Mouse Clix

By: Hobie Lunin

What drives your computer?

In the next few articles, I will be referring to the drives in your computer. Here is some basic information about them.

First is the hard drive (usually C:). One reason it is called a hard drive is that the data in it is permanent. In other words, when you turn the power off, the info in it stays there. The hard drive is contained in a shallow box about 4' x 5" buried in the maze of wires and circuit boards in your computer. Inside it looks like a miniature record player with arms (called pointers) that sense the electromagnetic data on the surfaces of multiple disks which are stacked up. The surface, I am told, is aluminum and it operates pretty much like a recordable magnetic tape.

This drive is where most of your programs are installed especially your operating system (Win 95, 98 or ME). If required, it can be cleaned off and reformatted and a fresh copy of the operating system installed. This is a solution if you have somehow corrupted the drive.

Some people confuse hard drive with memory. I would like to clarify this. The memory is not a drive, rather it is a series of chips on a circuit board that takes the data that is transferred from the hard drive and places it such that it can be seen on the screen. This occurs when you turn on your computer or when you click to get into a program (like a word processor). The memory being all circuitry, it does not retain anything when the power goes off. This is the reason you must "save" newly created work when you exit an application. Reloading the memory is what takes place when you "boot" (turn on) your computer.

Another disk is your floppy drive (A:), the small almost 4" slot in your computer. These take floppy disks. They are called floppy because their predecessors were 5" diameter very thin disks, that were very flexible, but held less data. Before CD-ROM drives became so popular all new software was on floppy. Now it is rare to see a program on a floppy. If you slide the little metal part on it, you will see the surface of the disk itself. It looks very much like the surface of a magnetic tape. Mostly we use floppies to save data so that if there is a failure of our hard drive the data can be reloaded. Or it can be used to move files from one computer to another. The process of doing this last is very easy. Put a blank formatted floppy in the drive, go to the file you want to transfer, open it and click on File and Save As. Then, when the window comes up, change the "save to" destination at the top to "floppy drive" by clicking on the down arrow to the right of the field.

Don't leave a floppy disk in the computer when you turn it off. When you try to start it again, you will get an error message, as the computer "looks" there for "start up" information each time it boots. You would only do that if, e.g., you were having a problem with your hard drive.

To erase a disk so you can use it again, click on Windows Explorer in your Programs and right click the words 3-1/2' floppy up near the top on the left. Left click Format in the menu that appears and then select quick or full format. I usually always do full format as I keep thinking it will prevent any files from being corrupted. After the line that appears, reaches the end of its trip, click on Close and then Close again. Don't take the disk out until the light goes off.

Another drive is your CD-ROM (read only memory) usually designated "D:." These take CD size disks so that we can introduce new programs to our computer. The data is burned in similarly to a music CD, which, by the way can usually be played in the same drive if you have speakers. These hold many times the capacity of the floppies. Recent developments make it possible to "write" on the CD's so that some are no longer "read only." This is the latest way to save "stuff" in your computer to protect it and making it possible to transfer larger amounts of data and applications between computers.

The CD ROM drive needs little care but it is best not to push the drawer shut but rather, to close it, push the same button you pushed to open it. I have seen cases of CD-ROM Drives having to be replaced because of this. In Win 98 the CD-ROM starts automatically when you close the drawer. If it is a new program, just follow the instructions.

Another drive you can add to your computer is a Zip drive. This can store as much as much as 250 MB on each Zip disk.. You can set one of these up as a permanent drive (with it's own letter, e.g. "E:"), for those files that you want to protect. This set-up will allow you easily access these files to use them, say like photos, but will remain saved even if there is a hard drive failure.

And lastly, there are now little drives (readers) that will scan the flash cards that are in use on many digital cameras allowing you to see your photos and print them immediately after taking them. And these can be moved to your hard drive, floppy or even a CD if you have writeable CD hardware.

Now that you know what's "driving" your computer, have an enjoyable ride through cyberspace!

Next time in Mouse Clix: Upload/Download

Hobie Lunin is a Computer Instructor and Consultant, and will answer questions at: hlunin@email.com. To see previous columns and other information, point your browser to http://mouseclix.tripod.com