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Types of Floppy Disks
Hard vs Floppy used to be easy: if it was outside the computer and jiggled when you shook it then it was floppy. With the advent of CD/DVD burning and External USB storage it has become somewhat more difficult to tell the two apart. Even some techs disagree on what is and is not a "floppy" disk. In a very simplified nutshell, find here the means to tell floppy from hard.
Floppy types have been listed above and will be updated as technology changes. In a nutshell, if it is not built permanently into the computer then it is probably a floppy disk. Optical Disks, such as CD's and DVD's are technically floppy disks as they are "removable media." Likewise, wiggly black 5.25" (and their smaller, firmer, 3.5" brethren) are also "floppies." Memory cards for gaming consoles can be considered floppies as well, though they are more closely related to Jump Sticks.
Even though they are "removable media" Mp3 players (like iPods) and USB Flash/jump sticks are not floppy disks. As they are also not Hard Disks, they can be considered to be in a group by themselves. Many jump sticks contain their own Operating System and, like hard disks, need to be "safely disconnected" from the computer; the icon can usually be found at the bottom right of the screen near the clock.
The built in Hard Disk is, obviously, a hard disk - the original model, in fact. External Hard Disks (usually connected by USB) are also "true" hard disks even though they are outside of and not permattached to the computer. The internal storage device for some models of XBox and PlayStation, and for Nintendo's Wii is also a Hard Dirve.
Hard Drives are physical disks (much like a CD) that the computer spins when accessing data. With average use a typical home PC hard disk should last about 6 years, provided proper care is applied. It is very important that when shutting down the computer (and it does need to be shut down periodically) the user follows the start-shut down path (on Vista it's the right-facing arrow on the bottom right of the start menu).
Think of it this way: when leaving the family car for the night would you turn it off without first applying the brakes and putting it in park? No, right? Because 1. it's unsafe and 2. you'll likely blow your transmission. Well, a computer is kind of the same way. That start-shutdown is the brakes and the P for the computer's engine (hard drive). The more you just "shut down from the power button" the more likely you are to cause scratches to that little spinning disk as it slams to a sudden-stop. Too many scratches and dings and you can start looking for a new computer.
"So I just won't shut down" you say...think again. If you have an internet server 'constant on' will probably be ok (though I doubt you would be here if you were techno saavy enough to be hosting a website), but for the average home or school PC they do need to be shut down. Some people talk about temperature changes and expanding/shrinking computer parts and that science would be sound IF computers were not, in fact, designed for those changes.
Actually, leaving a computer On all the time often leads to overheating, and, just like in a car, overheating is bad. Unlike with a car you can't just pour water in a computer and keep going (water is REALLY bad!). In addition to needing 'down time' to cool off, computers must be shut down/restarted to install much needed software updates from Microsoft and other reputable companies (like anti-virus vendors). Microsoft releases updates on the 2nd Tuesday of every month; check with specific program designers for their schedules.
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