PROCEDURES FOR FORMATTING STICK-ON FLOPPY DISK LABELS AND MAGNETIC LABELS

The following are notes from the instructions that were given in lecture and lab:

The stick-on label for your floppy disks should be placed in the "well" beneath the slider. When you hold the floppy so that the slider is at the top, you should be able to read anything written on the label right side up, that is, NOT upside-down.
The label should only have two lines written on it, using the following format:

CIS 41 - U02 - ZZ
nnnn

NOTE: In the format shown above, the ZZ on the first line should be replaced by the two-letter code for the particular disk you are labeling: MW for the Microsoft Word Disk, XL for the Excel Disk, PP for the PowerPoint Disk, PS for the PowerPoint Secondary Disk, IX for the Internet Disk, XX for the Scratch Disk, and BP for the Basic Programming Disk.  As usual, the nnnn on the second line should be replaced by your four-digit Class Code Number..

Insert one of your labeled floppy disks in the floppy disk drive.  Hold down the WinKey on your keyboard. (That's the key that looks like the Microsoft flag - it's the second key to the left (or to the right) of the spacebar, although some keyboards do not have a WinKey.   If you are using such a machine, try to get one of the other machines whose keyboard DOES have a WinKey.)  While holding the WinKey down, press the key for the letter E, then let both keys up.  This should take you to the Exploring - My Computer window.
In the left-hand pane (the All Folders side), find the icon for the floppy drive A:.   Right-click the icon so that you are taken to the Shortcut Menu.  On the Shortcut Menu, click Format...  This will take you to the Format Dialog Box.  In the Format type section of the box, be sure to click the radio button for Full.  In the Other options section of the box, you will find a text box in which you are to type in the label (this is a magnetic label, not the paper label that you stick on the outside!) for your disk.

The format of the magnetic label is: U02nnnnZZ
As before, replace the nnnn with your Class Code Number and the ZZ with the appropriate two-letter code as described above and as demonstrated in lecture.

Beneath the text box in which you entered your label information is a set of 3 check boxes.  Make sure that the only one of these that is checked is the Display summary when finished box.

Now click the Start button to begin the formatting process.  You will see a progress bar near the bottom of the Format Dialog Box.  Wait for the process to finish.

When formatting is finished, you will see a Format Results Dialog Box.  Check to make sure that it shows 0 bytes in bad sectors.  If it does not, you may have a defective disk.  Consult the instructor or the Lab Aide (Dennis Driver) for help.   Otherwise, click on the Close button at the bottom of the Dialog Box.  You will then be taken back to the Format Dialog Box, where you may click on the Close button to end the formatting process unless you are formatting other disks now.  If that is what you want to do, remove the disk you just formatted from the floppy disk drive and insert your next disk.  Make the necessary changes to the text in the Label: text box and then click on the Start button of the Format Dialog Box again to repeat the process for the new disk(s).

When you have finished all the formatting you want to do, click the Close button on the Format Dialog Box.  You may then close the Exploring - My Computer window to return to whatever you were doing when you began the formatting process.

Please pay careful attention to all the above instructions. Don't get negative PV (Procedure Violation) points for failure to follow instructions. If you're not sure about an instruction - ASK!!