Appendix
D
Storage Media
(continued)
A
diskette can store up to
360
kilobytes
of
information (one kilobyte
is equivalent
to
approximately
one
thousand characters). This infor-
mation is recorded
on
concentric tracks on the diskette. There are
forty such tracks on each side
of
the diskette, and each track is divided
into several sectors. When you format a diskette, you are actually
having DOS set up these tracks and sectors on the diskette. During
the format procedure, DOS also sets up a directory on the diskette.
In the directory, DOS keeps a catalog of every
file
stored on the
diskette. It records the file name
of
each file and also the tracks and
sectors on which each file can be found.
There is a write protect notch on one edge
of
most diskettes. If you
cover this notch with a tab, the computer will be unable to record
anything on the diskette. Thus, if you put a write protect tab on an
important diskette, you will make
it
impossible to accidentally erase
or alter any
of
the files on that diskette.
You
can always remove the
tab from a write protected diskette
if
you later decide to alter its
contents. Applications programs often come on diskettes that have
no write protect notch. Such diskettes are permanently write protected.
D-2
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