720KB diskettes can store the equivalent of about 300 pages of text. 1.44MB diskettes can store twice as much information as 720KB diskettes, but the 3 1/2-inch diskette drives on some computers are not able to use these high-capacity diskettes. If you are planning to exchange data with a computer that has a 720KB diskette drive, you should use 720KB diskettes in your Equity LT-286.
If you have an external 5 1/4-inch 360KB diskette drive, use 5 1/4- inch, double-sided, double-density, soft-sectored, 48 TPI diskettes in this drive. These diskettes can hold about 150 pages of text.
They are compatible with those used on the IBM PC, XT, and AT, so you can use diskettes prepared by one computer on the other.
If you have an external 5 1/4-inch 1.2MB (high-capacity) diskette drive, use 5 1/4-inch, double-sided, high-density, soft-sectored, 96 TPI diskettes in this drive. These diskettes can hold the equivalent of about 500 pages of text and are compatible with the high- capacity diskette drives used on some models of the IBM AT.
Because of their size difference, you cannot use a 3 1/2-inch diskette in a 5 1/4-inch drive or vice versa. If you have both types of drives, however, you can copy individual files or groups of files from one drive to the other with the COPY and XCOPY commands. See Chapter 5 or your MS-DOS manual for information about the COPY and XCOPY commands.
You need to format new diskettes before you can use them. Formatting prepares a diskette to receive data. Formatting also erases any data previously stored on a diskette, so be sure to format only new blank diskettes or diskettes that contain data you want to erase. See Chapter 5 for information about formatting diskettes.
Note
Double-sided, double-density 3 1/2-inch diskettes must be
formatted to store 720KB of data. Double-sided, high-density
3 1/2-inch diskettes must be formatted co store 1.44MB of data.
