Joe - Thanks for the advice. I'm sure it helped but I don't know why. Did surgery on both drives, slenderizing them down to 88% of capacity on the internal and 69% on the external. Also removed the boot-up system on the external since I can still go to the CDs if needed. (I'll still hack away at the dross). This didn't change the problem immediately. I went back in last night and changed the preferences on Norton re the media test. I was then able to do a complete scan which identified bad resource forks. I went back to TechTools and ran the test on file structure. For some reason, I was then able to open files on the external drive. (Disk FirstAid continued to say everything was OK all the way through this process). When I started back up this morning, I could only access the file through the application, e.g., MWord, instead of through the Apple Menu. My plan is to replace the external drive icon on the Apple Menu to see if that helps. Thanks again for the advice. Dave Johnson -- PCI-PowerMacs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 740 Printers refurbished $79 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Save on Mac software -- Shop Software Outlet.com <http://lowendmac.com/ad/software.outlet.html> Star Wars Complete Collection on Video CD - $32.97 Back to the Future Collection on Video CD - $15.97 EurekaMovies.com <http://lowendmac.com/ad/eureka.html> - - - - - PCI-PowerMacs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/pci-powermacs.shtml> 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/pci-powermacs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Macintosh? Get free email and more at Applelinks! <http://www.applelinks.com>
