Apple IIe - Manual (Page 11)

Page 11 of 74 IIe
Printed: Tuesday, March 4, 2003 10:40:15 AM
Turning the Power Off and On:
If you insist on turning the power off and on as a way of switching from one program to
another, wait at least 15 seconds from the time you turn off the power to the time you turn it
back on to give the computer's memory a chance to clear.
If you'd like, you can practice the OPEN-APPLE-CONTROL-RESET method of starting up using the
same disk you used before, An Introduction.
When you see the title display, press Escape
(unless you feel like going through the disk again).
Stopping
Stopping is a pretty intuitive procedure.
You turn off the power to the monitor and you turn
off the power to the Apple IIe. But there are a few things you should think about before
flipping the power switch.
Save your work. As you use your computer to write letters and such, a copy of your letter is
kept in the computer's memory (much more on this later). But it's kept in memory only as long
as the power is on. If you want a permanent copy of your composition, you must save it on a
disk before turning off the power.
Don't turn off the power until the disk drive light is off. The disk drive light tells you when
the disk drive is reading (retrieving something) and writing (recording something) on the disk.
If you turn off the computer while the disk drive light is on, you could damage the disk and
lose some of the information recorded on it.
Wait until the light goes out before you turn off
the power.
If something goes wrong (see troubleshooting) and the disk drive light stays on for an
inordinately long time, you can stop the disk drive by holding down CONTROL while you press
RESET.
All About Disks
Over time you'll accumulate two kinds of disks: disks that contain programs (instructions that
tell the computer what to do), and disks that contain your data (the memos, budgets, lists, and
other stuff you compose at the computer keyboard).
Initially, program disks are more expensive than the blank disks you use to store data. But
once a disk contains your budgets and lists, it's worth as much as the time you spent entering
the data in the first place.
In either case, it pays to take good care of your disks and to
make copies of important disks in case something ever happens to your original.
Anatomy of a Disk
Disks are circular sheets of plastic coated with metallic oxide. Information is recorded on
them magnetically much the way sound is recorded on cassette tape.
They are sealed inside
black, plastic jackets that protect them from fingerprints and dust.
As you discovered when you started up An Introduction, you're supposed to put disks in the disk
drive jacket and all.
The disk spins inside the jacket, and as it spins, a honeycomb material
inside the jacket cleans and lubricates the disk. Never remove a disk from its jacket (and
expect to use the disk again). Of course, if it's worth a few dollars to you, go ahead and
dissect a blank disk to see what's inside.
As the disk spins inside the jacket, every usable part of the disk passes under the oval cutout
in the disk jacket where the disk drive's read/write head can get at it.
Avoid touching the