# HELP! I have a big problem...



## RMSSk8Boarder (Sep 13, 2002)

Well, my friend wanted me to burn him a CD, so I did what i always do: import all the 
songs to iTunes, add them to a Playlist, and burn the CD, well, when i went to burn the CD, it 
said "No CD burning software found" so I restarted to make sure everything was fine. 
when it was loading up, Disk First Aid came up and said that my HD had a problem that 
the software couldn't fix. it said to restart with the extentions off. so I held down the shift 
key when I restarted and when the screen first came up there wasn't the usual picture of 
the happy Mac, it ws a floppy disk with a blinking question mark. it wouldn't start up. I put 
in the Software Install CD and booted up from that. i tried installing the system software 
again, but it said there was an error on the hard drive that the software can't fix. what can 
i do?


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## Cheryl (Sep 13, 2002)

Assuming that you are in OS 9, boot up with the OS CD, then find the Disk First Aide in the Utilities folder. Run that. Let it repair the hard drive.  You can also use Drive Set up. Do Not hit the initialize button. Just go to the functions menu and select  test disk.  This will scan your drive and let you know what the problem is. If all goes smooth, you should be able to do a clean install of the OS.  Make sure you select that or you will have even more problems. 

If you have Norton Utilities, you can boot from that CD and have the Disk Doctor fix any problem it finds also.


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## RMSSk8Boarder (Sep 13, 2002)

Well, I did boot up from the OS disc, but when I used Disk First Aid, it said that the problem couldn't be fixed. Then I tried Drive Setup, but it was taking too long


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## Cheryl (Sep 15, 2002)

You have a major problem.  If you have Norton Utilities, use the Disk Doctor. Norton usually can fix problems that Disk First Aide can't. Version 6.x is the one you need for OS 9. 

You do have an alternative.  First, while booted with the OS CD, get all your important files.  Save them on a zip or if you have an external dirve, transfer them.  Make sure you have all your installers for your programs and applications.  Back up, back up, backup. Now you will need to wipe your hard drive clean. Use Drive setup and initialize the drive. Now go to the menu and test disk.  Then use Disk First Aide to go over the drive.  If you still can't get the drive to be workable, then you will need to replace the drive.  How old is the computer?  That will make a difference in where you can get a replacement.


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## RMSSk8Boarder (Sep 15, 2002)

Well, I ran Disk First Aid and it said "Problem Found: Keys out of Order: 1199" It's only 2 years old. It's an iBook. i do have a SuperDrive that my uncle gave me, but he said that after he upgraded to OS9, it froze his iMac and he had to use the Restore disc. That's the only removable drive I have, well, that and a CD burner... But i'm only 14, I can't get a job so I can't go out and buy Norton Utilities or a new Hard Drive. My parents don't even know i have this problem.


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## RMSSk8Boarder (Sep 15, 2002)

How much will Norton Utilities cost me?


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## RMSSk8Boarder (Sep 15, 2002)

Neverming, I fixed it. I just backed up my essentials and then restored it, erasing everything first. Thanks for your help, Cheryl.


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## Cheryl (Sep 15, 2002)

Norton should be about $69 SRP (suggested retail price)  

you should have it in case of emergencies and you should run the Disk Doctor about once every two months, depending on how much you use the iBook.  

Now that superdrive should work on your Mac. You just have to download the updated driver for it. 

So tell the Mom and Dad that you should have Norton, just in case and to do regular maintenence on your computers.  And you should have an Anti Virus program too.  Norton makes a good one.


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## edX (Sep 15, 2002)

warning - use norton utilities at your own risk. you will find much better repair and maintanence applications in techtool pro from www.micromat.com or diskwarrior/plus optimizer from www.alsoft.com

both of these programs do much better repairs, do a safer defragmentation and i believe they cost less than norton as well. my own reccomendation is the diskwarrior and plus optimizer combination if you only get one. it has a well earned application for fixing things other repair apps don't. i can personally attest that it saved my external drive when ttp and norton couldn't.


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## genghiscohen (Sep 21, 2002)

Amen to that, Ed!  DiskWarrior/PlusOptimizer is _the_ essential repair utility.  
And an OS X-native version is scheduled to be released in 6 to 8 weeks!


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## John Philip (Sep 30, 2002)

Almost all producers of computers - be it PC's or Mac's use the same system to put the basic software on their machinery.
Explained short and simplified:
Instead of 'basic formatting' the wonderful HD's' and THEN install whatever. They do both at once.
i.e. They have a 'rack' where they mount a multitude of the HD's out of the box and a 'sector formatting' takes place - but with each sector on the drive the software is copied along. This is done in large series of HD's at once.
This results sometimes - more often than not in a 'Shaky' Drive' and a faulty computer.
The fix is to do a formatting first yourself and then install the software that usually accompanies the computer on CD's.
Working for a large reseller here (DK), I have experienced this often. Most lately this spring, when I had the 'mixed' pleasure of changing a customers computers to new G4 quicksilvers.
Thinking I might 'feel a lucky punk', me and my collegue installed 200+ G4's without formatting. Almost all of which had to be reformatted and reinstalled again within a month from the initial setup. This reformatting and reinstallation cleared about 99% of the (frequent) problems the customer had with the G4's. 
I have previously been with a PC distributor, where we 'preloaded' software for our resellers in the above manner. Because of the problems I have been referring to, we changed the 'production' of preloads to first format, then install.
Again this solved a lot of problems.
So if you have a fairly new Mac/pc, that acts up - try this..
PS: If it still acts up after this - have it warranty checked at an aut. reseller - there might be something 'really' wrong with the GD thing.


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