Exult Forum

Hi, I have a copy of Ultima VII, however I only have it on those 5 inch floppy disks....and as we all know, that isn't compatible with anything out today. My computer is too up to date for Ultima VII to be installed from those disks, and I have no way of getting a disk copy of Ultima VII, as they are IMPOSSIBLE to find ):
So, I do own Ultima VII.....just..on floppies...which is no help to me. I've kept the original box, maps, instructions, promos, disks, everything for at least 6 years now in my room in perfect condition, and I long to play this game so bad!
Can anyone help me out!?

Contact Origin or EA. This is not the place to ask for this.
I *DO* understand your problem, but we can't help you.

Oh, what would they do for me?
I thought of that, but I didn't really think they would do much.
Do they send me disks?

Nope, probably not. But they are the only ones you can ask. Certainly not here.

Back in the olden days, 7-8 years ago, I found a copy of Martian Dreams at a used-software store. One of the disks was bad, and Origin sent me a replacement at no cost, and without even any proof that I had a legal copy. But that was the old Origin, before EA took them apart.

Still, it doesn't hurt to ask, and you'll be letting EA know that there's still a demand for the old games. Lots of other games from that era are being re-released for around $10, and I don't see why EA doesn't do that for Ultima.

You can get some cheap USB floppy drives at some places. If all the disks are working, there is a way to extract the contents.

Or maybe someone could find you an appropriate floppy drive. There are some computer junk shops which carry very old equipment. There are several of them where I live, but this is Mexico.

I bought a 3 1/2 inch floppy for US$3.50 about a year ago at a computer junk shop. Definately a good buy .

If you call EA, they will either:

a. Ask "What's an Ultima?"

or

b. Send you a copy of "Ultima Online: Samurai Empire"

I know it's one of those hot topics which shouldn't be really discussed here, nonetheless it seems that I can't contact Jordin by hotmail, so ... there is only ONE case where it's legal to download a copy of commercial software (or firmware, too): when you DO own the original. If you own the game, you bought it and paid for it, you're entitled to own as many copies of it as you want, coming from whatever source you prefer - as long as you own them for your PERSONAL USE only.

Am I wrong?

yes, you are wrong. It's what common sense tells you but not what the law says. To learn exactly what the law says, you have to ask a lawyer of your country.
For example if you buy a new PC with Windows preinstalled but not with an actual setup CD, only with recovery CDs, it doesn't entitle you to download Windows. Not legally.

I think it would have been nicer to tell the original poster he's SOL instead of "contact EA."

Oh, wow, that is so cool! Ultima VII with all of the goodies, on 5.25" floppies nonetheless...I think the last game I ever played on one of those was Number Crunchers for the Apple IIe...?

Anyway, if you've your heart set on playing the game, I think your best bet is to find and install a floppy drive and install the game that way. 5.25" drives aren't too hard to find (not as hard to find as a new copy of Ultima VII, for sure) and are fairly affordable (from what I've seen...~$5-$35?).

I know...buying and installing a disk drive to play *one game*, right? But, sooner or later, I'm sure you'll grow to love Diskie. He'll be like a member of the family.

You might encounter difficulties installing the game onto a newer computer (I do anyway, and I have the CD-ROM), but if you can get the data off the diskettes, you should be able to run Ultima VII.

Contacting EA won't hurt, but it'll probably be wholly unsuccessful, I'm sorry to say. Then again...you might get lucky! If you're looking for a legal replacement, they really are the only ones who can help (aside from buying another copy of the game altogether).

I also hope that the floppies didn't have a freak magnet attack or something...it would be such a shame if one of them (or all of them) had been corrupted somehow. That always seems to be my luck whenever I find a game that involves multiple diskettes.

The other day, one of my co-workers arrived with an 8" drive. It's a monstruosity so big I dared to call it "mini washing machine". He put it as decoration for his cubicle. Those are really hard to find. 5.25" drives should be easy.

I've got a 5.25" in a machine just so I could get games off of old disks. Of course that machine is about 200 km away from me setup as a linux gateway, but if the need arises I can still use it to read old dos disks.

hah, my 5.25" drive is 700km aways. I *think* the last time I used it I installed the Savage Empire. Ages ago. Since I didn't take it with me to Vienna it must have been over 7 years ago.

My 5.25 inch drive is about 10.000 kms away, back in Atlantic Canada. Winner is me? I had it installed in the same computer I had running Windows XP. It got a few good laughs while I was in University. Also, if you do locate 5.25" disk drive, I suggest using dosbox (dosbox.sf.net) for installation.

Gruck, you are the winner in our geek contest

Mine is 15cms away. Do I win the other end of the contest?

I still have a "duo" drive, with slots for both 3.5 and 5.25 floppies. Haven't used it for years, though.

Heh, I remember those. Did they use only one connector? (internal ribbon) Or still two? Would be a very nice space saver.

Do a search for "the complete ultima vii", there are a few online merchants that have for around $20. Much easier than trying to get it off old disks that might be corrupted anyway.

Sorry to dig this one up, but would anyone be interested in a full set of last-I-checked-working 5.25 disks with box for Timequest? lol

I wish I had nicked the set of ultima 4 (I think) disks they had at work, no one wanted and they got tossed, but no one asked me. Even had the cloth map and ankh, spellbook and guidebook. Argh.

Oh well, they didn't know...

Nooo!