Thursday, November 9, 2006

Mac OS System update 10.4.8 is the latest in the Tiger line. Although it does not say so it fixes lots of bugs in the 10.4.7 version of the system. Again I warn all users to (a) backup their data to an external hard drive and be sure you can boot your computer from that backup before installing the update on your main computer; (b) repair permissions on your computer and (c) check it with Disk Utilities' First Aid while booted from your CD or DVD that came with the system you are running. In other words, if you are running Tiger do not startup with the Panther CD; always use the System you have installed on the machine. For all of you who worry that you have updated your system for 10.4 to 10.4.5, fear not it is still safe to use the 10.4 Disk Utilities' First Aid to check your volume for problems. After running the programs (and if they check out OK), it's time to get ready for the update. First of all make sure that you have downloaded the update to your computer or that you are hooked to a network so you can let the Software Update program do this for you. Second remove any FireWire (or SCSI) devices from your computer. I also remove any un-needed USB devices (and yes, you will need your keyboard and mouse.) If you are using Software Update and have selected all of the updates waiting for you this will take a long time to complete. Please note I always download the combo updater from the Apple web site; this way I don't have to worry about losing the online connection halfway though the install. Also note that if you do this the PPC combo install is 150 Meg and the Intel version is 300 Meg. If you have a dial-up connection do not attempt to do this; get someone to download it for you. Once the machine has started the install make sure it is left alone. My PowerBook G4 did a double boot on restart and the start-up time was three times what it usually is. After start-up check things out to see if they work correctly. Connect all your cables back up and see if everything is recognized. On my machine the only thing I noticed was that my Comcast connection was faster at downloading and getting mail than before. What if everything goes wrong? That[base ']s why we wanted you to do the backup; plug in the FireWire drive and start up from it by holding down the Option key after you push the "On" button. After about a minute, you should have a screen asking which System to run, select the FireWire drive as the Startup Disk. Once the computer is up and running, select your internal hard drive with your Disk Utilities application and erase the drive then re-clone your hard drive files from the external drive to your internal drive, reboot and you should be back as you were before you began your adventure. Please note if these instructions are over your head you may want to hire a Macintosh consultant to help you or to train you to do it the right way. Why in the world do I keep driving this stuff down your throats? Because every upgrade has its share of gotchas. For every 20 people with no problems, there is at least one who will have minor problems and for some people the problems grow to the point of losing all their data. 7:05:18 PM    comment []

Many times you hear people say that you need to have a backup of your hard drive and files. What does this really mean and why should you do it? Well there are several reasons, hard drive failure, fire, corruption of data, and theft. But when is a backup really a backup? Only when you keep these items in different places. When you put all of your items together and they get destroyed or stolen you didn't really have a good backup. One of our members had their two iBooks and their backup hard drive stolen while traveling last month. That person is now trying to rebuild their computer from two-year-old data recovered from a now dead hard drive. So if you value your data leave a copy or a backup at home when you are traveling. If you're not traveling then separate your backups by hiding them or making CD/DVDs and asking a friend to keep them for you or put them in a safety deposit box. Just remember all the work you have put into gathering all that information for family and work. Just remember it takes a lot longer to retype all of your data than it takes to reinstall the system and programs. 6:59:57 PM    comment []