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Protecting your data, Making backup copies, Write-protecting diskettes – Epson Equity II User Manual

Page 39

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Protecting your Data

There are two ways to avoid losing data you store on disk: you can make

backup copies and you tan write-protect your diskettes.

You need to format new diskettes before you can use them with an

operating system. Formatting erases all the data on a diskette and prepares it

to receive new data, so be sure to format only new blank diskettes or disk-

ettes that contain data you want to erase. Refer to your MS-DOS (or other

operating system) manual for instructions on how to format diskettes.

Making backup copies

It is a good idea to make copies of all your data and system diskettes.

Copy all diskettes that contain programs, such as the master system diskettes
that come with the Equity II+, and use only the copies. Store your original

system diskettes in a safe place away from your working diskettes. Copy your
data diskettes regularly (preferably every day) to keep them up-to-date, and

store them away from your originals.

Your MS-DOS manual describes how to make a backup copy of your

MS-DOS startup and operating diskettes. To make backups of other

MS-DOS diskettes, use the DISKCOPY command or the DU (Disk Utility)

program.

If you have a hard disk, keep backup copies of all your program files on

floppy disks, and regularly copy important data files to floppy disks as well.

For more information on backing up a hard disk, see “Using a Hard Disk” in

this chapter and your MS-DOS manual.

Write-protecting diskettes

You can write-protect a diskette to prevent its data from being altered.

When a diskette is write-protected, you can copy data from it, but you can-

not store new data on the diskette or delete any files it contains. If you try to
change data stored on a write-protected diskette, an error message displays.

To write-protect a

diskette, cover the small, rectangular

notch shown in Figure 3-1 with an adhesive write-protect tab. Write-protect
tabs usually come with new

diskettes when you buy them. To write

to a

diskette, remove the write-protect tab.

User’s Guide

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