How to Write-Protect a Floppy Diskette

A disk is write-protected when the plastic tab at the top has been moved to reveal a "hole" in the disk. When you look at the back of the disk with the sliding metal part at the bottom (see below), the left hole is closed when the disk can be written to. Sliding the tab up and down switches between write-protected and not write-protected.

When a disk is write-protected, files can be read or copied from the disk but nothing can be saved or copied onto it. This can help prevent you (or anyone else) from accidentally deleting or saving over important files.

[picture of disk]

This disk is not write-protected: notice the left hole is closed.

[picture of disk]

This disk is write-protected: both holes are open.