0360KB drive-Use 5%inch, double-sided, double-density, 48 TN, 360KB diskettes. (You can also use single-sided, 160KB or 180KB diskettes.) These diskettes contain 40 tracks per side and 8 or 9 sectors per track. With 8 sectors per track, a diskette holds up to 320KB. With 9 sectors per track, a diskette holds up to 360KB of information, which is approximately 150 pages of text.

Note

You must format a new diskette before you can store data on it. See “Formatting Diskettes,” later in this section.

Drive and diskette incompatibilities

If your computer has more than one type of diskette drive, or if you use different types of diskettes, you need to be aware of certain incompatibilities between the drives and diskettes.

Because of the type and size differences, you cannot use a 3%-inch diskette in a 5%inch drive or vice versa. There are also limitations on using diskettes that are the same size as the drive but have different capacities. The following tables summarize the possibilities and limitations.

5 1/4--inch drive/diskette compatibility

Drive type

Diskette types it can read from and write to

 

 

360KB360KB, 320KB, 180KB, 160KB

1.2MB1.2MB, 360KB*; 320KB*, 180KB*, 160KB*

*If you write to this diskette in a 1.2MB drive, you may not be able to read it or write to it in a 360KB drive later.

3 B-inch drive/diskette compatibility

Drive type

Diskette types it can read from and write to

720KB720KB

1.44MB 1.44MB, 720KB

Using Your Computer 3 - 9

- -