halldors@paul.rutgers.edu (Magnus M Halldorsson) (09/14/88)
Once upon a time... I got a Mac and thought it was awsome. And I was one of the first to buy Apple's first hard disk (for the Mac): HD20. It was great....for a while...and then came HD20 SCSI, and mine was suddenly a drag & no upgrade available. But it was still neat, fast enough, lots of space.... Somehow as it's been used more, it has become slower, and slower, and ..... It's now to the point that booting up takes 2 min! (approx). It's slower than a floppy drive! It's miserable, and I rather now spend my time on a 80286 TTY than my once beloved Mac. Fragmentation sounds like a likely cause, but perhaps there is some typical intrinsic problem with this hard disk. Questions: 1) Should I reformat it? (It'll take forever to backup) Low-level format? 2) Any disk utilities (de-fragmentizers,diagnosing tools) out there that I should get? 3) Anything else I could do? (How much could I get for it, if I buy a Jasmine instead....?) I appreciate any advice on this, Magnus
ostroff@oswego.Oswego.EDU (Boyd Ostroff) (09/16/88)
In article <Sep.14.02.22.53.1988.14264@paul.rutgers.edu> halldors@paul.rutgers.edu (Magnus M Halldorsson) writes: > > I was >one of the first to buy Apple's first hard disk (for the Mac): HD20. Me too. One at home, and one at work. > Somehow as it's been used more, it has become slower, and slower, >and ..... It's now to the point that booting up takes 2 min! (approx). I was at this point a few months ago with my home system. At work, we usually get to this point by the end of every year. > Fragmentation sounds like a likely cause, but perhaps there is some >typical intrinsic problem with this hard disk. Fragmentation is a problem, but the size of the hidden "DeskTop" file is even worse. Every time you start an application or copy it to your HD, its icon(s) get added to this file and they stay there -- forever, unless you use some kind of utility to clear them out. Just throwing away a file does *not* remove its icons. Each time you open a window, boot, start a program or quit a program, this file is searched for the needed resources. With a 3-year old hard disk this file is probably huge. > Questions: > 1) Should I reformat it? (It'll take forever to backup) Low-level >format? That's what I've done and it works great. Actually, when forced to back everything up, you'll find that you will do a lot of "house-cleaning". My home system had about 14 MB on it and I backed up about 7MB of stuff. I threw away lots of stuff that I *never* use (while you're at it, why not get rid of some of those fonts and DA's you don't use :-). I did everything from the Finder, just putting as many folders as would fit on each floppy - it took an hour or so. I then just chose "Erase Disk" from the Finder. After that, I ran the "HD-20 Test" that came with my disk (which took about 15-20 min). Then I re-built everything. Where possible, I re-loaded original master copies of my software so I didn't have to back them up. The performance increase was unbelievable....try it, you'll like it! My old 85 ms HD-20 is now running faster than our 17 ms 91 MB SCSI CDC Wren at work, which has about 40 MB on it now. > 2) Any disk utilities (de-fragmentizers,diagnosing tools) out there >that I should get? I have heard both good and bad things about "Disk Express". This program is supposed to de-fragment your HD and fix up the DeskTop file, but it takes a *long* time to run....I'm a little nervous about using it, so I haven't tried it yet.... There's a program called "Desk Cleaner" which will empty out the DeskTop file. After using it, you'll get lots of "Application couldn't be found for this document" errors. These are easily remedied by just opening both the application and document windows at the same time, then click on the document icon - this forces the resources to be added to the DeskTop file. > 3) Anything else I could do? (How much could I get for it, if I buy >a Jasmine instead....?) > Try to find someone with either a original 512 or 512E that wants a HD - the HD20 is ideal for them since you don't need the SCSI port. Here at Oswego, we can buy 20 MB 65 ms Everex SCSI drives for about $440 - with any luck you could get almost that much for your HD20 from the right buyer. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: Boyd Ostroff, Technical Director :: System Operator, "The CallBoard" :: Department of Theatre, SUNY Oswego :: - Serving the performing arts - :: Internet: ostroff@oswego.Oswego.EDU :: (315) 947-6414, 300/1200 baud, 8N1 :: Voice: (315) 341-2987 :: UUCP ...sunybcs!oswego!cboard!ostroff :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
jetzer@studsys.mu.edu (jetzer) (09/16/88)
In article <Sep.14.02.22.53.1988.14264@paul.rutgers.edu>, halldors@paul.rutgers.edu (Magnus M Halldorsson) writes: > Once upon a time... I got a Mac and thought it was awsome. And I was > one of the first to buy Apple's first hard disk (for the Mac): HD20. > It was great....for a while...and then came HD20 SCSI, and mine was > suddenly a drag & no upgrade available. But it was still neat, fast > enough, lots of space.... > Somehow as it's been used more, it has become slower, and slower, > and ..... It's now to the point that booting up takes 2 min! (approx). > It's slower than a floppy drive! > Questions: > 3) Anything else I could do? (How much could I get for it, if I buy > a Jasmine instead....?) You didn't mention which Mac you have, but since you are considering buying a Jasmine (I assume it's SCSI) HD, I will assume that you have a Mac with a SCSI port. I remember reading this past summer in Mac {User, World, Week, Today} about a card that can be installed in the HD20 to upgrade it to a HD20SC. The card wasn't cheap, as I recall, but it was cheaper than buying a new hard disk. I don't know who the manufacturer of the card is (and the magazines are at work, not here at school). Anybody else read about this? -- Mike Jetzer "Hack first, ask questions later."
