It sounds to me that you will eventually need to reinstall a system, or at least update to a later one via a Clean Install.
However, if I understand you correctly, you want to get some personal files (video clips etc.) off of the drive before going any further, so as to be safe and make sure that you preserve them (though frankly, a simple Clean Install without drive reformat should not hurt them at all).
If so, do you have another old Mac around that could be used to create a new boot floppy, and to which the 520c could be networked via ethernet or localtalk? You need the Network Access Disk image (search, it's there), and to create a floppy from it.
Boot the 520c from the Network Access Disk (floppy), connect to the other machine over AppleTalk, and backup the whole drive or those files you want before proceeding further. The Network Access Disk runs a cut-down version of System 7.5, with the requisite network extensions for connecting to an AppleShare volume. This is, among other things, useful for doing a software installation to the hard drive of the machine you are working on, without needing to create a bazillion actual floppies. It is arguably the single most useful floppy disk to have around if working with machines from approximately the 1988-96 era.
Saw your other post. My interest begins to wane with the G3s too, and a 9600 would be ... perfection.
Does this sound like a plan?
However, if I understand you correctly, you want to get some personal files (video clips etc.) off of the drive before going any further, so as to be safe and make sure that you preserve them (though frankly, a simple Clean Install without drive reformat should not hurt them at all).
If so, do you have another old Mac around that could be used to create a new boot floppy, and to which the 520c could be networked via ethernet or localtalk? You need the Network Access Disk image (search, it's there), and to create a floppy from it.
Boot the 520c from the Network Access Disk (floppy), connect to the other machine over AppleTalk, and backup the whole drive or those files you want before proceeding further. The Network Access Disk runs a cut-down version of System 7.5, with the requisite network extensions for connecting to an AppleShare volume. This is, among other things, useful for doing a software installation to the hard drive of the machine you are working on, without needing to create a bazillion actual floppies. It is arguably the single most useful floppy disk to have around if working with machines from approximately the 1988-96 era.
Saw your other post. My interest begins to wane with the G3s too, and a 9600 would be ... perfection.
Does this sound like a plan?