Getting http://natasha.warezbbs.com/contributors/Theed/healthymac.html[H[43C[0mGetting a Mac Better Again (p1 of 8 [21C[INLINE] [0;4mHow to get your mac working correctly again.[44D[0m The mac's filestructure has lots of benefits compared to windows-systems. The mac knows (sometimes?) which file is made by which application, and which application can do something with it. The macOS knows what programs you have installed on your system.You can find files anywhere on your computer faster and more flexible than with almost any other OS.[23DBut one thing the filesystem is really good at, and that is damaging itself. And most mac-users are not that happy about that feature. It can be damaged during systemcrashes, somtimes the cause is not obvious at all. I'm not going to explain why HFS(+) damages so easily (i don't understand it that good myself), but i will explain how to make your Mac healthy again, and let it stay that way. Fortunately, if you are unfortunate enough to have damaged the filesturucture on your mac, it almost always can be mended. This contrary to Windows, which, when the operating system is damaged, almost always needs to be reinstalled. And after that you will need to reinstall every program you had on [0;7m-- press space for more, use arrow keys to move, '?' for help, 'q' to quit.[[0m2 your computer, because necessary files have been lost.[23D [0;4mWhat symptoms are there that the filestructure and the OS need[62Drepairing?[K[10D[0m- your mac won't start at all.. there is a disk with a flashing questionmark on the screen.[K [K- your mac begins to startup, but leaves your screen black with a rather sad mac on it.. [K [K- Your mac won't start up correctly, giving messages that you must start without extensions[K [K- Your mac crashes all the time (once everyday is much to much even..) [K- Fuctionality disappears (you can't use your modem, printer, you cant use appletalk or TCP/IP)[K [K- your mac crashes while copying or moving files, or when u just try to open them[K [K [75C[3 In almost all of these cases the procedure is the same. 1- boot if you can from an other disk ( cd, diskette, another harddisk, another partition on your harddisk) 2- Fix the filesystem[K [K3- inspect the operatingsystem integrity [K4- Install the system again if necessary [0;4mstep 1: Booting from another disk.[K[34D[K[0mEvery macuser should have a disk from which his or her computer can be started in case of an emergency (being problems with your normal boot-drive). This can be a CD that came with the computer, a bootable CD that came with a disk-utility like NortonDisk Utilities, a startupdiskette for that computer or another HardDisk(partition). If your computer still works, you can use the controlpanel called 'StartUp Disk' or 'StartUp Tuner' to tell the computer from which device it must start up from. A bootable diskette will always be used [75C[4 to startup from first. If you don't want that, press the mousebutton at the beginning of the startupsequence, the floppy will eject. To force the Mac to boot from CD, keep the c-key presses during startup. [K[0;4m step 2: Fix the filesystem.[28D[K[K[0mNow that the mac is up and running, use Norton Disk Doctor to fix the filestructure of the 'damaged' disk (NOT when you have MacOS 8.1 or 8.5(beta) running and you have your drive formatted as HFS+). [KFor system 7.x use Norton Disk Utilities 3.2.x or higher, for 8.0 or 8.1 without HFS+ use 3.5.2 or higher. With HFS+ you can better use TechToolsPro 2.03r1 or higher (Norton Disk Utilities won't support HFS+ till version 4, which is not out yet). Usually it is OK to skip the 'Checking for bad blocks' test, because most of the time bad blocks on the disk are not the problem, and it takes very long to finish.[6D[Norton DiskDoctor will come up with some questions, it is always OK to let it fix what it has found. Do this check over and over again till [75C[5 DiskDoctor has not found any problems anymore (it might find other faults when it repaired one).[K [K If you seem to have lost the entire contents of your harddisk, run the Volume Recover and/or Unerase options of Norton Disk Utilities. Have an other disk stand by to save the recovered files onto. [0;4m step 3: inspect the operatingsystem integrity[46D[K[0m If you can, use MacTools Pro 4 to inspect the integerty of the files on the disk, especially to detect if the System-suitcase file was damaged. The problem with this program is that it won't work if you started from a read-only disk, like cd. So restart the system and startup with extensions off (hold the shift-key down until a message appears that the extensions are turned off). When you start MacToolsPro up, skip the opening dialogbox (labeled QuickAssist). In[64DMacTools Clinic window select Options... . Check Application Files, Disk Structure, Maintenance/Bad Dates, Maintenance/Bundle Bits, System Checks/Corrupt System or Finder, System Checks/Desktop Files. Press OK and select the disk you want to check. When it finishes the test, it will list the files it has found to be corrupt. Only worry about programfiles, extensions and of couse the System-file. Replace [75C[6 the damaged programs and extensions, delete corrupted preferences-files, especially the Finder preferences. [0;4m step 4: install the system again if necessary[K[46D[K[0m If you find that the System-file is damaged, the easiest was to get it all back working again, I find, is to copy a new systemfile into the old systemfolder, this way you don't lose extensions and preferences. The way to do that is to do a clean install of the system. With system 7.6 or later this is an option in the installer-program. Pre 7.6-users should rename the old folder (like System Folder Old) before installing the system again. To avoid confusion for the computer, drag the old systemfile out of the old[65Dystemfolder, this will 'debless' the old folder. Be sure to includ the networking software with the installation, the information the computer needs to use the communication-ports will be stored in the Systemfile itself...).[K [KWhen you have restarted the computer, copy the new Systemfile (and otherfiles you removed because they where damaged) to the old systemfolder. Rename the old folder to System Folder after you renamed the new one. Restart, and probably the mac will function correctly [75C[7 again.[K [K Sometimes the problems you had will reoccur after a short time, you should decide to keep the clean-installed system. Than you must be sure that you copy every item from the old systemfolder into the new one. If you are not sure about a file don't delete it and wait if some program will miss it.[K [K It is always a good idea after troubles like this to rebuild the desktop-file.[K [KFirst disable the EasyOpen -controlpanel. Than restart the Mac, and hold the Command- and the Option-key pressed until the Finder comes up and you are asked if you want to rebuild the desktop-file. It is even better to use TechTools(/Pro) to erase the desktop-file (you can select which disks), this way it will be[K [Krebuild entirely, not fixed. After you rebuild the desktop, it is alright to enable the EasyOpen controlpanel again. (After the next restart the desktop will be rebuild again, this is good... the Mac is looking which programs are available...)[K [K [75C[8 Hope this article will help you with problems you run into. If you find it incomplete, erroneous or if you have suggestions or questions, post on www.warezbbs.com.[K [K[K[Kgrtx The Ed [20D[[K[K[K[K[K[K[K[K[K[K [0;7mCommands: Use arrow keys to move, '?' for help, 'q' to quit, '<-' to go back. You are already at the end of this document.[K