7th June 2001
Sneakernet is still in common use around many offices, which is a bit of a shame with all of the things technology can do these days. Even if you aren't one to sneakerize your data between two PCs sitting next to each other, there still comes the need for a floppy diskette once in a while. Using Floppies will ultimately lead to bad data once in a while, but with the help of the Verify command, you can add one more step to the floppy write process to help ensure the readability before the diskette leaves the source machine. Simply launch a DOS box and type "verify" sans quotes to see the current status of the verify flag, normally off. Type "verify on" to force data to be read back from the diskette after writing, ensuring the integrity of the information. Note that this also affects hard disk writes, which can cause a bit of a performance drag. Windows 9x will leave verify on even if you exit the DOS window so be sure to type "verify off" when you're finished, though a reboot will reset the status to off as well. Windows NT/2K will both forget this setting once you close the DOS window.