Retro Computing Archives

Burn marks on a Commodore 64

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing July 8, 2020March 24, 2024

I’ve seen numerous people, including vintage computer enthusiasts on Youtube, find burn marks on a Commodore 64 and get confused by them. What causes these burn marks, and why are they more prevalent on Commodore computers than Apple or IBM? The answer is simple and it’s not that Commodore owners smoked a lot more than owners of other makes.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.

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Wrinkled traces on a Commodore 64 motherboard

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing July 2, 2020May 17, 2022

A frequent question that I see come up on vintage computer forums is whether wrinkled traces on a Commodore 64 motherboard cause problems. Not all boards have this so it’s easy to see why this could be concerning.

The wrinkled traces on old PCBs like Commodore 64 motherboards is an artifact of the manufacturing process. It’s normal and it rarely causes a problem.

Dave Farquhar

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History of Western Digital hard drives

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing June 30, 2020December 5, 2024

Western Digital is one of only three hard drive manufacturers remaining in the computer industry. But their history didn’t start out with making hard drives themselves. Let’s take a look at the history of Western Digital hard drives and what led them from making accessories to making the drives too.

Dave Farquhar

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IEEE-488 and Commodore

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing June 17, 2020June 5, 2026

When Commodore introduced its PET line of personal computers in 1977, they needed a bus to connect peripherals. Rather than do something proprietary, they chose an industry standard, the IEEE-488 bus originally designed by HP. It suited Commodore’s needs at the time, even though it’s pretty obscure today.

Dave Farquhar

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Commodore 8-inch floppy disk drives

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing June 16, 2020June 5, 2026

We don’t typically associate the ginormous 8-inch floppy disks with Commodore. But Commodore produced no fewer than four different models of 8-inch floppy drive for its PET/CBM line of computers.

Dave Farquhar

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What does Unisys do?

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing June 11, 2020December 25, 2024

Unisys was once the second largest computer company in the world, and the name of one of its products, Univac, was briefly synonymous with the word “computer.” It’s no longer the force it once was, but Unisys survives today, in a slimmed-down form.

Unisys still produces computer hardware, including mainframes. But like its rival IBM, it makes most of its money in software, service, and integration.

Dave Farquhar

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Is Windows Unix based?

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing, Software June 9, 2020February 2, 2022

At least two of the most popular operating systems of today are based on Unix. But what about Windows? Is Windows Unix based?

While Windows has some Unix influences, it is not derived or based on Unix. At some points is has contained a small amount of BSD code but the majority of its design came from other operating systems.

Dave Farquhar

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Atari 800 vs 800XL

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing June 4, 2020May 29, 2025

The Atari 800/XL//XE series may be the most underrated 8-bit computer line of the 1970s and 1980s. Yes, I said 1970s, as it debuted in 1979. But while the Atari 800XL is perhaps the most popular machine from that family, and it’s better in most ways than the Atari 800, the 800 has its own advantage too. Let’s look at the Atari 800 vs 800XL.

Dave Farquhar

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Why does reseating RAM work?

Dave Farquhar Hardware, Retro Computing June 3, 2020March 28, 2021

When troubleshooting machines, I was trained to routinely reseat every board and every chip in the case. Especially if there was nothing visibly wrong with the machine, it was amazing how often that worked. So why does reseating RAM work? Why does reseating anything else work?

Reseating works because it improves conductivity. Connectors can get dirty or oxidized, and if that interferes with conductivity, it causes malfunctions.

Dave Farquhar

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Is Aliexpress safe?

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing, Toy trains May 29, 2020May 24, 2020

Aliexpress offers deals on hard-to-find items at unbeatable prices. It also offers deals on ordinary items at lower prices than usual, because it’s coming straight from China, with fewer middlemen. But is Aliexpress safe?

Aliexpress does offer buyer protections. But being overseas and dealing with overseas shipping times does mean Aliexpress is inherently riskier from buying from online sources that are closer to you.

Dave Farquhar

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