And at least for some old tapes, copying them is a read-once process. You can use an old drive that has been modified to not backtrack and retry on error. It

And at least for some old tapes, copying them is a read-once process. You can use an old drive that has been modified to not backtrack and retry on error. It doesn't help, and makes everything else worse. You run the tape straight through, non-stop, and get three things: some bits of data (if you're lucky), a rewound plastic backing, and a small pile of iron-rich dust.