Floppy+Disk

=Floppy Disk=

 The **floppy disk** is a magnetic storage medium mainly used for computers and laptops. A **floppy drive** is the part of the computer that reads from and writes to the floppy disk. A **floppy disk** is also a data storage medium that is composed of a disk of thin, flexible ("floppy") magnetic storage medium encased in a square or rectangular plastic shell.Floppy disks are read and written by a **floppy disk drive** or **FDD**, the initials of which should not be confused with "fixed disk drive", which is another term for a (nonremovable) type of hard disk drive. The 'floppy disk' has been with us since the beginning of the personal computers in the 1980's. The very earliest ones were 8 inches across. Then came the 5.25 inch format which was popular for a few years. Finally the 3.5 inch floppy disk was developed which offered a hard plastic case and a sliding metal cover to protect the fragile magnetic sheet inside.The floppy disk drive enables you to transfer small files between computers and also to make backup copies to protect against lost work.  Floppy disks store less data than a CD-ROM or USB flash drive. A standard floppy disk can store up to 1.44 Mb of data which is approximately equivalent to 300 pages of A4 text. However, graphic images are often very large, so you may well find that if you have used Word Art or a large picture, your work will not fit onto a floppy disk.All disks must be formatted before data can be written to the disk. Formatting divides the disk up into sections or sectors onto which data files are stored. Floppy disks are usually sold pre-formatted.Care should be taken when handling disks, to protect the data. The surface of the disk should not be touched and they should be kept away from extreme temperatures and magnetic fields such as telephones, televisions and microwaves - otherwise you might find all your data has been wiped!

 == **Advantages ** ==

· Portable - small and lightweight  · Allows random access of data - (unlike tape which is serial)  · Can provide a valuable means of backing up data  · Inexpensive <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Useful for transferring files between computers or home and school. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Private data can be stored securely on a floppy disk so that other users on a network cannot gain access to it. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Most computers use to have a floppy drive <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Can be written too many times <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">  || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> ==<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Disadvantages **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> ==
 * || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msospacerun: yes;">

__** Structure **__ The 5¼-inch disk had a large circular hole in the center for the spindle of the drive and a small oval aperture in both sides of the plastic to allow the heads of the drive to read and write the data. The magnetic medium could be spun by rotating it from the middle hole. A small notch on the right hand side of the disk would identify whether the disk was read-only or writable, detected by a mechanical switch or photo transistor above it.
 * || <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Not very strong - easy to damage <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">  ||
 * || <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Data can be erased if the disk comes into contact with a magnetic field <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">  ||
 * || <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Quite slow to access and retrieve data compared to a hard disk drive, but it is faster than tape. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">  ||
 * || <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Can transport viruses from one machine to another <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">  ||
 * || <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Small storage capacity, especially if graphics need to be saved <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">  ||
 * || <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">New computers are starting to be made without floppy drives <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">  ||