READER COMMENT

I just bought an Atari 1040ST, and I love it! It's going to take me a while to get used to using it (this is my first computer), but I'm looking forward to becoming an "expert" soon. I'm having a little difficulty with the built-in disk drive, though. Sometimes when I boot the computer, the disk drive won't stop turning. The busy light stays on, and I'm afraid that if I try to remove the disk and put in another one, I'll damage them. Do other people have this problem? Is there anything I can do?—Mary Williamson

Dickson, TN

The problem you 're having is not untypical of the 1040 ST. The fix is simple. When the drive keeps spinning, just pop the disk out and reinsert it. This will usually cause the drive to go back to normal operation. In your case, you don't have to worry about doing damage to your disk, because nothing is happening inside the drive except the motor spinning. However, you should never remove a disk from the drive when it's being written to (when something is being saved). This could cause the data on the disk to become scrambled.