Why do good floppy disks go bad?

[Chuck Guzis]

On 04/07/2016 04:56 AM, william degnan wrote:
> not sure if anyone mentioned this point yet, but I have found that the
> drives destroy good disks a sizable percentage of the time.  Keeping the
> heads clean and testing a drive before use with an important vintage disk
> is key to the longevity of the disk.  I also always make a backup copy of
> most every disk I use, and leave the original in a safe temp-consistent
> place.
> 

I'll go one step further and state that if you hear your drive
squealing, throw the disk away and clean the heads before you insert
another disk.  Otherwise, the problem can spread like measles.

--Chuck