CASE HISTORY #4
      by the Disk Doctor


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Copyright (C) 1987,  the Disk Doctor.

First published in the Rochester (PC)^3 News:
   Picture City PC Programming Club
   PO BOX 20342
   Rochester, NY 14602
The Disk Doctor may be contacted at this
address, or via CIS [73147,414].

This material may be reproduced for internal
use by other not-for-profit groups, provided
this copyright notice is included.
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2:29pm
"Doc, I'm so relieved that you could come
right away."  D. looked up at me from her
keyboard.
 
"Which disk is the problem?"
 
"It doesn't matter which disk I try.
The light on the disk drive comes on,
then it says 'Disk Read Error: Abort,
Retry or Ignore'.
 
I knew D.'s PC was a couple years old.
"Has this problem been getting
progressively worse?"
 
"Yeah.  For the past 2 months or so.  I
hate to bother you, I know you're always
so busy.  Usually, if I just keep pressing
'Retry', eventually the file will load.
But today it's so bad, I'm not getting
anything done."
 
 
 
2:31pm
I reached into my bag and pulled out a
disk-sized foil wrapper.  "What's that?"
D. asked, "The latest in Disk Doctor
secret weapon technology?"
 
"No, just your run-of-the-mill head-
cleaner.  My guess is that the heads in
your disk drive need cleaning."  I tore
open the foil and inserted the white disk
inside the 5-1/4 inch sleeve.  "Like any
magnetic media, the oxide on the diskette
builds up on the read/write heads,
reducing the efficiency.  They have to
cleaned periodically."
 
"What if that doesn't fix it?"
 
"Then you ought to have your heads
examined."
 
"What?"
 
"Just kidding.  If cleaning does not
improve things, I have a disk I can bring
over to check the alignment of your
heads."
 
I slipped the head cleaning disk in her A:
drive and executed a DIR command.
 
"Look, see!"  D. pointed at the computer
screen, "Disk read error.  That's the same
message I've been getting."
 
"There is nothing recorded on a head-
cleaner disk,"  I told her.  "The DIR
command simply spins the disk in order to
clean the heads.  Now, I just repeat this
process for 30-40 seconds."
 
"How often are you supposed to do that?"
 
"Cleaning your drives?  Well, the disk
manufacturers recommend once a week, but I
think that's a little extreme.  The
cleaning medium is abrasive, so you don't
want to overdo it.  It really depends on
how much you use your disk drive and the
type of programs you use."
 
"What do you mean?"
 
"Some programs, like Lotus 1-2-3 only read
or write to the disk when you load or save
your work.  Others, like dBASE write to
the disk every time you make a change."  I
pulled the head-cleaner from drive A: and
inserted it in B:.
 
"How often do you clean YOUR drives,
Doctor?"
 
"I have a hard disk, so I don't use my
floppy disk as much as you do.  But I
still do it once or twice a year."
 
"How does one clean a hard disk?"
 
"The hard disk is based on a different
principle.  The heads never actually touch
the surface of the disk, so they don't get
contaminated."
 
I continued, "It's a good thing I set up
your word-processing disk for you.  I
remember putting VERIFY ON in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT.  I'm sure that's saved you a
couple times from recording your data with
errors."
 
"What do you mean?  I still get those
'Abort, Retry, or Ignore' errors."
 
 
 
2:35pm
"Let me explain what's happening.  VERIFY
forces DOS to check recording integrity
after it does a disk write operation.  It
adds a little overhead to your file access
times, but it's good insurance."
 
"When DOS sees an error, it will retry up
to five times before it displays the
'Abort, Retry, or Ignore' message.  If it
is successful on the 3rd or 4th try, you
never see an error, it just takes a lot
longer to read or write your file."
 
"Now that you mention it, I have noticed
that everything has been running slower
lately ..."
 
I pulled the head cleaner out of drive B:
and put her data disk in.  "Let's see
whether that helped at all."
 
 
 
"It works!  Oh, Doctor, how can I ever
thank you enough?"
 
"Here, I'll leave this head cleaner kit
with you.  You probably ought to do this
every other month or so.  There are 3 more
cleanings left.  Just be sure to read the
directions."
 
"How much does this head-cleaner cost?"
 
"You get several cleanings in a kit.  So
I'd say, probably $1 per cleaning.  It
costs more than aspirin, but nothing is
better for preventing 'head'-aches."
 
 
 
2:40pm
Sniff.  Then I noticed my eyes were
watering.  Sniff.  "Gee, I usually don't
all emotional like this."   I wiped a tear
from my eye, and looked around for the
source of the irritation.  There was a
burning cigarette on the the table in
front of me.  "D., you shouldn't keep your
ashtray so close to your computer!"
 
"Come on, Doc, I don't need a lecture.
You know I'm trying to quit."
 
"Actually, I was thinking about your
computer.  The smoke is no good for it."

"What's it going to do?  Give my computer
cancer?"
 
"Sure.  Haven't you ever heard of a
terminal disease?"
 
We both rolled your eyes.  "It's a good
thing you're a doctor, because that was a
sick joke."
 
"No, seriously, the smoke settles inside
the drive and gums up the disk and the
heads.  You should keep smoke away from
your computer."
 
"All right.  How's this?"  She stuck a
yellow post-up note on the side of her
computer, and wrote on it 'No Smoking
Section'.
 
"That's one smart move that could save
both you and your data."