Upgrading and Repairing PCs, Sixteenth Edition

Chapter 11. Floppy Disk Storage

Floppy Storage Basics

This chapter examines the standard types of floppy disk drives and disks that have been used in PCs since the beginning. It explores the various types of drives and disks, how they function, and how to properly install and service them. The high-capacity floppy drives such as the SuperDisk (LS-120 and LS-240) and flash memory devices such as USB keychain are covered separately in Chapter 12, “High-Capacity Removable Storage.” Magnetic storage in general—that is, how data is actually stored on the disk media—is covered in Chapter 9, “Magnetic Storage Principles.”

Although no longer used for primary storage, the floppy is still sometimes used as a system installation and configuration device, especially ...