Learning objectives

In this module, you will:

• learn about different types of magnetic drive and disk.

• give instructions and advice on how to protect data.

• use technical vocabulary associated with optical storage devices and media.

• learn and use more discourse connectors.

• learn about the technical details of flash memory and its uses.

• learn different ways of making new words: affixation, conversion and compounding.

• describe flash-based devices.

Types of magnetic drive

A Look at the pictures and descriptions below and find the following.

1 the name of the hard drive on a PC platform

2 the type of hard drive that plugs into a socket at the back of a computer

3 the system that works in sequential format

unit ю Magnetic storage

4 the size and storage capacity of a floppy disk

A 3.5" floppy drive and diskette

The inside of a hard drive

Magnetic tapes and drive

A portable external hard drive

ВComplete these sentences with words from the box.

A floppy disk drive uses 3.5"disks, which can store 1.44MB of data; it is usually assigned to the A: drive. Floppy drives are becoming increasingly rare.

Most PCs have one internal hard drive, usually called C: drive. It is used to store the operating system, the programs and the user's files in a convenient way. A hard drive can hold hundreds of gigabytes of data.

External hard drives are connected to the USB or FireWire port of the computer. They can be as small as a wallet but can have as much capacity as internal drives; they are typically used for backup or as secondary storage.

A tape drive reads and writes data on tapes. It is sequential-access - i.e. to get to a particular point on the tape, it must go through all the preceding points. Tapes can hold hundreds of gigabytes of data and are used for data collection, backup and archiving.

capacity storage archiving hold secondary

1 There are basically three types of magnetic................... device available to the computer

user - hard drives, diskettes and tapes.

2 The____________ ofa3.5"floppydiskisonly 1.44MB.

3 Hard drives can__________ hundreds of times more data than floppy disks.

4 A portable hard drive is a good choice for___________ storage.

5 Magnetic tapes are used for___________ information that you no longer need to use regularly.

Buying a portable hard drive

A Sue (see Unit 4) wants to buy a new drive. Listen to her conversation with the sales assistant. Does she buy anything?

В b>J Listen again and answer these questions.

1 What is the storage capacity of the Iomega eGo portable hard drive?

2 How much information can be stored on the Edge DiskGo model?

3 Which hard drive is good for mobile professionals?

4 How much does the Iomega eGo drive cost?

The Iomega eGo portable hard drive.

5 How much does the Edge DiskGo cost?

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Magnetic storage

A Read the text and then identify a sector and a track in Fig. 1.

В Read the text again and decide whether these sentences are true or false. Correct the false ones.

1 A hard drive spins at the same speed as a floppy disk drive.

2 If you format a hard drive that has files on it, the files will be deleted.

3 Hard drives cannot be partitioned to run separate operating systems on the same disk.

4 Seek time and transfer rate mean the same thing.

5 Disk drives are not shock resistant, especially in operating mode.