I recently found my MiniDisc Walkman, the Sony MZ-NE410
It's been many a year since I last used it, and as they do Operating Systems have moved on and software for them have been left behind. Luckily, there seems to be quite a few people that still enjoy the MiniDisc, and it only took me a little while to find a way to be able to find out what is on the discs I found with the Walkman and also update what I have on them.
So, let's get on with how I got it working.
To begin with, I had to download a program called Zadig.
Once I had downloaded this, I connected my Walkman to my computer with a USB cable for Windows to discover it. I then ran the zadig software, from the drop-down menu I chose the Walkman and the clicked on the install driver button (Reinstall WCID Driver in the image).
Then, after some searching, I discovered a web app called Web MiniDisc Pro that can connect to the Walkman to update the contents of the disc. This web app only works with a chromium based browser, so sadly not in Firefox as I'd prefer.
You just need to connect the Walkman to the computer, click connect a dialogue box will open, select your Walkman, and the contents of the disc should load. From here you can add, delete, or rename the contents.
While searching, I also found a repository on GitHub for a program written by Gavin Benda called Platinum-MD. This looks nice, and I'll be giving it a go in the next few days.
I have been very surprised as to how easy it has been to get the Walkman working on a more modern system, and thanks to what seems like a very active community around these older audio players they could have a greater life than I thought they had.