Fixing, Preventing Drive Crashes

11 May 1999 - Evan Kleiman

Lately, many people have been telling me that their iMacs have been giving them many problems. They've been reporting crashes, freezes, and other various maladies. I've been able to relate to these people, since my own iMac (which I renamed "the useless green lump," until I fixed it.) was crashing too, for no apparent reason.

So I called Apple, and they were quite helpful - but not helpful enough. After many tests, they told me that I would need to erase my hard drive. So I did, but this was a quite tedious task. I tried to find a faster way, and I did.

Apple provides everything you need to restore your iMac to the state it was in when you received it. This miracle fixer is on the orange disk called "Software Restore." Before you do anything to erase your drive, back up everything you'll need! I mean this! Now that you have everything you need backed up, it's time to say reboot while holding the C key on your keyboard. This forces your iMac to boot from the CD drive.

Once you've booted up, double-click the CD icon. Now, run the program called Apple Software Restore. Once this program is loaded, click erase, and then restore. Your hard drive will be erased. Then your hard drive should be restored to its original state. But, of course, you can still mess it up, so we'll go over some tips to keep it crash-free.

1. Don't touch the System File or Finder. Many programs, such as Res Edit, will mess around with these files: don't use them. This will prevent many problems.
2. Rebuild regularly. On start up, hold command -option, and then click yes. This will make your computer faster and will save some head aches. (Another way to rebuild any Mac's desktop is with TechTool, a freeware program from MicroMat Computer Systems. Run it, click Rebuild, then let it delete your desktop file and restart your computer. dk)

With these tips, and regular backup, your iMac won't become a useless green (or blue, red, orange, or purple) lump again.  

Further Reading

• Data recovery & backup with your iMac, Daily Mac

Recent Mac Happens Columns

• MP3 Forever!, 6/26/00. Closing down Napster will not help already rich artists, but may prevent new ones from being discovered.
• Internet radio, 6/9/00. Internet radio solves problems with poor radio reception, but also lets you listen to radio from around the world.
• Software to make life easier, 5/23/00. Helpful software you may never have heard of.
• Mac Happens index
• Evansite, Evan's own site.

Recent Content on Low End Mac

• 10 Mac Browsers Compared, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 08.28. A look at Internet Explorer, Radon, Opera, Safari, Shiira, iCab, Firefox, Netscape Navigator, Flock, and Camino running in Leopard.
• Clone and Boot: Another Advantage of the Mac OS, Kev Kitchens, Kitchens Sync, 08.28. Unlike Windows, Apple makes it possible to clone a bootable drive (Classic Mac OS or OS X) and use it with another supported Mac.
• CrossOver Strikes Out, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 08.27. Running Windows apps on a Mac without paying for Windows is great in theory, but actually getting Windows software working is another story.
• MacDrought: 4 Months with No New Macs, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 08.27. The most recent Mac update was over four months ago, and the Mac mini has been unchanged for over a year.
• Resurrecting a Dead Pismo, Spotlight Search Tip, and EasyFind a Good File Finder, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 08.27. Lots of tips on bringing a comatose Pismo back to life, a Spotlight file name search tip, and EasyFind as an alternative to Spotlight.

Latest Deals on Low End Mac

• Best MacBook Deals, 08.28. Used 1.83 GHz, $799; 2.0 black, $875; refurb 2.1 GHz, $899; 2.4, $1,099; black, $1,299; new 2.1, $1,019 after rebate; 22, $1,094; 2.4, $1,219 a/r; black, $1,394 a/r.
• Best iMac G5 Deals, 08.28. Used 17" 1.6 GHz Combo, $499; 1.8 SuperDrive, $530; 2.0, $600; 1.9 iSight, $625; 20" 1.8 GHz, $580; 2.0, $650; 2.1 iSight, $700.
• Best classic Mac OS Deals, 08.28. System 6, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5.1, $4; Mac OS 7.6, $13; 8.0, $13; 8.1, $48; 8.5, $25; 8.6, $20; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $20; more.
• Best Intel iMac Deals, 08.27. Used 17" 1.83 GHz, $625; 20", $599; 2.16, $749; 24", $950; refurb 20" 2.4, $999; 2.66, $1,299; 24" 2.4, $1,299; 2.8, $1,549; new 3.06, $2,094 after rebate; more.
• Best 15" PowerBook G4 Deals, 08.27. Used 1.25 GHz Combo, $600; SuperDrive, $650; 1.33 Combo, $640; 1.5, $680; SD, $725; 1.67, $730; hi-res, $800.
• Best Time Capsule and AirPort Deals, 08.27. 500 GB Time Capsule, $294; 1 TB, $468; AirPort Extreme Card, $39; 802.11n Base Station, $166; 802.11g AirPort Express, $60; 802.11n, $98.
• More links in our archive.

Mac Happens copyright 1999-2000 by Evan Kleiman. � Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2008 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, PowerBook, MacBook, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.