2. Handling magnetic discs.
The following are a few do's and don'ts which apply when handling 5.25
inch floppy or 3 inch microdiscs.
Do not touch any part of the disc magnetic surface which is exposed by
the gap in its protective cover.
(5.25
inch flexible discs only).
Keep the disc from being exposed to magnetic fields at all times.
Exposure to a magnetic field for an instant will corrupt the data on the
disc.
Store the data in a dust free area with a temperature not greater than
50°C and away from bright sunlight.
Do not clean a disc with anything other than an approved agent (consult
your dealer).
Do not bend or deform a disc. (5.25 inch flexible discs only).
Try to write on the label before you stick it to the disc jacket, writing
could damage the magnetic surface. (5.25 inch flexible discs only).
Do not open the disc drive front shutter whilst a function is being
executed (when the red/green light on the front of the drive unit is
illuminated.
3. Protecting data on the discs.
You will find that there are certain instructions used for writing data
onto discs such as C O P Y , B A C K U P and SAVE. T h e r e is also the
D E L E T E instruction for completely removing whole files of data.
These instruction make it very easy to destroy large chunks of data and
if it is important data not recorded elsewhere the results can be
catastrophic! As explained previously, every disc (micro or flexible) has
a 'write protection' device, however there is another way you can
protect against loss of data (especially damaged discs) and that is t0
keep copies of all working discs, these copies are commonly known as
'backups' and if 'backups' are tO be useful they need to be regularly
updated depending on how often you change the information on your
working discs.
20
