Microsoft KB Archive/75131

= Standard Floppy Disk Formats Supported by MS-DOS =

Article ID: 75131

Article Last Modified on 5/12/2003

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft MS-DOS 1.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 2.11 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 3.1
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 3.2 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 3.21 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 3.3 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 3.3a
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 4.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 4.01 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 5.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 5.0a
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 6.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 6.2 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 6.21 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 6.22 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q75131



SUMMARY
By using DRIVER.SYS and/or the DRIVPARM command in the CONFIG.SYS file, you can select a variety of floppy disk formats for use with MS-DOS. The tables below describe the standard floppy disk formats supported by various versions of MS-DOS and show the switches used for DRIVER.SYS and FORMAT.EXE.



MORE INFORMATION
The tables below include information on the following:   Number of heads (sides) Number of cylinders (tracks) Number of sectors per track Total number of sectors Number of free sectors Number of sectors per cluster Total number of clusters Number of sectors per FAT (file allocation table) Number of FAT copies Number of root directory sectors Number of reserved sectors Number of hidden sectors Number of bytes per sector Number of bytes per cluster Number of root directory entries The media descriptor byte for each format What recording density was used to create the floppy disk Under what MS-DOS version this format was first supported What parameter to use with DRIVER.SYS for this format What parameter to use with FORMAT.EXE for this format Whether or not the changed-diskette line is supported

Standard Floppy Disk Formats Supported by MS-DOS
3.5 Inch

Formatted Capacity 720K 1.44 MB 2.88 MB
# of Heads (Sides)        2         2         2 Total # of Sectors     1440      2880      5760 Total # of Clusters     713      2847      2863 Media Descriptor         F9        F0        F0 Recorded Density      Double      High      High MS-DOS Version Began   3.20      3.30      5.00 DRIVER.SYS Switch      /F:2      /F:7      /F:9 FORMAT.EXE Switch    /F:720   /F:1.44   /F:2.88 Change-Line Support     YES       YES       YES
 * 1) of Cyls (Tracks)        80        80        80
 * 2) of Sectors/Track         9        18        36
 * 1) of Free Sectors       1426      2847      5726
 * 2) Sectors/Cluster          2         1         2
 * 1) Sectors/FAT              3         9         9
 * 2) of FAT Copies            2         2         2
 * 3) of Root Dir Sectors      7        14        15
 * 4) Reserved Sectors         1         1         1
 * 5) of Hidden Sectors        0         0         0
 * 6) of Bytes/Sector        512       512       512
 * 7) of Bytes/Cluster      1024       512      1024
 * 8) Root Dir Entries       112       224       240

5.25 Inch

Formatted Capacity 160K 180K 320K 360K 1.2 MB
# of Heads (Sides)        1        1        2        2         2 Total # of Sectors      320      360      640      720      2400 Total # of Clusters     313      351      315      354      2371 Media Descriptor         FE       FC       FF       FD        F9 Recorded Density      Double   Double   Double   Double      High MS-DOS Version Began   1.00     2.00     1.10     2.00      3.00 DRIVER.SYS Switch      /F:0     /F:0     /F:0     /F:0      /F:1 FORMAT.EXE Switch    /F:160   /F:180   /F:320   /F:360    /F:1.2 Change-Line Support      NO       NO       NO       NO       YES
 * 1) of Cyls (Tracks)        40       40       40       40        80
 * 2) of Sectors/Track         8        9        8        9        15
 * 1) of Free Sectors        313      351      630      708      2371
 * 2) Sectors/Cluster          1        1        2        2         1
 * 1) of Sectors/FAT           1        2        1        2         7
 * 2) of FAT Copies            2        2        2        2         2
 * 3) of Root Dir Sectors      4        4        7        7        14
 * 4) Reserved Sectors         1        1        1        1         1
 * 5) of Hidden Sectors        0        0        0        0         0
 * 6) of Bytes/Sector        512      512      512      512       512
 * 7) of Bytes/Cluster       512      512     1024     1024       512
 * 8) Root Dir Entries        64       64      112      112       224

8-Inch

Formatted Capacity 250K 500K 1.2 MB
# of Heads (Sides)        1        2        2 Total # of Sectors     2002     4004     1232 Total # of Clusters     497      997     1227 Media Descriptor         FE       FD       FE Recorded Density      Single   Single   Double MS-DOS Version Began   1.00     2.00     2.00 Change-Line Support      NO       NO       NO
 * 1) of Cyls (Tracks)        77       77       77
 * 2) of Sectors/Track        26       26        8
 * 1) of Bytes/Sector        128      128     1024
 * 2) of Bytes/Cluster       512      512     1024
 * 3) Sectors/Cluster          4        4        1
 * 1) Reserved Sectors         1        4        1
 * 2) of Hidden Sectors        3        0        0
 * 3) Sectors/FAT              6        6        2
 * 4) of FAT Copies            2        2        2
 * 5) Root Dir Entries        68       68      192

Additional query words: 6.22 1.00 1.10 2.00 3.00 3.20 3.21 3.30 3.30a 4.00 4.01 4.01a 5.00 5.00a 6.00 6.20

Keywords: KB75131

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