Your computer uses the read/write heads in a disk drive to store
and retrieve data on a disk. To write to a disk, the computer
spins it in the drive to position the area on the disk where the
data is to be written under the read/write head. A diskette has
an exposed area where the read/write head can access it.
Because data is stored magnetically, you can retrieve it, record
over it, and erase it-just as you play, record, and erase music
on a cassette tape.
Types of Diskette Drives
The Equity IIe comes with one 1.2MB diskette drive (for
5 '/+inch diskettes) or one 1.44MB diskette drive (for 3 '/l-inch
diskettes). You may also have a second diskette drive, and it
may be the same type or it may be different. The following list
describes the types of diskette drives you can use in the
Equity IIe and which diskettes to use with them:
360KB drive-With this drive, use 5 l/4-inch, double-sided,
double-density, 48 TPI (tracks per inch), 360KB diskettes.
(You can also use single-sided, 160KB or 180KB diskettes.)
These diskettes contain 40 tracks per side, 8 or 9 sectors per
track, and hold up to 360KB of information, which is
approximately 150 pages of text. (With 8 sectors per track, a
diskette holds up to 320KB.) KB stands for kilobyte; each
kilobyte equals 1024 bytes. Each byte represents a single
character, such as A, $, or 3.
1.2MB drive-With this drive, use 5 l/4-inch, double-sided,
high-density, 96 TPI, 1.2MB diskettes. These diskettes
contain 80 tracks per side, 15 sectors per track, and hold up
to 1.2MB of information, which is approximately 500 pages
of text. MB stands for megabyte; each megabyte equals
1,048,576 bytes or 1024KB.
Using the Equity IIe
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