Shelly Cashman Series Lab - Maintaining Your Hard Drive


Name   ____________________________________


Course and Division _______________________


Date   ___________________      Page 1 of 2  


As you step through the Interactive Lab, answer the following
questions in the spaces provided. For multiple choice
questions, enter the appropriate letter on the blank line.

1. A hard disk is _____________.

a. software
b. a computer program
c. a hardware device
d. a type of monitor

2. Define the term access time.

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

3. The time it takes the platter to rotate and position 
the first data item beneath the read/write heads is
called _____________.

a. seek time 
b. rotational delay
c. average seek time
d. average rotational delay

4. Average seek time is approximately half of the disk's
width. True or False? _____________

5. Writing data to a hard disk works just the same as 
reading from it. True or False? _____________

6. The time it takes to save or load data to or from
the hard disk is called the disk _____________.

a. response rate
b. throughput
c.  performance rating
d.  transfer rate













Shelly Cashman Series Lab - Maintaining Your Hard Drive
Page 2 of 2

7. Data is written to both sides of a hard disk in
concentric circles called _____________, which are
further divided into _____________.

a. tracks, sectors
b. cylinders, tracks
c. sectors, tracks
d. sectors, cylinders

8. Identify the two methods used to write data to a hard
disk.

______________________   _______________________

9. A typical computer system has a hard disk with a 
storage capacity ranging from _____________.

a.  20 to 50 kilobytes
b.  100 to 1000 megabytes
c.  500 megabytes to 2 gigabytes 
d.  1000 to 2000 characters

10. A complete file is always stored in contiguous
sectors. True or False? _____________

11. Explain the process of defragmenting a hard disk.

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

12. An optimized hard disk _____________ for the most 
frequently used files.

a. reduces the transfer rate
b. increases the transfer rate
c. reduces the access time
d. increases the access time