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The Commodore 64 Disk Book

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The Commodore 64 Disk Book (subtitled on the cover A simple guide to using your disk drive) is a 1984 book by Tony Hetherington and Gordon Hamlett, published in London by Century Communications with Personal Computer World. ISBN 0-7126-0543-6.[1] The British Library record gives the extent as iv, 82 pages.[2]

It is a short beginner's guide to using a disk drive with the Commodore 64 or Commodore VIC-20: connecting the drive, looking after diskettes, the BASIC disk commands, and sequential, random access and relative files. The appendices are a quick reference table of disk commands, the disk error messages and program listings.[3]

Contents

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Page numbers are from the book's contents list.[4]

  • Introduction, p. 1
  • 1: Getting Started, p. 3
  • 2: Diskette Care, p. 7
  • 3: BASIC Commands, p. 14
  • 4: Disk Maintenance Commands, p. 25
  • 5: Storage of Data: Sequential Files, p. 31
  • 6: Storage of Data: Random Access Files, p. 41
  • 7: Storage of Data: Relative Files, p. 52
  • 8: Changing the Drive Device Number, p. 57
  • Appendix i: Quick Reference Table of Disk Commands, p. 59
  • Appendix ii: Disk-Related Error Messages, p. 61
  • Appendix iii: Programs, p. 76

What this book does not contain

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It is a user's guide. Its "Disk Maintenance Commands" chapter is about DOS housekeeping commands, not servicing; the book has no schematics, parts lists or alignment procedures. For drive repair see Commodore 1541 Troubleshooting & Repair Guide and Floppy Drive Repair.

Download: CenturyCommunications the Commodore 64 Disk Book.pdf

References

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  1. ↑ Tony Hetherington and Gordon Hamlett, The Commodore 64 Disk Book (Century Communications, 1984), front cover, title page and copyright page (PDF pp. 1, 9-10).
  2. ↑ Open Library, The Commodore 64 disk book, record OL15157006M, from British Library catalogue data. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
  3. ↑ Hetherington and Hamlett, The Commodore 64 Disk Book, Contents and Introduction, pp. 1-2 (PDF pp. 11-14).
  4. ↑ Hetherington and Hamlett, The Commodore 64 Disk Book, Contents (PDF p. 11).
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