How Do I Open 2000 Retrospect Express Backup Cds

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I have 6 CDs which represent an uncompressed full backup made of a Mac PowerBook G3 hard drive in July 2000 using Retrospect Express for Mac.

 

Is there a way to access their files without the original Retrospect software? My current MacBook (running OS 10.6) says these are not readable CDs and asks if I want to format them.

 

Is the problem that the media's gone bad (these were premium Verbatim CD-R discs)? Or do I need a special driver? Or do I need to buy special software?

 

Thanks,

 

A. B.

[Lennart_T]

Finder can't read the CDs. I think optical devices are not supported in Retrospect 8.2. I know that Retrospect 6.1 isn't supported on Snow Leopard. (But it works fine in most cases anyway.)

[twickland]

Is there a way to access their files without the original Retrospect software?

No. Retrospect writes its data in a proprietary format. You need a copy of the software to read it. You will also need to reconstruct the backup set's catalog from the discs, assuming you don't have that catalog tucked away somewhere.

 

If the discs were indeed written in 2000, they would have preceded Retrospect 6, so they would not be readable by the current version of Retrospect, 8.2. You will need to beg, borrow, or steal a copy of an earlier version (ideally 5, but 6 should also work).