Introduction
In1967,IBMlaunchedtheworld'sfirstfloppydiskwithadiameterof32inches.Fouryearslater,IBMintroducedaplasticdiskwithadiameterof8inchesandcoatedwithmetaloxide.TheinventorwasAlanShugart(laterleavingIBMtoestablishSeagate).InAugust1976,AiLenShugartannouncedthedevelopmentofa5.25-inchfloppydisk.In1979,Sonyintroduceda3.5-inchdouble-sidedfloppydiskwithacapacityof875KB.By1983,ithadreached1MB,whichiswhatweoftencalla3-inchdisk.
Thefloppydisk(6sheets)
Thefloppydiskisreadandwrittenthroughthefloppydiskdrive.Thefloppydiskdriveisdesignedtoreceiveremovablefloppydisks.Atpresent,a3.5-inchfloppydiskwithacapacityof1.4MBiscommonlyused.Thefloppydiskhasaslowaccessspeedandasmallcapacity,butitcanbeinstalledandremoved,anditiseasytocarry.Sizestorage
Floppydisksaretheearliestuseofremovablebackupstoragedevicesamongpersonalcomputerdevices.Floppydisksaredividedintoeight-inch,five-quarterandone-inch,andthree-and-a-halfinches,whicharedividedintohardmagneticareasandsoftmagneticareas.Floppydisksareplasticsheetscoveredwithmagneticpaintandusedtostoredatafiles.
Thestorageformatofthefloppydisk:referstohowmanyconcentrictrackseachsideofthediskisdividedinto,andhowmanysectorseachtrackisdividedintotostoreinformation.Asectoristhebasicstorageunitofafloppydisk,andeachreadandwritetothediskisperformedinunitsofseveralsectorscalled"clusters".
Types
Therearemanykindsofcomputerfloppydisksonthemarket.Thecommonlyusedonesare5.25inchand3.5inch,commonlyknownas5-inchdisk,3-inchdiskorlargediskandsmalldisk.ThesymbolsonthediscgenerallyincludeDS,DD,HD,etc.DSstandsfordouble-sided;Dstandsforlowdensity;HDstandsforhighdensity.Itshouldbenotedthatlow-densityfloppydrivescannotreadandwritehigh-densityfloppydisks,whilehigh-densityfloppydrivescanreadandwritelow-densityfloppydisks.
Organizationstructure
Thefloppydiskmustbeformattedbeforeuse.Afterthisprocessiscompleted,thediskisdividedintoseveraltracks,andeachtrackisdividedintoseveralsectors.Eachsectorstores512bytes.Atrackisasetofconcentriccircles,andatrackhasawidthofaboutafewtenthsofamillimeter,anddataisstoredonthesetracks.
A1.44Mfloppydisk,ithas80tracks,eachtrackhas18sectors,andbothsidescanstoredata.Wecalculateitscapacitylikethis:80×18×2×512≈1440KB≈1.44MB.
Thesizeofafileisexpressedinbytes,butwhenitisstored,clustersareusedastheallocationunit.Thatis,aclustercannotcontainthecontentsoftwofiles,whichmeansthatnomatterhowsmallafileis,Evenifithasonlyonebyte,onceitoccupiesacluster,otherfilescannolongerbewrittentothiscluster,whichmeansthatotherunusedspaceinthisclusteriswasted.
Eachclusteriscomposedofoneormoresectors.Forafloppydisk,aclusterhasonlyonesector,whichis512bytes;foraharddisk,theclustersizeisrelatedtotheharddiskpartitionsize,andthepartitioncapacityThelargerthenumber,thegreaterthenumberofsectorspercluster.Forafilecontaining5bytes,itwilloccupyatleast512bytesonthefloppydisk,andmoreontheharddisk.
Backingupdatawithfloppydisksisagoodway,aslongasthemethodisright,theycanbestoredfor5-8years.Whenusingafloppydisk,youneedtopayattention:donotscratchthedisk,thediskcannotbedeformed,cannotbeexposedtohightemperatures,cannotbeexposedtomoisture,anddonotgetclosetomagneticmaterials,etc.
Tips
1.Donottouchthesurfaceofthefloppydisk,becauseitmayscratchthesurfaceorleavefingerprintsduetofingercontact,dustandmold.Intheslightest,thedistancebetweenthemagneticheadandthedisksurfaceisincreased,whichmakesreadingandwritingunreliable,andintheworstcase,thedisksurfaceisscratchedandthefloppydiskisscrapped.
