Update problems...

[Tetano]

I've done the software update for my girlfriend's powerbook g4, running 10.3.4... it has installed also the 10.3.5, and then restarted my mac.... after restarting, all the documents, folders, and i think some prefs (the desktop and the dock are not looking like before updating...) are stored in a file, called powerbookg4.sparseimage, acting as a dmg file, with the filevault icon... what should i do for having again my files and prefs where they was?

Repaired permission and restarted, now everything is ok..

[Cheryl]

While that is a strange act - I am glad you have things working now.

[ElDiabloConCaca]

Is she using FileVault?

If so, and the PowerBook is her own, personal PowerBook and does not contain codes to unlock the world's nuclear weapons, I would suggest turning OFF FileVault. Having it on to protect last semester's term paper or a music collection is silly and overkill. None of that would be considered "dangerous" or would cause any kind of harm if it fell into the wrong hands. For a home user or someone who freelances, FileVault is like draping your car in chains and padlocks and welding the doors shut while you run into the corner store to get a soda.

On the other hand, if she IS using the PowerBook for a job, or has sensitive credit card information, or was told by her boss that she had to turn it on, by all means -- turn it on.

[Tetano]

ok, i'll tell your suggestion to her... just a little question about FileVault... when you shut down the computer, it tells that FileVault can clean some disk space... what is it deleting?

[ElDiabloConCaca]

Well, the way FileVault works is that it creates a sparse disk image of your home directory and encrypts it. Spase disk images start off small, and grow as they need to as you add files to it -- but they don't automatically shrink back down when you delete stuff. When you log out, and you're asked to clean up disk space, the system is going through the sparse disk image and shrinking it back down, if it needs to, to save disk space -- otherwise, you'd have a disk image that just keeps growing and growing and never shrinks back down.

[Tetano]

well, too complicated for the data she stores in her computer... thanx for the explanation!