Caring For Your Disks And Disk Drives - Epson Equity III User Manual

If you have two drives of different types and want to copy from one
diskette to another of the same type, you need to use MS-DOS to change
your system's drive configuration. You do this by inserting the MS-DOS
command DRIVER.SYS in a configuration file. See "Device Drivers" in
Chapter 7 of your MS-DOS manual for instructions.
You can copy files between a hard disk and any type of diskette. See your
MS-DOS or other software manual for instructions on how to copy files.

Caring for your Disks and Disk Drives

To avoid damaging floppy and hard disks, you need to care for them
properly. Take these precautions to avoid losing data:
Keep disks away from dust and dirt. Small particles of dust or dirt
scratch the magnetic surface and can destroy data. Dust can also ruin
the read/write heads in a disk drive.
Keep disks away from magnetic fields. (Remember that disks store data
magnetically.) There are many sources of magnetism in your home or
office, such as electrical appliances, telephones, and loudspeakers.
Keep disks in a moderate environment. They work best at room-
temperature and in normal humidity. Never leave diskettes sitting in the
sun, or in extreme cold or heat. The temperature in a car in the middle
of summer or winter can cause severe damage.
Never touch a diskette's magnetic surface. The oils on your fingertips can
damage it. Always hold a diskette by its protective jacket. On a 720KB
diskette, do not expose the diskette's surface by sliding the metal plate.
Store diskettes properly. When they are not in use, keep diskettes in their
protective envelopes and store them in a diskette container.
Do not place anything on top of your diskettes and be sure they do not
bend or sag. They do not rotate properly in the drive if damaged.
Never wipe, brush, or try to clean diskettes in any way.
Be careful when you label diskettes. Attach labels firmly but gently, and
only along the top of a diskette (next to the manufacturer's label). Do
not place several labels on top of one another; too many labels can
prevent a diskette from spinning freely in a disk drive.
It is best to write on a label before you attach it to a diskette. Use only
soft-tip pens (not ballpoint pens or pencils) to write on a label that is
already on a diskette.
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