Summary

Your computer uses disk drives and other storage media to hold programs and data files when the computer is not reading or writing them. These include hard disk drives that store data on spinning platters covered with magnetic material, compact discs and DVDs that use a laser to read data encoded as pits over reflective material, floppy disks, and other forms of removable media.

All of these storage devices (except floppy disk drives) use IDE, SATA, SCSI, or USB interfaces to exchange data with the chipset and the CPU. The BIOS identifies each type of drive and sets the appropriate timing and signaling options.