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Floppy Disk - Don't use a Floppy Disk as a Working Document

SUMMARY: Don't work on a document off of a floppy disk.

Don't insert a floppy disk into your computer containing, for example, a Microsoft Word document, and open the file and modify it directly using Microsoft Word. First, copy the file from the floppy disk to your computer. Modify the copy on your computer, and then when you are done, copy the file back to your floppy. There are three good reasons:

1) If you mess up the document on your computer, you can always revert to the saved copy on your floppy.

2) Working off of a file on a floppy disk can slow you down. Some software packages do not read the full file into memory, so whenever they need to access a different part of the file, they must re-read the source file. Floppy disks are very slow compared to hard drives.

3) Floppies are not the most reliable form of storage, and constant read/writes on a particular document may damage the floppy disk, causing you to lose your entire document!