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Preparing the Drive
Before you can store data on a new hard disk (which has
already been physically formatted), you must do the following
to prepare it for use:
1.
Run the SETUP program to define your hard disk as part of
the computer’s configuration. (See Chapter 2 for
instructions.)
2.
Partition and format the drive for your operating system. If
you are using MS-DOS, instructions for performing these
procedures are provided in your MS-DOS manuals. If you
are using another operating system, follow the instructions
that came with it.
If you do not prepare the drive correctly, you cannot store data
on the disk. For example, if you partition the drive and format
it for MS-DOS (or for another operating system) but you do not
copy the operating system to the drive, you will not be able to
load the operating system from the hard disk.
If you are sure the hard disk was installed properly and you
prepared it for use as described above but you cannot access
the drive, review the instructions in your operating system
manuals. Make sure you performed each step in the installation
process correctly for your configuration.
Accessing Data on the Drive
If you have been using your hard disk drive successfully for
some time and notice a reduction in performance, the data on
the disk may have become fragmented. You may want to back
up all your data and then use a disk compaction utility to
reorganize the files on your disk. Many general utility
programs include a disk compaction utility.
6-16 Troubleshooting