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Which is the best way to run old software and demos on an Amiga 500 nowadays (floppy emulator, SD card reader, etc.)?

Thanks.

Insert the disk?

Unless you mean the source is an ADF or something.

Ehm, yes, the physical media is excluded.

Best way is with an a600 or a1200 with internal compact flash and PCMCIA compat flash. Cheapest most reliable solution there is!

I only have an Amiga 500.

I guess HxC is what you're after here. Trackloaders and that sort of funky stuff don't want to run from a hard drive.

You can use CrossDOS to transfer files using MSDOS formated disks.
There is a version that works even on workbench 1.3 in the coverdisk of Amiga Format #40.

Also you could try Cloanto's Amiga Explorer and a null-modem cable. There is a little bit of info about this method here.

You could expend a little bit of money and try KryoFlux or HxC as Marq suggested.

the HxC rules big time !

Is HxC easy to install or it requires some soldering?

It'll replace the inner floppy drive using the same ribbon and power cable (which probably need to be replaced or extended since they're too short to have the HxC outside). No soldering.

This might be the cheapest option, if you don't mind having another computer around in addition to the Amiga. No experience with it, though, so can't say much about the pros and cons compared to HxC.

Marq: that is the early version of the HxC SD version and works equally good to the SD version. Note that you have to have a Windows machine connected to it.

Amiga Explorer is great!

as im soon to call an a600 my own i asked myself the same question.
i guess the solutions with a flash cart are most convenient, but should i look for a pcmcia slot cf adapter or something for the ide bus?

Using a CF-card and a CF to IDE-adapter as internal HDD is pretty nice, and very cheap.
PCMCIA-CF adapter is also pretty useful when it comes to transfering files. Personally I prefer to use a SD-PCMCIA reader. Tends to be less hassle with dodgy card-readers when using SD-cards.

When it comes to reading/writing ADF-files to and from floppys I find Amiga Explorer and a null-modem cable, or ethernet if possible, is the least painful way. If you don't happen to have a decent floppy-controller that can read/write Amiga-floppys...

wysiwtf: i got a spare pcmcia slot cf adapter. if ya gonna need it just let me know. :)

Hooking the Amiga up to my intranet seems also like a nice move for exchanging files.
So it seems I need an sd or cf card interface for the IDE bus to use as HDD and keep the PCMCIA slot free for an ethernet card.
Any recommendations which one to get?

I've been happy with a 3Com Etherlink III (check the version though). It's a bit hairy to set it up but after that it's worked fine.

kryoflux :)

I believe the case is faulty/non-working/absent 880k floppy, riight?

On the other hand, to get content from old Amy disk I've used THIS with some success, on old 486 DX4 machine and two industrial-grade floppys scavenged from old HP oscilloscopes. I don't know, how this software behaves on modern machines.

@wysiwyf: wifi Amiga PCMCIA guide ( at least for the A1200) HERE