2.Donotuseballpointpensorhardpencilswhenwritingmarks,becausethiswillscratchthesurfaceofthefloppydiskandcausereadingerrors.Itisbesttouseasoftpenciltowritethemark.
3.Donotuseanerasertoerasethewritingonthelabel,becausethedebrisdroppedduringerasingmayenterthefloppydisk,causingthefloppydiskandthedrivetoworkabnormallyorevenbedamaged.
4.Whenusingthelabel,therelevantstoragecontent,title,etc.shouldbewrittenonthelabelfirst,andthenattachedtotheupperrightofthecover.Donotblocktheheadwindoworthecenterholeandindexhole,otherwise,thefloppydiskwillnotworknormally.Whenreplacingthenewlabel,youshouldtearofftheoldoneandpastethenewone,soasnottothickenthefloppydiskandaffecttheinsertionofthedrive.
5.Neverplaceheavyobjectsonthefloppydisk,otherwise,itmaydeformthefloppydiskandcausepermanentdamage.
6.Thefloppydiskcannotbeexposedtodirectsunlight,becausethepolyvinylchloridecoverwillbedeformedduetothehightemperature,whichwillcausethefloppydisktofailtorecordnormally.
7.Donotuseclipsorrubberbandstobindthefloppydisk.Whenstoringthefloppydisk,itmustbeputinaspecialboxtopreventdamagetotheenclosureormedia.
8.Theenvironmentmustbecleanduringoperation,andsmokinganddrinkingarenotallowedtoavoidcontaminatingthefloppydisk.
9.Floppydisksshouldbekeptawayfromorganicsolvents,anddonotapproachortouchethanolorsubstancescontainingdichlorodifluoromethanetoavoiddissolution,swellinganddeformation.
10.Thefloppydiskshouldhaveacorrectstoragemethod.Usuallyafewortenpiecesareplacedverticallyinapapertrayorasuitabletray,andshouldnotbestackedhorizontally.
11.Donotplacefloppydisksnearmagnets,radios,televisions,motors,ortransformers.Becausetheseobjectswillgeneratemagneticfields,whichwilldestroytheinformationonthefloppydisk.
12.Ifthefloppydiskhasbeenstoredathighorlowtemperature,itshouldbeplacedinanormalworkingenvironmentfor5minutesbeforebeingused,andtheninsertedintothedrivetowork.
13.Beforeusingthenewlypurchasedfloppydisktostoreinformation,itmustbeformatted,otherwise,theinformationwillnotbestoredinit.
SelectionGuide
1,CheckAppearance
Aftergettingthefloppydisk,youmustfirstCheckwhetherthefloppydiskshelliswell-processed,thenpullthemetalorplasticsheetbyhand,andobservethesurfaceofthediskinthebrightplace:thesurfaceofthegood-qualitydiskissmooth,uniform,withoutscratches,andmildew;ifitcanIfyouseediagonalstripesorcountlessobviouscircles,thequalityispoor;ifyoucanseeobviousdefectsanddamage,thefloppydiskisalmostunusable.
2.Brandidentification
Inferiorqualityfloppydisksaregenerallycounterfeitproducts.Therefore,whenpurchasingfloppydisks,usersmustpayattentiontocounterfeitgoodsinbrand-nameproducts.Therearemainlythefollowingtypesoffloppydiskspopularinthemarket:
①3MfloppydisksmadeintheUnitedStates,Japan,orSouthKorea.Thisfloppydiskhasbetteranti-moldperformance.Thedomesticsalesvolumeislarge,buttherearemoreparallelimports.,Andmoredifficulttodistinguish;
②ThefloppydisksofMaxellandSonyareofgoodqualityandareverypopular.TheysellalotinChina,buttherearemanycounterfeiters;
③JapanTDKdisksareofgoodquality,notlargeinsales,andfewcounterfeitplates;
④TheVerbatimdisksintheUnitedStatesareofgoodqualityandhavethefourmajorfunctionsofanti-fouling,waterproof,mildew,andanti-static.CounterfeitTherearestillfewproducts;atpresent,domesticfloppydisksarecompletelycomparabletoforeignfloppydisksintermsofqualityandstability.
Floppydisks(2sheets)
Althoughfloppydisksareindispensableinwork,theyarealsopronetofailure.Inactualwork,itoftenhappensthatthefloppydiskcannotbereadorwritten,andeventheformattingoperationcannotbeperformed.Ifthefloppydiskisdamagedduetoimproperuse,thefilesordatastoredonthediskmaybelost.Iftheimportantfilesordataonthediskarenotbackedupbefore,itwillcauseirreparablelosstothework.