D8) Will a write-protect tab on a floppy disk stop viruses?

In general, yes.  The write-protection on IBM PC (and compatible) and
Macintosh floppy disk drives is implemented in hardware, not software,
so viruses cannot infect a diskette when the write-protection mechanism
is functioning properly.

But remember:

(a) A computer may have a faulty write-protect system (this happens!)
    - you can test it by trying to copy a file to the diskette when it
    is presumably write-protected.
(b) Someone may have removed the tab for a while, allowing a virus on.
(c) The files may have been infected before the disk was protected.
    Even some diskettes "straight from the factory" have been known to be
    infected in the production processes.

So it is worthwhile scanning even write-protected disks for viruses.


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