Repair Disk? Should I?

[estockme]

Hi all- Currently running an imac Intel Core 2 duo, 4gb ram over here with OSX 10.6.8. We got it refurbished about a year ago, so I'd say its about 2 years old. System info says imac9,1

So here is the issue. It is running okay. No major problems. Once I think we had some itunes library issues and a permissions repair in disk utility did the trick.

I've used windows and linux for most of my life and am familiar with defrag and other maintenance differences between windows and unix-based systems and I know that most utilities for mac are considered a waste, that macs take care of themselves.

So things have slowed down a bit lately. For a 2-year-old computer that runs Digital Audio Workstations for me and adobe graphics programs for my roommate it might as well be bulletproof, but i'm used to tinkering... So i wanted to get to the bottom of what is going on.

I didn't mess anything up, but I ran the verify disk function in disk utility and it says i need to repair my disk--invalid volume file count. So here are my questions:

Is this a safe repair to perform? I back up regularly and use dropbox, but will my data be okay?

Should I do this before upgrading to Lion, or will lion take care of it?

Should a computer this old get lion?

 

[AlanShutko]

Yes, you should repair the disk. In almost ALL circumstances, it can repair the disk successfully with no data loss. Occasionally, it will be unable to repair the disk, but in that case it will leave the disk in the same situation it is right now.

I'd suggest doing it before you install lion. When you will be making as many changes to the filesystem as you are installing a new OS, you are more likely to trigger problems.

As for installing Lion on a "machine that old" I'd do it. It's more hefty than the MBA I'm running Lion on right now.

 

[John T]

In actual fact it's not a bad idea to verify the HDD once in a while. It's much more worthwhile than verifying disc permissions.

Should it recommend disc repair, don't forget to run Disc Utility from your Install disc (pressing "C" while machine boots) and if the drive is repairable, no data will be lost.

 

[estockme]

In actual fact it's not a bad idea to verify the HDD once in a while. It's much more worthwhile than verifying disc permissions.

Should it recommend disc repair, don't forget to run Disc Utility from your Install disc (pressing "C" while machine boots) and if the drive is repairable, no data will be lost.

ok- now is that with an installation disk in the drive and C is for the bootloader? or is there already a repair partition built into osx? My roommate thinks he lent the disc to someone and can't remember who... :/

 

[John T]

'Fraid it can't be done without the original Install disc that was originally supplied with the machine. If you've lost it, a replacement can be easily obtained from Apple.

 

[Spike88]

The other day, I ran onyx on my 2010 iMac and launched many of its panels. I was amazed at how my disk errors and other "fixes" this program found. Amazing for only 1 year old iMac. And, I don't drive it very hard.

With that in mind, do run Onyx on your older iMac. Run disk repairs, disk permissions, etc. etc. You might be amazed on how much improper stuff within your old iMac as well.

re: http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/11582/onyx

Note: After downloading and installing, immediately check for new updates - to ensure you're running newest version of Onyx.

-------

To install Lion or not? For me, I plan to run SL as long as I can. IMO, there's still way "too many" bugs and weird behaviour with Lion. For example, hotter insides, weird video images, etc. etc. I plan to wait another 2+ months, then re-evaluate my "want" to upgrade. Currently, my SL isn't broke (and runs smooth as stable rocket fuel - LOL!!!). So, I'm not going to try and fix something that doesn't need fixing. Let other folks flush out the mandatory fixes out of Lion first. But, that's just me....

Hope this helps - somehow...

 

[John T]

In my experience, Onyx should be treated with care as it can create more problems than it claims to solve.

 

[derbothaus]

If you have an external HD laying around that is big enough you could image it with your current internal and boot off it to repair. Or backup to a .dmg and apply "that" to external HDD (using superduper or CCC) if it wont let you do a "live" bare metal restore. It does not have to be the install DVD, it just has to be another copy of 10.6 or 10.7 that you boot from with the desired repair volume on one of the buses. Then run disk utility.app. The option to repair disk will not be grayed out then.
You could even find a friend and target disk mode your Mac via Firewire and repair using your friends Mac. There are options.