Commodore 64 Lost Leader

I have a program on tape for the Commodore 64, but the beginning was accidentally erased, wiping out the header. Because the 64 saves its programs twice, I was wondering if there is a way to load the second, undamaged copy.

Joe Monnin

It's true that Commodore computers automatically save programs twice on tape. However, if the tape header has been destroyed, there is very little hope for recovering the lost program. The header contains important information on the type of file and where the data it contains is to be stored. Without this, the LOAD routine won't know how to handle the program.

If the header was intact, but one of the copies of the program was damaged, it's likely that you could still recover the program (see "VIC/64 Tape Aids" in the November 1983 issue of COMPUTE!).