ngg@bridge2.3Com.Com (Norman Goodger) (09/16/88)
In article <Sep.14.02.22.53.1988.14264@paul.rutgers.edu>, halldors@paul.rutgers.edu (Magnus M Halldorsson) writes: > > Somehow as it's been used more, it has become slower, and slower, > and ..... It's now to the point that booting up takes 2 min! (approx). > It's slower than a floppy drive! It's miserable, and I rather now > spend my time on a 80286 TTY than my once beloved Mac. > Fragmentation sounds like a likely cause, but perhaps there is some > typical intrinsic problem with this hard disk. > Questions: > 1) Should I reformat it? (It'll take forever to backup) Low-level > format? > 2) Any disk utilities (de-fragmentizers,diagnosing tools) out there > that I should get? > 3) Anything else I could do? (How much could I get for it, if I buy > a Jasmine instead....?) > I appreciate any advice on this, > Magnus Magnus, If you want to keep the HD20 and just make it SCSI, PCPC, makers of MacBottoms is selling a SCSI upgrade for the HD20. That should make a difference in the peformance. If you decide to just get a new SCSI drive Jasmine in my opinion is an excellent choice. And I currrently recommend Mass Micro 45meg removable cartridge drives, 25ms access time, very speedy, extra cartridges are about $100 and dropping in price it appears. With extra carts, you can archive data, use it as a fast backup device for a larger fixed HD, or just use it as an HD.... Norm Goodger 3Com Sysop - MacInfo BBS - 415-795-8862 News Fodder News Fodder
keeshu@nikhefk.UUCP (Kees Huyser) (09/16/88)
In article <929@oswego.Oswego.EDU> ostroff@oswego.oswego.edu.UUCP (Boyd Ostroff) writes:
#
#Fragmentation is a problem, but the size of the hidden "DeskTop" file
#is even worse. Every time you start an application or copy it to your
#HD, its icon(s) get added to this file and they stay there -- forever,
#unless you use some kind of utility to clear them out.
You could try to hold Option-Clover pressed while booting your HD,
it should present a dialog box with :
"ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO REBUILD THE DESKTOP?"
or something like that. Answer yes and wait a few minutes. After that
the DeskTop will be purged of all the unneeded icons. It will also clean
the information you've stored in the GetInfo boxes, so you will have to
type those in again.
I hope this helps,
--Kees
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/* -------------------------------------------------------------------- */rsvp@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (R. Scott V. Paterson) (09/17/88)
Re: Rebuilding the Desktop... >or something like that. Answer yes and wait a few minutes. After that >the DeskTop will be purged of all the unneeded icons. It will also clean >the information you've stored in the GetInfo boxes, so you will have to >type those in again. > >I hope this helps, > >--Kees In addition to losing the info stored in the GetInfo boxes, some icons may become generic looking. There are some desktop purging utilities, but I have yet to see one that works. Has anyone had success with such a utility and if so, which one is it? Thanks, R. Scott V. Paterson Dartmouth Class of 1990 rsvp@eleazar.dartmouth.edu rsvp@dartcms1.bitnet
sysop@stech.UUCP (Jan Harrington) (09/20/88)
in article <Sep.14.02.22.53.1988.14264@paul.rutgers.edu>, halldors@paul.rutgers.edu (Magnus M Halldorsson) says: > > > Fragmentation sounds like a likely cause, but perhaps there is some > typical intrinsic problem with this hard disk. > Questions: > 1) Should I reformat it? (It'll take forever to backup) Low-level > format? > 2) Any disk utilities (de-fragmentizers,diagnosing tools) out there > that I should get? You can solve the disk fragmentation problem with Disk Express (Mac Connection carries it) and you won't have to reformat the disk. > 3) Anything else I could do? (How much could I get for it, if I buy > a Jasmine instead....?) You can turn it into a SCSI drive with an upgrade kit. I'm sorry that I don't remember who sells it. If you can get your hands on a copy of MacWeek, check the ads in the back. This, of course, presumes that your Mac has a SCSI port. Even without out the SCSI upgrade, fixing the fragmentation will make life much better. Jan Harrington, sysop Scholastech Telecommunications UUCP: husc6!amcad!stech!sysop or allegra!stech!sysop BITNET: JHARRY@BENTLEY ******************************************************************************** Miscellaneous profundity: "No matter where you go, there you are." Buckaroo Banzai ********************************************************************************