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Keep disks away from magnetic fields. (Remember that disks store their
information magnetically.) There are many sources of magnetism in and
around your home or office, such as electrical appliances and tele-
phones, and particularly loudspeakers.
Keep disks in a moderate environment. They work best at normal room-
temperature and humidity conditions. Never leave them sitting in the
sun, or in extreme cold or heat. The temperature inside a car in the
middle of summer or winter can cause severe damage.
Never touch the diskette’s magnetic surface. The oils on your fingertips
can damage the surface of the disk. Always hold disks by their protective
jackets. On a 720KB diskette, do not expose the diskette’s surface by
sliding the metal plate.
Store diskettes properly. Keep them in their protective envelopes when
they are not in use, and store them in a diskette container.
Do not place anything on top of your disks. They bend easily and do not
rotate properly in their sleeves if they are damaged.
Never wipe, brush, or try to clean diskettes in any way.
Be careful when you label your diskettes. Attach labels firmly but gently,
and only along the top of the disk (next to the manufacturer’s label).
Avoid placing several labels on top of one other. They may prevent the
diskette from spinning freely in the disk drive.
It is best to write on the label before placing it on the disk. Use only soft-
tip pens, not ballpoint pens or pencils, to write on a label that is already
attached to a disk.
Do not remove a diskette or turn off the computer while the drive light is
on. This light indicates that the computer is copying data to or from a
disk. If you interrupt this process, you can destroy data.
Remove all diskettes before you turn off the computer.
If you have a hard disk drive, you should also take these additional precau-
tions:
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Never turn off the power to the computer when the hard disk LED lamp
is on. This LED indicates that the computer is in the middle of reading
from or writing to the disk. If you interrupt this process, you can lose
data.
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