Removable Media
Chapter 11
© 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Overview
• In this chapter, you will learn to
– Explain and install floppy disk drives
– Demonstrate the variations among flash drives and
other tiny drives
– Identify and install optical-media technology
– Troubleshoot removable-media drives
© 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
What Is Removable Media?
• Floppy drives
– Traditional floppy
• Flash drives
– USB thumb drives to flash memory
• Optical media
– CD-ROMs to DVDs
• External drives
– Any drive that connects via an external cable
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Floppy Drive Basics
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Floppy Drives
• Floppy disk inserts into floppy drive
• Lit LED indicates data is being read or
written to disk
3½-inch 1.44 MB 5¼-inch
disappearing legacy
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Essentials
CompTIA A+
Essentials
Installing Floppy Drives
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Installing Floppy Drives
• Floppy drives designated A: or B:
• Floppy drives connect to the
computer via a 34-pin ribbon cable
• Cables supporting two floppy drives
use a seven-wire twist
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Inserting Ribbon Cables
• Connect Pin 1 on cable to Pin 1 on
motherboard
• Pin 1 on cable has red stripe
• Many connectors are notched
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Installing Floppy Drives
• Power
– 3½-inch use mini-connector
• CMOS
– Usually configured to use 3½ inch, 1.44 MB
– Can disable Boot Up Floppy Seek
– Can change boot order to boot off floppy
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Flash Memory
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Flash Memory
• Same type of memory used in CMOS
• Two different families
1. USB thumb drives
2. Memory cards
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USB Thumb Drives
• Commonly used as replacement for
floppy disks to transport data
• AKA jump drive or flash drive
• Hot-swappable
• Cross-platform compatibility
• Can create bootable thumb drives
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Memory or Flash Cards
• Compact Flash (CF)
– Use simplified PCMCIA bus
– Two sizes: CF I and CF II
– Some are actually micro hard
drives with platters and heads
• SmartMedia
– Was competitor to CF
– Replaced by Secure Digital
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Memory or Flash Cards
• Secure Digital
– Most common today
– Size of postage stamp
– SD and SDIO versions
– Mini and micro forms available
– Popular in cell phones
• Memory Stick
– Sony proprietary format
– Used in Sony devices that
use flash memory
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Memory or Flash Cards
• xD Picture Card
– Developed by Olympus (proprietary)
– Used almost exclusively in Olympus
and Fujifilm digital cameras
– Version available in USB housing
• Card Readers
– Allow reading the different types of memory cards
– Available separately
– Often installed in PC
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Optical Drives
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CD-Media
• Includes CD- and
DVD-media
• Generically called
optical discs
• Drives called optical drives
• Includes
– CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD+RW, HD-DVD
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How CDs Work
• Stores data in microscopic pits
– Burned in with power laser on glass master
– Copies made on plastic copies
– Covered with reflective metallic covering
– Data on top under label
– Written in “pits” and “lands”
– Standard CD holds
about 650 MB
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CD Formats
• CD-Digital Audio (CDDA)
– Music CDs
• CD-ROM
– Added file support and
directory structure for PCs
– Many different types
• ISO-9660 defines CD
File System (CDFS)
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CD Formats
• IUSO-9660 Extensions
– Joliet
Microsoft’s extension
Supported by Mac and Linux
– Rock Ridge
Open standard for UNIX
– El Torito
Enabled bootable CDs
– Apple Extensions
Proprietary
Can’t be read by Windows
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CD-ROM Speeds
• First CD-ROM had speed of 150 KBps
• All others multiples of 150 KBps
1X 150 KBps 10X 1500 KBps 40X 6000 KBps
2X 300 KBps 12X 1800 KBps 48X 7200 KBps
3X 450 KBps 16X 2400 KBps 52X 7800 KBps
4X 600 KBps 24X 3600 KBps 60X 9000 KBps
6X 900 KBps 32X 4800 KBps 72X 10800 KBps
8X 1200 KBps 36X 5400 KBps
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CD-R (CD-Recordable)
• Gave users ability to record or burn CDs
• CD-Rs come in two sizes
– 74-minute 650 MB
– 80-minute 700 MB
– Most CD-R burners now support 80-minute CDs
• Single-session and multi-session
– Single-session data can be added only once
– Multi-session allows data to be added multiple times
(all modern CD-Rs are multi-session)
– Two speeds: read speed and write speed (8x/24x)
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CD-RW (CD-Rewritable)
• CD-R drives have been replaced by
CD-RW (CD-Rewritable) drives
– CD-R discs sill around (cheaper)
– CD-R can be written to only once
– CD-RW disks allow data to be written and
overwritten
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CD-RW (CD-Rewritable)
• CD Rewritable (CD-RW) works by
– Using a laser to heat an amorphous (non-
crystalline) substance
– When cooled slowly becomes crystalline
– The crystalline areas are reflective
– The amorphous areas are not
• The MultiRead method allows regular
CD-ROM drives to read CD-RW discs
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CD-RW (CD-Rewritable)
• Most CD-RW drives today utilize a
function called packet writing
• Uses special format called the Universal
