Using Zip® Disks
- Backing Up with Zip Disks
- Copying Zip disks
- Installing Applications to Zip Disks
- Formatting Zip Disks
- Formatting Zip Disks under Windows 95/98 or NT
- Read/Write Protecting Zip Disks
- Setting Disk Protection Under Windows 95/98 or NT
This section describes some of the things you can do with Zip disks. The help files contained in your Iomega software package include additional information on using Zip disks
It’s important to always keep current backups of your valuable data—whether the primary data is stored on your hard drive or Zip disks! And you can use Zip disks to back up both. (See Copying Zip Disks for information on how to make backup copies of your Zip disks.)
The easiest way to back up important data files stored on your hard drive is to use your system’s standard procedures to copy them to your Zip drive. For example, if your operating system is Windows 95/98 or Windows NT 4.0, you can use My Computer or Windows Explorer to select files or folders from your hard drive and drag-and drop them to your Zip drive. One advantage of copying files directly to your Zip drive is that you can access them easily any time you need them without having to run a restore procedure.
The simplest way to copy your Zip disks is with Iomega's Copy Machine application which is not included with this package. Copy Machine will duplicate Zip disks using a single Zip drive. You can download Copy Machine as part of the IomegaWare Tools Package from the Iomega Web Site at http://www.iomega.com. If you do not have access to the World Wide Web or are not using Copy Machine, you can duplicate a Zip disk by following these steps: 1) Copy the contents of your Zip disk to a folder on your computer's hard drive (C:). 2) Eject your Zip disk. 3) Insert a new Zip disk. 4) copy your files from the hard drive on to the new Zip disk.
IMPORTANT! When copying Zip disks on IBM-compatible PC systems, do NOT use the Microsoft CopyDisk utility that is available when you right mouse click on the Zip drive icon. In Windows 95/98 and Windows NT these utilities only work correctly with floppy drives.
Some applications and games will only install to, or run from, a fixed disk (such as a hard drive). In order to install these programs to a Zip disk, use the Make Nonremovable tool in your Iomega software package to make the Zip disk appear as a fixed disk to the system. After the software installation is complete, use Make Removable to restore disk removability. Note that you may need to use the Make Nonremovable tool whenever you run the program from your Zip disk.
Zip disks are available preformatted for IBM-compatible PCs. This section includes brief instructions for formatting Zip disks under Windows 95/98 or Windows NT. If you are using Windows 3.1, refer to the Iomega Tools help file for instructions.
Formatting a disk erases all data on the disk. Do not format any disk that contains information you want to keep!
Insert the disk you want to format into your Zip drive.
Right mouse click on the Zip drive icon on your Windows Desktop. (If you have removed the drive shortcut icons from your Desktop, open My Computer and right mouse click on the Zip drive icon.)
Select Format from the drive shortcut menu.
Choose the format type:
Use Short Format if you want to quickly erase all data on a disk so you can reuse it.
Use Long Format with Surface Verify if you want to change the format type (from Mac to PC), if you are formatting a disk where you have forgotten the password, or if you need to repair a disk that has developed read/write errors due to bad sectors.
Click Start to start formatting the Zip disk.
Iomega software includes a special read/write protect feature that allows you to:
Write Protect a disk through software instead of with a mechanical write protect switch.
Write Protect a disk and assign a password that must be used to remove the write protect.
Read Protect a disk so that it cannot be read from, or written to, unless the user enters the password you assign
Right mouse click on the Zip drive icon on your Windows Desktop. (If you have removed the drive shortcut icons from your Desktop, open My Computer and right mouse click on the Zip drive icon.)
Select Protect from the drive shortcut menu.
Choose the protection option you want to use. Click the Help button if you need information on any of the options.
NOTE: Although Zip disk protection options are set and removed using Iomega software, the actual protection mechanism is secured in the drive hardware. This means the disk protection cannot be by-passed using other software programs.
