On Thursday, September 19, 2002, at 09:54 PM, Jeff & Lori Sis wrote:
> Dograt, > > Thanks for your VERY prompt reply. I got it back in less that 1 > hour!!!!! You're quite welcome. I just happen to be a great DW booster, as I mentioned, it having saved me from potentially costly loss of data on more than one occasion. > > How can I tell if my HD is partitioned? I did have an authorized Apple > dealer install OS X <which I seldom/never use> in addition to OS 9.1.1 > <which I use daily>. How can I tell if it is on a separate partition? If a dealer installed it, I'm probably sure he installed it on the same partition because, as I mentioned, partitioning a HD requires all data to be erased and start from scratch. In the instance of OSX and a Classic (OS 9.x), both can happily reside on the same partition, and as you know, you can select which OS you want to startup from in a variety of ways, unlike DW, which can't reside on the partition which is being repaired. Also, there are numerous reasons one might want to partition, including the question you're now facing, which is why I partition my HDs on all my Macs as a rule: I always keep at least one other small separate partition with a copy of DW and a minimal OS version to utilize as an emergency startup disk if my primary one gets hosed. In fact, right now, I have my SuperDrive iMac partitioned into 4 disks. One is for OSX, one is for an iMovie/Photoshop scratch disk, one is for OS9 and Classic apps (which I only use about 1-2% of the time, now) and one is for storage of archival files such as MP3s, movies and photo files. I also have 2 separate external HDs, a zip drive and use the Backup Utility (OSX and .mac only) for nightly backups of fresh work, and make weekly CD and monthly DVD backups, but that's another thread altogether and I digress ;) As you probably know, partitioning is simply "dividing" your HD into separate volumes, or smaller, virtual "Hard Disks". Usually, the obvious way to see if you have multiple partitions is if you see more than one HD icon on your desktop, especially true in OS9.x (there are possible, albeit unlikely ways one might not have all partitions visible), but the fool- proof way is to launch your "System Profiler" (usually right under the Apple menu near the top, if you've never tried it), click on "Devices and Volumes" tab and you'll find the "Hard drive" with a type of organization chart pointing to the partition or partitions. If all you see is your HD's name, then that's all you have; one partition. If you feel adventurous, a good starting point to understanding volume structures is Apple's Knowledge Base article entitled "Mac OS: Technical Overview of Disk Volume Structures", or look it up by its Article ID: 19516 at Apple's Support site <http://www.info.apple.com/>. The article is a little techy, but it also leads to other informative articles. Please excuse my long- winded reply, but some friends dropped in and I inadvertently drank a pot of coffee late in of the evening, so it looks like I'm in for the long haul tonight 8^| HTH, dave -- The iMac List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 580 Printers - new at $69 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> iMac List info: <http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/imac-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