Data Format (UDF)
– Replacement for ISO-9660
– All movie DVDs use this
• Packet writing and UDF give drag-and-
drop capabilities to CD-RW drives
• CD-RW drive specs have three multiplier
values: write, rewrite, read (8x4x32)
© 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Windows and CD-media
• All optical drives ATAPI-compliant
– Means they plug into ATA controllers
• Windows XP supports drag-
and-drop for burning
data onto CDs
– Third-party software needed
to create bootable CDs or
CDs from ISO images
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Music CDs
• Different format—Music CD-R
– Can record to a Music CD-R or CD-RW
– Can not record from one
– Designed to restrict duplication of copyrighted
music
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Digital Video Discs (DVD)
• Developed by a consortium of electronics and
entertainment firms
– Released as digital video discs (DVD) in 1995
– DVD uses smaller pits than CD-media and packs them
more densely, creating much higher data capacities
– Both single-sided (SS) and dual-sided (DS) formats
– Single-layer (SL) and dual-layer (DL) formats
DVD Version Capacity
DVD-5 (SS/SL) 4.37 GB (> 2 hours of video)
DVD-9 (SS/DL) 7.95 GB (@ 4 hours of video)
DVD-10 (DS/SL) 8.74 GB (@ 4.5 hours of video)
DVD-18 (DS/DL) 15.9 GB (> 8 hours of video)
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DVD-Video
• DVD-Video can store two hours of video
on one side
– Supports TV-style 4:3 aspect ratio screens as well
as 16:9 theatre screens
• Some producers distribute both on opposite sides
of the DVD
– Uses MPEG-2 video and audio compression
standard
• Up to 1280x720 at 60 frames per second with CD-quality
audio
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DVD-ROM & Recordable DVD
• DVD-ROM • Recordable DVD
– Similar to CD-ROM – DVD-R and DVD+R
• May write to them like CD-R
data format
• Cannot erase
– Can store up to 16 – DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-
GB of data RAM
• Written and rewritten like
CD-RW
– Support DVD-video
and most CD-ROM – Combo drives can do all
formats of these - look for DVD
Multi on the label
– Not all players read all
formats
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Installing Optical Drives
• Most look the same from a distance
– Most also install the same way
– Most use PATA or SATA &
support ATAPI
– Typically set up as slave
when using PATA
– Some are SCSI or USB
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Installing Optical Drives
• Does Windows recognize the CD-ROM?
– Check Device Manager
• To disable Autoplay
on XP, use Group Policy
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Applications
• CD-ROM drive installation does not
require applications
• CD-R and CD-RW require applications for
burning capabilities
– Nero Burning ROM
– Roxio’s Easy
Media Creator
– CDBurnerXP Pro
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ISO Files
• Complete copy of CD or DVD
• Can download ISO image and burn to CD
– Provides fully functional CD
• Commonly used to share copies of
bootable CDs
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IT Technician
CompTIA A+
Technician
Troubleshooting
Removable Media
© 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Floppy Drive Maintenance
• Floppy drives frequently fail
– Exposure to outside environment and mechanical
damage are common causes
• Floppy drive cleaning kits can be used
to clean drives
– Can also use cotton swab with denatured alcohol
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Repairing Floppy Drives
1. Check for a bad floppy disk
2. Check for data errors on the disk
3. Check the CMOS settings
4. Blame the floppy controller
5. Check the cable
6. Replace the floppy drive
© 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Troubleshooting
• Connectivity problems
– Occur if the power connector is not plugged in,
cables are inserted incorrectly, or the jumpers have
been misconfigured
• CDs may be dirty
– Don’t believe someone who says
CDs can be cleaned in dishwasher
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Troubleshooting
• Most modern CD-media drives have a
built-in cleaning mechanism
• CD-media discs can be easily cleaned
using a damp cloth or mild detergent
• Problems such as stuck discs can be
resolved with paper clip
– Find the small hole on the front of the CD drive
– Insert a small wire (paper clip) in the hole to
manually eject the CD-media from the drive
© 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Burning Issues
• Know what it can do
– Check out technical documentation before making
a purchase
– Type review and the model number in a search
engine to get other opinions
• Media issues
– Media quality is based on speed and inks
• Check for a manufacturer guarantee on speed
© 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Buffer Underrun
• Most often occurs when copying from
CD-ROM to CD-R or CD-RW
– Inability of the source device to keep the burner
loaded with data
– Make sure your CD-RW drive has 2 MB or larger
buffer
– Create an image file—one big file on the hard drive
first because any hard drive can keep up with a CD
burner
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Firmware Updates
• Most drives come with an upgradeable
Flash ROM chip
• Check the manufacturer’s Web site for
updates
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Beyond A+
• Color books
– Different specifications identified by colors
– Red, yellow, green, orange, white, blue
• High-Definition Optical Drives
– HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc
– Higher capabilities in size and time
– Higher capabilities in resolution
© 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
© 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
