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Using a single diskette drive
An operating system expects the computer to have at least two physical
diskette drives, and it displays prompts and messages accordingly. If your
system has only one diskette drive, MS-DOS treats your single drive like two
logical drives. This helps you perform operations that normally require two
diskette drives.
For example, if you give a command to copy from one drive to another,
MS-DOS copies from the first diskette you place in the drive to the
computer’s memory. Then MS-DOS prompts you to insert another diskette
and copies from memory to the diskette you place in the drive. When
copying is complete, you see a prompt to insert the original diskette.
Because you may swap diskettes this way often, it is easy to forget which
diskette is which. One way to avoid accidentally losing data is to hold the
diskette for one drive in your left hand and the diskette for the other in your
right. You should also label the diskettes so that you know which is the
original and which is the backup copy. Another safeguard you should take is
to write-protect your source diskette so you don’t accidentally copy to it.
Using a Hard Disk Drive
Unlike a diskette, a hard disk is rigid and fixed in place. It is sealed in a
protective environment free of dust and dirt, so you cannot see it. A hard
disk stores data the same way as a diskette, only it works faster and has a
much larger storage capacity.
Using a hard disk reduces the number of diskettes you need and eliminates
much of the diskette-swapping you do when you use diskettes. You can
do almost all your work on the hard disk and copy your files to diskettes
whenever you need to make backups or transfer data to another computer
system. However, to ensure you always have plenty of space available, keep
only files you use regularly on the hard disk. Store your other files on
diskettes.
There are certain things you must do to prepare a new hard disk. These are
explained in Chapter 2. Make sure you have completed all the procedures in
that chapter before using your hard disk for the first time.
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