  Third-party software and hardware? 
 The Question is:
 
I've been successfully using a third party backup software package (Touch RDF)
 for years.  I've recently purchased new backup tapes (Sony 8mm QG-112M) to
 replace my old tapes (same tapes, but over 7 years old).  Do these tapes need
 to be initialized one a
t a time before they're usable?
 
We currently have 10 bay tape silo (made by Enhance Systems) connected to a
 MicroVax 3100 running VMS V5.4-2 (backup server) with 3 other VAXes (running
 VMS V5.5-2) as backup clients.
 
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
Thank-you kindly.
 
 The Answer is:
 
  The OpenVMS Wizard is not familiar with the requirements of these
  storage widgets nor these software packages.  Assuming there is no
  available product documentation nor service available, reinitialize
  the tapes with the same tape labels and (if the loader device uses
  any sort of optical markers) with the same external tape labeling.
 
