Using Windows 9x to Manage a Floppy Drive

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Using Windows 9x to Manage a Floppy Drive

• Format a disk and make a system disk using
  Windows 9x
• Copy Disk command using Windows 9x
• Emergency Startup disks

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Formatting a Disk Using Windows 9x
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Formatting a Disk Using Windows 9x
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Copy Disk Command Using Windows 9x
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Emergency Startup Disks (ESD)

• Serves Windows 9x as a rescue disk (floppy disk
  that can be used to start up computer when hard
  drive fails to boot)
• Also contains some Windows 9x diagnostic and
  utility files

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Exchanging and Supporting Floppy Drives

• Problems that can occur with a floppy drive and
  its support system
• How to replace the drive and controller card
• How to add an additional floppy drive to a
  computer system
• Why a floppy drive may not be able to read a disk

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Using Floppy Drive Testing Software

• Diagnostic software
• Nuts Bolts
• TestDrive

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Criteria Tested by Diagnostic Software

• Azimuth skew
• Hub centering
• Hysteresis
• Radial alignment
• Rotational speed
• Sensitivity

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Alignment of Floppy Drive Heads
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When a Floppy Disk Drive Doesnt Work

• Check simple things first

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Common Error Messages

• Non-system disk or disk error
• Invalid or missing COMMAND.COM
• Incorrect DOS version
• Invalid drive specification
• Not ready reading drive A
• General failure reading drive A
• Track 0 bad, disk not usable
• Write-protect error writing drive A

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Replacing a Floppy Drive

• Check that computer and peripherals are working
• Turn off computer and remove cover (Figure 5-12)
• Unplug data cable and power cable from old drive
  and unscrew and dismount drive (Figure 5-13)
• Slide new drive into the bay reconnect data
  cable and power cable (Figure 5-14)
• Turn computer on check setup test the drive

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Check That Computer and Peripherals Are Working

• Turn on computer and verify that it boots to the
  OS with no errors
• Open a program and perform a task from the
  program
• Get a directory listing of files on a floppy disk
  and a CD-ROM
• Do a ScanDisk

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Turn off Computer and Remove Cover
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Unplug Data and Power Cables Unscrew and
Dismount Drive
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Slide New Drive Into Bay Reconnect Cables
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Turn Computer On Check Setup Test the Drive

• If all is well, replace the cover

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Adding a New Drive

• Requirements
• An empty bay
• An extra power cable
• An extra connection on the floppy drive
  controller card
• Slide drive into the bay, screw it down, connect
  the cable and power cable, and change setup

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Removable Drives

• Advantages
• Increase overall storage capacity of a system
• Make it easy to move large files from one
  computer to another
• Serve as a convenient medium for making backups
  of hard drive data
• Make it easy to secure important files
• Can be either external or internal (latter should
  be Plug and Play compliant)
• Consider drop height and half-life

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High-capacity Disk Drives

• 3 ½-inch Zip drive (Iomega)
• SuperDisk LS-120 drive (Imation)

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Zip Drive

• Stores 100 MB or 250 MB of data
• Has a drop height of 8 feet
• Internal
• Costs less than 100
• Uses an IDE interface
• External
• Plugs into a parallel port, a USB port, or a SCSI
  port
• Consider it an add-on, not a replacement for
  standard 3 ½-inch disk drive

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Zip Drive
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SuperDisk

• Holds 120 MB of data
• Is backward compatible with double-density (720K)
  and high-density (1.44 MB) floppy disks
  (advantage over Zip drive)
• Up to 27 times faster than regular floppy drives
• Can be purchased as external (parallel port and
  USB) or internal drives for about 150

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Hard Disk Removable Drives

• E.g., Jaz drives (Iomega)
• Stores 1 GB or 2 GB or data
• Both internal and external models use a SCSI
  connection
• Has a drop height of 3 feet

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Installing an External Removable Drive

• Identify the connectors
• Parallel port
• Turn off PC and connect parallel cable from the
  drive to parallel port on the PC
• USB port
• Connect USB cable to the USB port
• SCSI port
• For a SCSI drive, with SCSI host adapter
  installed, connect SCSI cable to the drive and to
  the SCSI port on the host adapter
• For a SCSI drive, set the drives SCSI ID and set
  host adapter if necessary to recognize an
  external device

continued
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Installing an External Removable Drive

• Check all connections and plug the AC power cord
  for the drive into the wall socket
• Turn on the PC and install the software
• If problems, turn everything off, check all
  connections, power up, and try again

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Chapter Summary

• Data storage on a floppy disk
• Management of data stored on a floppy disk
• Installing a floppy disk drive on a PC
• Prevalence and popularity of floppy drives
• Easy convenience and ready availability
• Low cost of disks
• Proven usefulness and dependability
• How the OS logically views the data stored on a
  floppy disk
• Removable drives