This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing ( ) floppy diskAn earlier, reusable magnetic storage medium and drive introduced by IBM in 1971. HD 3.5 inch disks have a second hole in the envelope and The following formats are used on IBM PCs and elsewhere:ĭouble denisty and high density are usually abbreviated DD and The alternative names 'stiffy' or 'crunchy' sometimes used to May be either single-sided or double-sided.ģ.5 inch floppies are less floppy than the larger disksīecause they come in a stiff plastic 'envelope' or case, hence The disk is flexible and the read/write head is in physicalĬontact with the surface of the disk in contrast to 'hard disks' (or winchesters) which are rigid and rely on a smallįixed gap between the disk surface and the heads.

These disks are known as 'floppy' disks (or diskettes) because ('microfloppy') while the data capacity has risen. The early 8 inch, to 5 1/4 inch ('minifloppy') to 3 1/2 inch The physical size of disks has shrunk from Portable plastic disk coated in a magnetisable substance usedįor storing computer data, readable by a computer with aįloppy disk drive.

Formatting a floppy disk means