Diskette write order?

[dncprogrammer]

When DOS writes to disk does it switch heads after each sector or does it write one whole side of the media then return to track 0 and start on side 1?

jon

[sinsi]

IIRC the order for a 1.44 floppy is
  track 0, head 0, sector 1-18
  track 0, head 1, sector 1-18
  track 1, head 0, sector 1-18
  track 1, head 1, sector 1-18
  ...
  track 79, head 0, sector 1-18
  track 79, head 1, sector 1-18

[MichaelW]

Yes. And this access order is determined by the data layout, which was selected to maximize data transfer rates within the limits of the hardware design. A track change is much slower than a head switch because it involves physically moving the head assembly.