Hello,
I'm sure this is a simple question for someone more familiar with ftape
and tapes in general. I just received a number of Imation Travan TR3
tapes in the mail via an online purchase from an individual. They were
supposed to be new and in their sealed plastic wraps, but two of them were
opened and obviously had been used. The seller agreed to replace those,
but now I am suspicious of the wrapped ones as well. They are wrapped,
but the plastic looks a bit frumpy, and the red tabs are stuck flat not
separated from the rest of the plastic as I am used to seeing. If the
seller tried to pass off obviously used tapes as new - whats to stop him
from repackaging used tapes as well? So that brings me to my question.
Is there a way to tell if a tape has been used by examining its
contents? I understand that a used tape that has been only "erased", will
still have the data on it. The erasure only wipes out the header blocks,
right? Could I somehow read some of the tape - even though I have no idea
what type of archives were on it to see if it looked like data? What
should be on a brand new tape? I'd like to be able to determine if the
tapes have been used. Help from anyone would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
E.C. Short
