through a load of gobbledygook and pick out your data, please do not trouble to send the discs.
It is possible in many cases to convert data generated by various PCW genealogical databases (such as Genny and Personal Ancestral File) when their files have been saved as Gedcom files (Genealogical Data Communications) the industrial standard as devised by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and then convert these files to HTML files using the Ged4Web program -- click on the icon for more details of Gedcom files and Ged4Web. . There are other programs available that do the same or a similar job as Ged4Web, the choice is yours.

APPLE MACINTOSH OWNERS.
A special program is provided with the later Macintosh computers which allows them to read and write diskettes which have been formatted for use by PC/MSDOS equipment. This allows files to be transferred between these two different environments but does not allow programs written for the Macintosh to be run on a PC/MSDOS machine or the reverse. It will only allow files to be transferred, read or written to.
I do not own an Apple Macintosh, so I can not offer to do the job for you, but do click on the icon and follow the advice offered, as it could be of help.
NB. Many modern Apple Macintosh machines only have a CD Rom drive and lack a 3.5 inch floppy disc drive, therefore do please inform me if this is so in your case, so I may place your data on the correct media.

READING CONVERTED FILES -- HELP LEAFLET.
I have now realized that there is a need for me to supply information on how
to open the files supplied on the PC formatted discs or CD that you will receive.
A copy is available, by clicking on the Icon for you to print off.

WORD 2007

If using Wood 2007 then you are on your own regarding opening the files I send, as this program contains many issues regarding backward compatibility. You will need to read the manual or contact the dealer, who sold you the program, for instructions how to do it. I do not intend to purchase a copy of Word 2007 to enable the offering of instructions on how to open R.T.F. files, but if someone wishes to donate a copy to me then, of course, this will be a different matter..

PCW 3 INCH 180K AND 720K DISCS COPIED TO PcW 3.5 INCH 720K DISCS
Prices are £1-50 for first disc, subsequent discs £1 each. Price includes the transfer, supply of 3.5 inch disc(s), return of your 3 inch disc(s) and postage. (N/A to the PcW16)

PcW 3.5 INCH DISCS COPIED TO PCW 3 INCH DISCS.
Prices are £2 per disc if one 3 inch disc is used or £3 if the 3.5 inch disc needs two 3 inch discs to hold all the transferable data. Price includes supply of 3 inch disc(s), the transfer, return of your 3.5 inch disc(s) and postage. (N/A to the PcW16)

PCW 5.25 INCH DISCS CONVERTED TO PC DOS FORMAT.
I am able to copy your PCW 5.25 inch 720K discs to PC format in the same way as with the 3 inch or 3.5 inch discs. Prices and conditions are the same as for the other sized discs. Contact me should want to avail yourself of this service.

PCW HARD DISC DRIVE FILES CONVERTED TO PC FORMAT.
I can copy Locoscript data files from your PCW Hard Drive and then convert them to PC Rich Text Format files even if your machine is no longer working. I will , of course, only need your Hard Drive (with all it's fitments) if detachable from your machine, otherwise you will have to send or deliver the machine it is fitted to. You will need to contact me prior to sending anything, to discuss possible problems and costs.

NOTES FOR PcW16 USERS + DISC CONVERSION PRICING.

If your machine is still working then you do not need my services as you can convert your data files, stored on your 3.5 inch discs, to either ASCII (America Standard Code for Information Interchange) or RTF (Rich Text Format), the latter will require less editing, and then place your disc in a PC and read it (the PcW16 manual does tell you this). You would be wise to do this anyway even if your machine is working fine!.
For those of you with non-working machines, I can help but I will have to convert your PcW16 files to ASCII or RTF (this can only be done one file at a time) so the charge will be 30 pence per file plus £3-50 for the first disc and £3 thereafter. Although you can not read the contents of your files on a PC, without first converting them, you can open the disc and count the files!

PC WORD DATA FILES CONVERTED TO PCW DATA FILES.
Price for this service is by negotiation. Please note this is a time consuming task and will not be cheap.

NON-PCW 3 INCH DRIVE MACHINES.
My services are also available for Amstrad CPC and Spectrum +3 data discs. Please note you will need to convert your files to ASCII
prior to sending to me although many are already in this format, check with the program's manual.

CONVERTED FILES RETURNED IN A ZIP FILE.
For those of you wanting complete safety in the transportation of their converted files, I can offer to send them in ZIP format.
I use WINZIP 10. therefore you will need this or something similar to unZip them at your end.
This is not an alternative to returning on a CD or disc(s), so you can have the files Zipped at a no extra charge.

YOUR DATA DISC FILES TRANSFERRED TO CD
I offer a transfer service to Compact Disc. The costing is the same as for the floppy disc. The CD will be required for most modern Apple Mac's.

ASCII FILES.
If your data has been transferred as ASCII files, either at your request or because this is the only way the files will transfer, then to ease the tedious task of deleting all the extraneous coding, I offer three useful small and free programs to automatically convert ASCII files to either RTF or HTML files for you. Click here to download the ZIP file containing this ASCII to RTF program. For two alternative programs that convert TEXT / ASCII files into HTML or RTF files click here or here to download either Zip file. There are other programs available for purchase or for free which do a similar or better job, you just need to hunt for them.
* Be warned * that to make a legible document out of an ASCII file is extremely time consuming and irksome, but this is normally the only way of transferring some types of data between two incompatible computers!

DO NOTE:
Those of you sending defective discs to have the data transferred will, of course, have to pay £1 per disc, as these require work on my part and return postage has to be paid!

FILE RECOVERY FROM DAMAGED DISCS.
I do not undertake data file salvage work, so please do not send known damaged/corrupt discs to me for file recovery. I have neither the equipment, the time or the interest to carry out this extremely time consuming and tedious task.

DISC INFORMATION / CARE.
All discs (especially 3 inch) should be stored in their plastic or card cases, from new, in a dust and damp proof container and away from any magnetic fields, otherwise do not be surprised if I have to return them as not readable.
There has been many issues of poor quality 3 inch blank discs and if you were the unfortunate purchaser of these discs do not be shocked to receive them back marked 'Rubbish', as they do not survive the ravishes of time. If you purchased genuine Amsoft or Maxell discs and looked after them, then you have a good chance of a successful transfer. Look at your discs and if you can see either 'Made in Japan' or a 'serial number' just above the disc label then you probably have a good disc, provided it has been protected against the elements. Other Makers such as Panasonic and Tatung issued blank discs and these are normally found to last.

PAYMENT NOTE:
Please sent cheque or postal order made payable to: J.King -- with your details and the disc(s) for transfer.

Disc conversions are completed and returned:- the same day.

No reason to wait, send the discs now whilst fresh in your mind - you will not find a better deal anywhere!.

Print this web page for your reference as it contains a lot of information which could be missed whilst
browsing on-line -- you can also use it to compare prices. If things are still not clear as to what will or will
not be returned to you when I do the conversion/transfer, please feel free to Telephone or E-mail me and ask.