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From: tcs@router.jhuapl.edu
Newsgroups: comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d
Subject: Re: Disk space for FREE (was Re: super high density formatters)
Message-ID: <0093FCB0.70C886E0@router.jhuapl.edu>
Date: 16 Nov 90 14:47:11 GMT
References: <1990Nov16.035524.22022@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> <4319@ruuinf.cs.ruu.nl>,<17184@hydra.gatech.EDU>
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In article <17184@hydra.gatech.EDU>, scott@kong.gatech.edu (Scott Coulter) writes:
>In article <4319@ruuinf.cs.ruu.nl> hrbaan@praxis.cs.ruu.nl (Hayo Baan) writes:
>>There is a better way to gain
>>diskspace : use DD disks, punch a hole in it (just opposite the write-protect
>>tab), and format it to HD. This way you gain 100% disk space for FREE!!!
>>[...]
>>it is perfectly safe (I did this
>>to about 60 disks, and they did not give one format/read/write/... error at
>>all!. The only recomendation I have is that you should use GOOD disks (3M or
>
>I have no doubt that this worked fine on your machine, but have you used
>those disks extensively on a machine other than the one they were
>formatted on?  I find that this is where you usually run into trouble
>when formatting DD disks as HD.  Has anyone else experienced this?
>
>Scott D. Coulter
>scott@cc.gatech.edu
>Georgia Tech Software Engineering Research Center

Actually there is a very good article in one of the current PC Magazine 
Tutor column (I think). You will want to read it, but to summarize, you 
shouldn't punch holes in the DD 3.5" disks because the disks are totally 
unreliable as HD disks. Something about the method of storage on the 
magnetic media not being the correct frequency (?). Read the article. It 
explains it completely. 

Carl Schelin
tcs@router.jhuapl.edu