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Drives and Drive Media
Understanding Drive and
Drive Media Terms
Hard drives are for the permanent storage of data files and of
software such as system files, applications, and drivers. A hard
drive is sometimes called a hard disk drive.
Diskette drives support diskettes, which are used to store or
transport data. The notebook can read or write to any diskette.
A diskette drive is sometimes called a floppy disk drive.
Optical drives include CD and DVD drives. Optical drives
support CDs and DVDs, often called discs, which are used to
store or transport data and to play music and movies. DVDs have
higher capacities than CDs. The notebook can read or write to
optical drives as described in the following table.
Optical Drive
Read Write
CD-ROM drive Yes No
DVD-ROM drive Yes No
CD-RW drive Yes Yes
DVD/CD-RW drive Yes Yes
A drive designation is a letter of the alphabet that the notebook
uses to identify the drive. To display the drive designation of all
the drives in the system, select Start > My Computer.
A diskette or disc that can be inserted or removed from a drive is
referred to as a drive medium. For example, the term drive media
includes diskettes, CDs, and DVDs.
5-2 Startup and Reference Guide