MEET YOUR
OISK
instructions
in the last chapter, you
have
already
powered-up your system
and
inserted an "unfor-
matted"
disk.
Be sure you have
your
DRIVE
DOOR
closed.
Now, type
any letters and press
the
(ENTER)
key so
that:
OK
is the last line on
your screen. (OK
means "OK,
I'm ready to do
something") Now type what you
want it to do. Type:
DSKINI0
and
press
the CENTER) key.
Your Computer
might
print ?SN
ERROR.
If so,
don't
let this bother you.
This "error" simply means you
typed
the com-
mand incorrectly. Type
it again.
Whenever anything goes
wrong, the Computer
will let you
know
immediately with an error mes-
sage. This way you
can correct
the error right
away. If you get
any other
error message besides
SN,
look it up in Appendix G.
It lists
all the error
messages and what to do about
them.
After typing
DSKINI0 (ENTER), you'll hear some
noises from
your disk
drive and its red light will
come on. Sounds
promising . .
.
After about
40
seconds of noises, your Computer
will
then
print OK. It has finished
formatting the
disk. You
can
now store your information.
Remember that
you cannot store anything on an
unformatted
disk.
Whenever you get a new, unfor-
matted
disk,
you need to format it before you can
use it.
Later on,
you
might not remember if a disk has
been
formatted. A quick way to find out
is
to
check
the
directory.
(See "Checking the Master
Direc-
tory"
at the end of this Chapter.) If you get
an
"error message''
the disk is not formatted.
Note: It does no harm
to
reformat a disk.
Thin
common way to erase everything on it.
If you
have more
than one disk drive, you can for-
mat a
disk
in one of the other drives by
substitut-
ing the appropriate drive number
for
drive
0.
For
example, DSKINI1 formats the
disk
in drive 1.
PUTTING A FILE ON YOUR
DISK
A disk file
can
contain any kind of
information
—
a
program,
a
mailing list, an essay, some checks.
We'll make your first file contain a BASIC
pro-
gram, since it's the simplest thing to store.
If you don't know how to program in
BASIC,
type
this program anyway. Type each line exactly as it
is
shown
below. Press
the (ENTER) key after typing
each
line.
Type:
10 PRINT "STORE ME IN A DISK FILE" (ENTER)
20 PRINT "AND YOU'LL NEUER LOSE ME" (ENTER]
Finished?
Now
that you've
typed the program into
your Computer's
"memory," you can put it on a
disk. To
do
this,
we'll
call
it
a
file and name the file
"SIMPLE/PRO" (all files
have
a
name). To
store it,
type:
SAME
"SIMPLE/PRO"
[ENTER)
Once you press the (ENTER) key, your
disk
drive will
whirr and grind some and the red
light
on it
will
come on. Your Computer is:
•
finding
a
place
on the disk to store "SIMPLE/
PRO"
•
telling the directory where
"SIMPLE/PRO"
will
be stored.
•
storing
"SIMPLE/PRO" on your disk.
Note: The
Computerstores
"SIMPLEPRO" the same
way it stores everything else
—
in a code
of
magnetic
charges.
At this point, we must warn you about
something.
Do not remove your disk while you see the
red
light on. This confuses the Computer. It might dis-
tort
the contents, not only of the file you are pres-
ently storing, but of other things you have stored
on the disk.
When your Computer
finishes storing "SIMPLE/
PRO,"
it
prints
the
OK message on your screen.
8
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