4–2
Hardware Guide
Drives
Understanding Drive Terms
Terms for Types of Drives
A drive that connects to a USB or 1394 connector is a
USB
or
1394 drive.
The drive that comes standard with the notebook is a
fixed hard drive.
A
hard drive
is usually used for the permanent storage of data
files and software such as system files, applications, and drivers.
A hard drive is sometimes called a
hard disk drive.
Disk drives
include diskette drives. Other (optional) external
drives that can be connected to the notebook with either a USB or
1394 connector are
high-capacity disk drives.
Disk drives are
often used to store or transport data. A diskette drive is sometimes
called a
floppy disk drive or floppy drive.
Optical drives
include CD and DVD drives. Optical drives are
used to store or transport data and to play music and movies.
DVD drives have the higher capacity. The notebook can read or
write to optical drives as described in the following table. Optical
drives vary by model.
Terms for Drive Media
A
diskette, disk,
or
disc
that can be inserted or removed from a
drive is referred to as a
drive medium.
In this guide a
diskette
is
used in a diskette drive, a
disk
is used in a high-capacity disk
drive, and a
disc
is used in an optical drive.
Optical Drive
Read
Write
CD-ROM drive
Yes
No
CD-RW drive
Yes
Yes
DVD-ROM drive
Yes
No
DVD-RAM drive
Yes
Yes
DVD/CD-RW drive
Yes
Yes
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Wednesday,
April
17,
2002
11:50
AM
