IMHO - Things I am reminded of the hard way
Once again, I am reminded of the old adage: "Do as I say, not as I do."
And that also means that I can get caught not following my advice very well thank you.
I have been planning on purchasing an external hard drive to back up my iMac G5's 80 Gig hard drive for about 18 months now. A few weeks ago, i was reminded of the need when I did the graphic upgrade after installing Mac OS X 10.5.2. That was when my hard drive quit booting. I couldn't even get my CD drive to load the Leopard install disk. After zapping the PRAM several times I was able to get Disk Warrior to boot and got the drive to work. Mistake #1 was not having an external drive to boot from that contained my backups and some utilities.
I then used is for a couple of weeks. Forgetting my original problem, I had software update do a security update and had the same problem. This time, distracted by the grandkids, I stuck the wrong disk into the drive and then couldn't get it to eject. (Mistakes #2 &3)
I thought maybe I could find an eject button if I removed the drive. I took the back off the iMac and looked. In the process I lost one of the screws that hold the drive in place. So even after I consulted with a former Mac Genius, I wasn't able to get the disk out. It seems that even now I know how to use the Flash ROM to tell the computer to eject the disk it won't do so because the drive is no longer aligned with slot, (Mistake #4)
So currently that iMac is not usable and I am typing this on my granddaughter's G3. Still a useful machine, but without such niceties as TextExpander that I have found to be so useful over the past month.
The main thing however is I think I have learned to follow my own advice.
#1) Backup
#2) Make sure that I have the correct disk
#3) Follow Ford Perfect's advice "Don't panic"
#4) Don't rush.
#5) BACKUP!!!
Now what would you do? I am going to look for the screw or a replacement. Get me at least one new Hard drive between now and Memorial Day.
Have a Great Week.
----
BTW - Notice that we have started getting support from Bare Bones. BBEdit has long been THE choice for html editing. MailSmith is a really good alternative to Apple's Mail.
I am not yet familiar with Yojimbo or Textwrangler, but aim to give them a try soon. Check out all there products by clicking on the advertisement. I am sure that they would be useful for you and your members.
If you have any favorite other companies that should join Bare Bones as a friend of user groups, please let me know.
Lynn
