HARD DISK DRIVES SX/DX
Hard disk drives are also commonly known as fixed disk drives and Winchester disk drives. In this
manual we shall refer to them always as hard disk drives. The main difference between hard disk drives
and floppy disk drives is that the disks in hard disk drives are not removable. Thus, hard disk drives have
no need for diskettes since the disks are built into the unit.
Hard disk drives have a much greater storage capacity than floppy disk drives, and data can be accessed
much faster. They are also much more convenient because it is not necessary to keep changing diskettes
to load different programs.
Because of their greater storage capacity, you can copy all your commonly used programs from the
various floppy diskettes onto your hard disk drive. Then, whenever you want to use a program, you
simply call up that program from the hard disk. You can also make hard disk drives “bootable”, which
means that you can load MS-DOS directly from the hard disk and do not need to insert your MS-DOS
diskette into a floppy disk drive every time you turn on your computer. The hard disk drive options with
the 486SX./DX-WinBook include a 2.5” AT bus version with capacities ranging from 120MB to 340MB.
Various options for higher capacity hard disk drives are also available.
Taking Care of Hard Disk Drives
Since the disks in a hard disk drive are unmovable there is no risk of damage as with floppy diskettes. The
drives themselves, however, are highly sensitive units. The hard disk drive installed in your
486SX/DX-WinBook is specially designed to be shock resistant since you will inevitably be moving your
system around. The drive also features autopark capability, which means that the sensitive magnetic heads
are automatically locked in position when power is turned off, greatly reducing the chance of damage.
Despite this, every care should be taken to avoid subjecting your 486SX/DX-WinBook to heavy shocks
or blows that may result in the hard disk drive being damaged. Hard disk drives are sealed units and are
not user serviceable. If used in the normal way the hard disk drive in your 486SX/DX-WinBook should
give many years of trouble free life.
Preparing Hard Disk Drives
Hard disk drives have to be formatted in the same way as diskettes before you can save data on them,
though hard disk drives must under go low level formatting followed by high level formatting. The drive
in your 486SX/DX-WinBook has already been formatted with MS-DOS 6 and has Windows 3.1
pre-loaded, so DO NOT REFORMAT YOUR HARD DISK OR YOU WILL ERASE ALL THE
PRE-LOADED DATA.
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