Retensioning a tape

Computer tapes are similar to audio tapes in that the more you use them, rewinding and fast forwarding, the more the tape becomes uneven and loose on the spools. When a tape becomes unevenly wound, it is prone to errors, may jam, or worse yet, break.

Use retension to make sure a tape is evenly wound and properly tensioned. Retension a tape especially if you are having trouble writing to it or reading from it.

This option applies only to Quarter Inch Cartridge tapes. It does not apply to 8mm or 4mm Digital Audio Tapes (DATs).

To retension a tape:

Insert the tape that you want to retension into a tape drive.
Select that tape drive.
Refer to ``Selecting a tape drive'' for information about selecting a tape drive.
Select Retension from the Tape Device Menu.
The Retension Dialog Box appears:
Click OK to save the Retension dialog box and start retensioning the tape.