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From: lane@dalcs.UUCP (John Wright/Dr. Pat Lane)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: More ? re Formatting and writing 360K diskettes with 1.2M drive.
Message-ID: <2972@dalcs.UUCP>
Date: 11 Aug 88 09:53:53 GMT
References: <11069@cgl.ucsf.EDU> <2977@nicmad.UUCP> <6239@chinet.chi.il.us>
Reply-To: lane@dalcs.UUCP (John Wright/Dr. Pat Lane)
Distribution: na
Organization: Math, Stats & CS, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
Lines: 28

While we're on the subject (again), I've been wondering if, when I reformat
a 360K disk using FORMAT A:/4 (actually that's a 354K disk!) in a 1.2M drive
and the disk has been previously formatted and/or written on by a regular
low density drive, am I not leaving part of the wider low density track on
the disk and might I not have trouble reading the information written by the
1.2M drive on a low density drive?  Does this not imply that once a disk has
*written* on by a low density drive, it has been "soiled" and probably should
not be re-formatted and used on a 1.2M drive, not at least, if the disk is to 
be readable by both types of drives?  I assume, of course, that when I format 
on a low density drive, I completely erase any 1.2M information and the disk
is the same as if it had never been written on.

Then I was wondering if I could use one of those "Bulk Erase" programs that
purport to erase all info including formatting, to erase low density disks
before I re-format them on my 1.2M drive and if this would prevent any 
future problems using these disks between the two drive types.  Would the
bulk-erasing have to be done on a low density drive to erase the low density
tracks or would it still work on a 1.2M drive?

John Wright      /////////////////     Phone:  902-424-3805  or  902-424-6527
Post: c/o Dr Pat Lane, Biology Dept, Dalhousie U, Halifax N.S., CANADA B3H-4H8 
Cdn/Bitnet: lane@cs.dal.cdn    Arpa: lane%dalcs.uucp@uunet.uu.net
Uucp: lane@dalcs.uucp or {uunet,watmath,utai,garfield}!dalcs!lane  
-- 
John Wright      /////////////////     Phone:  902-424-3805  or  902-424-6527
Post: c/o Dr Pat Lane, Biology Dept, Dalhousie U, Halifax N.S., CANADA B3H-4H8 
Cdn/Bitnet: lane@cs.dal.cdn    Arpa: lane%dalcs.uucp@uunet.uu.net
Uucp: lane@dalcs.uucp or {uunet,watmath,utai,garfield}!dalcs!lane