Proper Care and Backing up MIDI disks (3.5” floppy disks):  Please read the following carefully to protect your investment of MIDI disks.

 

Proper Care of MIDI disks

  • Handle them with care
  • Eject them when not in use
  • Keep them in the disk pocket when not in use
  • Create a backup copy of all your MIDI disks


MIDI disks used by piano students get more wear and tear on them than a traditional computer user for one simple reason:  it gets shuffled between home, bag, book, and lessons continually.  Other reasons disks fail include:  spinning in the disk drive, dust, and demagnetization.  They are going to wear out and eventually fail from all this use (weeks/months).  The more carefully it is handled, the more time (in years) you can get out of the disk.

 

MIDI disks have a metal door that automatically slides back and forth when you insert the disk in a disk drive.  It is possible for that metal door to get bent when it is in a music bag because a book cover unknowingly slips in between the disk and that metal door.  It is best to keep the disk in a pocket inside the book to prevent this.  If the metal door is bent and then inserted into the disk drive, when the disk is ejected that metal door acts like an open umbrella and will not come out but the disk will.  This causes the disk drive to no longer accept disks.  It costs about $75 to have a technician remove it (see note 1).  Please (or instruct your child to) always look at the front and back of a disk to check for a bent door before inserting it into the disk drive.  If it is bent…DO NOT insert it.  The metal door may be removed by pulling the metal door off by hand. The disk will still function without the metal door, but it will no longer be protected from dust and finger prints, and therefore should be backed up and replaced ASAP.

 

How to backup MIDI disks on your computer.  (see note 2)  Copyright law allows you to make a backup copy of every disk you purchase.  It does not allow you to give, loan, rent, or sell that copy to someone else.

 

  1. Open Windows Explorer (Click on Start, then Programs, Accessories, then Windows Explorer)
  2. On the left side of the screen, click on “My Computer” and then “Local Disk (C:) ”
  3. Click at the top of the screen the word “File”, then “New”, then “Folder”
  4. On the right side of the screen, you will see highlighted in blue “New Folder”, click your mouse one time on the word “New Folder”, and delete those words, and type in the new name:  MIDI Disks  (You have just created a master folder to keep all of your MIDI disk backups in).
  5. On the left side of the screen, click on the MIDI Disks file folder you just created.  The right side should go blank.
  6. At the top of the screen, click on the word “File”, then “New”, then “Folder”
  7. On the right side of the screen, you will see highlighted in blue “New Folder”, click here once, and type in the name of the disk you are going to back up, example “HL Lesson 1”  (short for: Hal Leonard Lesson Disk 1)
  8. On the left side of the screen, click on the + sign in front of the MIDI Disks file folder.  This will let you see your new folder “HL Lesson 1” on the left hand side of the screen.
  9. Insert the 3.5” floppy disk into the A: Drive that you wish to back up.
  10. On the left side of the screen, find and click on “3 ˝ Floppy (A:)”  The right side should now show you the files on the disk that you wish to copy.
  11. While holding the CTRL key on the keyboard, press the letter A on the keyboard (CTRL-A).  All the files on the right side of the screen are now highlighted.  (CTRL-A is a Select All Files shortcut).
  12. Click and hold on the top file of the highlighted list on the right side of the screen and drag it over to the folder “HLLesson1” on the left side of the screen.  Let go of the mouse button when the mouse is over the correct folder on the left side of the screen.  This should copy all of the files on the disk into the folder you moved the mouse to.
  13. Repeat steps 5 – 12 to continue making backups of other disks.
  14. At this point, you have copies of your disks on your computer hard drive.  When a disk fails, you now have a backup.  You can now move files from the appropriate folder on your computer hard drive to a new disk in the floppy A:

 

Copying from your computer’s hard drive to the floppy:

  1. In Windows Explorer, click on the MIDI Disks Folder, then select the folder you wish to make a copy of (ie. HLLesson1) onto a new disk.  The files will show up on the right side of the screen.
  2. Select all of the files in the folder by pressing CTRL-A (see step 11 above).
  3. Click at the TOP of the highlighted file list on the right side and drag it over to “3 ˝ Floppy (A:)” on the left side.  (see step 12 above for dragging files)

 

Note 1:  If the metal door gets stuck in your disk drive, if the unit is portable, you may bring it to us and we can probably remove it at no charge.  We may also instruct you on how to carefully remove it yourself.  You need our instruction because if it is done incorrectly, you can cause permanent damage to the disk drive which can cost up to $200 with labor to replace.

 

Note 2:  Computers today no longer come with a floppy drive.  When you order a computer, you can add one for a small fee (usually $10 to $20).  You can also purchase a USB floppy drive for around $25 to $40.  This is a good investment considering you will probably have your musical instrument that has a floppy drive built-in to it for the next 25 years and your computer will be replaced every 3 to 5 years.  Additionally, even as of October 2006, no publisher is providing MIDI files on any format other than a floppy disk.  There will eventually be change, but it still may be several years off, and in the meantime you or your child still benefits from the use of MIDI files in piano lessons today.

 

Note 3:  Capital Music Center Disk replacement policy.  Present the defective disk for a free replacement within 90 days of purchase; 35% off within 12 months of purchase; or 20% off within 24 months of purchase.