Sometimes one does need those tools.

Post #303,230 by Another Scott 1/29/09 7:16:41 AM Reply	Sometimes one does need those tools. Yeah, defragmenting is probably something that doesn't need to be worried about. But as we know, drives on Macs do go bad. Drive Genius and is one of the few tools available that will work reasonably well with Mac volumes to recover files from a disk that is dying. An older article of some more of them is here: http://www.peachpit....cle.aspx?p=693649 Having an external backup is a good idea, but that's not failure-proof either. Having a tool that monitors SMART messages from hard drives is probably a good idea, as it can give advance indications that a drive is dying. I haven't looked for one of those yet, myself. http://www.apple.com...smartutility.html is one. There are some messages out there that indicate there may be something free in the POSIX tools that's part of OS X - I haven't looked carefully. And having a system monitor tool is very handy in some circumstances. E.g. Our old G4 Titanium Powerbook was throwing up the spinning beach ball quite often while browsing, for unknown reasons. iStat Pro made it clear that it was happening because it was running out of RAM and hitting the swap file too heavily. Since it only can take 1 GB of RAM, other than changing browsing habits, it was something that had to be accepted. But without iStat Pro, it wasn't possible to easily know what was going on. Yeah, futzing around with utilities can be counter-productive, but it's nice to know what exactly is happening and what can be done when things are going wrong. Ashton - a good resource that you should browse occasionally is Ric Ford's "Macintouch". Lots of user tips, pointers to cheap deals, notes about software updates and issues, etc. It's a great resource. http://www.macintouch.com My $0.02. :-) Cheers, Scott.
Post #303,279 by Ashton 1/29/09 10:12:32 PM Reply	Appreciations extended; here's one on Rixtools SMART (the occasional look-in) was on my long list, too. Thanks. Gotta love AI when it works. Got my SATA/IDE -->USB-2 dongle for ripping HDs, complete with tiny PS. Probably use a spare 2.5" in a firewire'd box for Time Machine I figure I might as well use what (little) i Know fershure and much of hearsay, at the outset -- before there's any data to protect much. So, why not go to the Root before the easy-practical, eh? Will explore macintouch, a couple others. Seller suggested macosxhints.com and there are a couple more; need to fit site to my 'level'. EX: Rick, of DOS Rixtools fame (samples of his tiny utils I've commented on, way-back) went all Apple-obsessed a couple years back; his brain still works: Rick has a suite of tools for OSX (wonder if done in assembly !?) at rixstep.com == these are for toilers in the programming salt-mines, mainly it seems -- but I haven't scoped enough to see, in this pricey suite: what/any I'd use or 'need'. Others here would evaluate differently. Rick appears to be pretty Ept. Now I need to find STOP (loading)in Safari; then start with the migration, get Moz stuff installed ... poco á poco. No hurries. Savor the discoveries, I say. They only happen once. Love the GUI sudo-in-a-box, but need a shorter PW {sigh} secure OR quick.. OSX-follows-liff. Went to copy a DVD.. talk aboutcher minimalism !! 0-'setup'. It just copies, puts image on desktop, burns, verifies and ... plays well in a Toshiba. Batting 1000. Handy too, having a sorta Mac-pro a couple hundred feet away; saves asking most of the sillier questions here. Day3 and it hasn't pissed me off yet! How NICE just to leave it sleeping - and Know the OS shall not self destruct. (Most failures in 'lectronics happen at turn-on/turn-off. Werd which you Know too.) Gracias, A.
Post #303,281 by folkert 1/29/09 10:44:12 PM Reply	Notice you are ignoring everyone else... that say to just enjoy the machine and use Time-Machine and forget about worrying.
Post #303,285 by Ashton 1/29/09 11:18:44 PM Reply	Not at all I responded to your fine summary. Not 'worried'. Simply, I'd prefer to plan for the unexpected (then.. follow advice, implicitly: fergeddaboudit.) Comments on the er, efficacy of Time machine (below) -- make that gnarliest of Problems just disappear! Still, takes a while to have That-much new-faith, y'know? After a few careers involving electrons and moving-things -- I just naturally anticipate gremlins aka MTBF, to keep it simple. I won't be 'testing things' to absurdity; already the sheer elegance of the integration of tasks + truly informative response boxes: confirm the competence that came inside the pretty box. So, aside from the 3-rule (original, nearby copy + one-more of the rilly Important data elsewhere, say) -- I'm on the path --> Beret'd Believerdom. (Hell, I turned neighbor onto the total-escape from Beastware.) Now she has 3 (why 2 nbs + iMac -?- dunno, maybe to get dual core.) But she'll never run \|\|s or that other Beast-option. Likely: nor I. Can still play with *nix installs on other boxes, best place to practice any involved CL-exercises, I wot. As-in: why didn't I sell some dope or nuke secrets and get one of these {sob} Before!? Then get one just as Murica punts / the whole world notes the ineffectivenes of Econ theorists, etc ?? But it's too much fun already.. to imagine any buyer's remorse. Got my 100-pack of Top Ramen, so Bring It On.

Welcome to IWETHEY!