Disk Management: Apple

Appendix C

DISK MANAGEMENT

All ThinkTank information —— the program, your outlines, and text files —— must be stored on disks. This appendix contains instructions for preparing, examining, and backing up your ThinkTank disks.

DISK MANAGEMENT TASKS

There are really three things you need to do to manage your disks: format them, copy them, and list them.

Formatting Disks

Before using a disk with ThinkTank, you must first format it for the PASCAL operating system. Essentially, this means drawing a map on the disk so that ThinkTank can accurately record and retrieve each piece of information.

(a)Formatting floppy disks. If you are using floppy disks, it’s a good idea to format several data disks at once; then you’ll always have one when you need it. The disks need not be blank before you format them, but any information on them should be dispensable since they will be erased when they are formatted. Once formatted, you can use them with any PASCAL program, not just ThinkTank, and you can use them over and over again. However, if a disk becomes damaged, or if you erase it or format it for another operating system, you will have to reformat it to reuse with ThinkTank.

(b)Formatting hard disks. The formatting commands covered in this appendix will only format floppy disks, not hard disks. If you have a hard disk, your dealer can help you format it for the PASCAL operating system to store ThinkTank files. See the information on “Installing ThinkTank on a Hard Disk” in Appendix D.

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