Final answer:
The two steps that the operating system takes to use a disk to hold its files are partitioning and caching.
Step-by-step explanation:
The two steps the operating system takes to use a disk to hold its files are partitioning and caching. Partitioning refers to dividing the disk into separate sections called partitions, which can be used to store different types of files or to organize data. Caching involves storing frequently accessed data from the disk in a faster and more accessible location, such as the computer's RAM, to improve performance.