Thanks for the info guys. I'm loath to spend any money (ever) but I have thought of three things I could try...
1. The other a1200's have hd with a non standard os on them, can't remember what it's called...I have the box but again, no original disks. Would I be able to use this to maybe make a ghost image and port it over to the other hd?
2. What about using a null modem cable between the amiga and the pc, ftp'ing the workbench files over to the amiga hd (which needs formatting first, I think)...
3. Would an emu like winua be able to format a floppy on the pc in the correct format then transfer the files from the pc to floppy and then onto the amiga?
Whatcha think?