Testing and Repairing Your Hard Disk is Chapter 3 of Troubleshooting Handbook.

Testing and Repairing Your Hard Disk Directory

If you see a message reporting that a disk is "damaged" or unreadable, the directory on your hard disk may have become corrupted. The directory can be corrupted

• any time the computer is not shut down properly, using the Shut Down command
• when your computer freezes or crashes.
• if you're using SCSI devices that are not properly connected and terminated.
• if you're using SCSI devices that are properly connected to your computer but not on when the computer starts up.

Most problems with your hard disk's directory can be fixed easily with Disk First Aid.

1. Make sure the Caps Lock key is not engaged.

2. Start up your computer from the software install CD. (See Chapter 2, "Starting Up From a CD" )

3. Locate the Utilities folder on the CD and double-click it to open the folder.

4. Double-click the Disk First Aid icon to open the program.

Figure 1 , Disk First Aid icon

5. Click the icon of the disk you want to test.

Figure 2 , Selecting the disk to test.

Note : Depending on the type of computer you have, your screen may look slightly different.

6. Click Repair to begin testing and repairing the disk directory.

If Disk First Aid Cannot Correct the Problem

• Run Disk First Aid a second or third time. Sometimes repeating the process corrects the problem.
• Use the Drive Setup utility to update the driver. See "Updating the Hard Disk Drivers," next.
• Use another disk repair or recovery program. Sometimes another program will help you recover a corrupted disk.

• If that doesn't work, you may need to reinitialize the hard disk (see "Initializing a Hard Disk").

Some problems with your hard disk can be fixed by updating the driver. Use the Drive Setup program that came with your computer in the Utilities folder on your hard disk, and on the software install CD.

1. Make sure the Caps Lock key is not engaged.

2. Start up your computer from the software install CD. (See Chapter 2, "Starting Up From a CD".)

3. Locate the Utilities folder on the CD and double-click it to open the folder.

4. Double-click the Drive Setup icon to open the program.

Figure 3 , Drive Setup icon.

5. In the list of drives, click the disk you want to update.

Figure 4 , Selecting disk to update.

Note: Depending on the type of computer you have, your screen may look slightly different.

6. Open the Functions menu and choose Update Driver.

A message says the new driver won't be available until you restart your computer.

Warning: Be careful not to click the Initialize button; clicking Initialize erases the contents of your hard disk. If you inadvertently click Initialize, a dialog box appears telling you about the initialization process. Click Cancel.

7. Restart your computer.

If you can't update your hard disk driver

• The hard disk may have been formatted with a third-party utility. Contact the manufacturer of the utility for the latest version of the driver.
• Your hard disk driver may be newer than the version supplied in Drive Setup. To check the version of the hard disk driver, select the hard disk and choose Get Info from the File menu. The version number appears in parentheses next to the word "Where" in the Info window.
• Your hard disk may not contain partitioning information which it needs in order to start up properly. To find out, select the disk, then open the File menu and choose Get Info. If "Macintosh HD, AT_O" appears next to the word "Where" in the Info window, the disk doesn't contain partitioning information.

• PowerBooks: You may have password protection turned on. Turn this off in the Password Security control panel, then try updating the hard disk driver again.

The hard disk inside your computer was initialized (formatted for use) at the factory, so you should need to initialize it only if your hard disk is damaged and can't be repaired with Disk First Aid (or another disk repair program).

You can initialize your internal hard disk using a program called Drive Setup, which is on the software install CD that came with your computer.

Note: If your hard disk is not an Apple hard disk, you may need to use the disk utility software provided by the disk's manufacturer instead of Drive Setup. For more information, contact the manufacturer of the hard disk.

Warning: Initializing a disk erases all information on the disk. Before initializing your disk, recover all the information you can and copy it to another disk or a network file server.

1. Make sure the Caps Lock key is not engaged.

2. Start up your computer from the software install CD. (See Chapter 2, "Starting Up From a CD".)

3. Locate the Utilities folder on the software install CD and double-click it to open the folder.

4. Double-click the Drive Setup icon to open the program.

Figure 5 , Drive Setup icon.
5. In the list of drives, select the disk you want to initialize.

Figure 6 , Selecting disk to update.

Note: Depending on the type of computer you have, your screen may look slightly different.

6. Click Initialize.

7. To format your hard disk with Mac OS Extended format, a method of formatting hard disks that allows for more efficient use of hard disk storage space, follow the steps below:

1. Click Custom Setup.

2. Select the desired partitioning scheme.

3. Open the Type pop-up menu in the Volume Info area and choose Mac OS Extended format.

4. Resize the volumes, if desired.

5. When you"re ready, click OK.

6. Click Initialize.

• Choose Initialization Options from the Functions menu.
• Click the checkbox next to "Low level format," so there is a checkmark in the checkbox, then click OK. Choosing this option adds significant time to the initialization process.

Note: The "Zero all data" option is only necessary in rare cases where data must be completely overwritten with zeroes.
• Click Initialize.
• If initialization fails a second time, test your hard disk for damage. See "Testing Your Hard Disk for Physical Damage" below.

Testing Your Hard Disk for Physical Damage

Note: Testing the disk can take two hours or more, depending on the size of your disk.

Make sure the Caps Lock key is not engaged.

1. Start up your computer from the software install CD. (See Chapter 2, "Starting Up From a CD," .)

2. Locate the Drive Setup icon and double-click it to open the Drive Setup program.

3. Locate the Utilities folder on your hard disk or on the software install CD and double-click it to open the folder.

4. Double-click the Drive Setup icon to open the program.

5. In the list of drives, select the disk you want to test.

Figure 7 , Selecting disk to update.

Note: Depending on the type of computer you have, your screen may look slightly different.

6. Open the Functions menu and choose Test Disk.

7. When a message tells you that the testing is complete, choose Quit from the File menu.

If the test reveals a problem, the hard disk may need to be reinitialized using the low level format option. See "Initializing a Hard Disk" above.. If you still have problems, the hard disk is probably damaged. Consult an Apple-authorized service provider for assistance. (If you have a hard disk from another manufacturer, consult that manufacturer for assistance.)