Apple Duo 270C manual Caring for disks, Testing and repairing disks, Hard disk precautions

Caring for disks

For information on floppy disk care, see the section on working with disks in Part II of this book, or consult the instructions that came with your floppy disks.

Hard disk precautions

Hard disk drives are delicate mechanisms and should be handled with care.

nDo not bump, jar, or move your computer while the hard disk is in use. If you need to move the computer, wait until the hard disk stops spinning.

nDo not spill any liquids on or near the hard disk.

nDo not expose the hard disk to hazardous vapors, such as those from cleaning solvents.

Testing and repairing disks

Both floppy disks and hard disks can become damaged by repeated use and handling. If you see a message reporting that a disk is damaged or unreadable, you can use Disk First Aid or Apple HD SC Setup to try to diagnose and correct the problem. Both programs are on the disk called Disk Tools that came with your computer.

If your computer can be used in SCSI disk mode, you may be able to correct a problem with your hard disk by connecting your computer to a desktop Macintosh and then reinstalling the system software on your computer from the desktop computer. (See the chapter on enhancing your computer system for more information.)

If a hard disk icon doesn’t appear

If you can’t start up from a hard disk or don’t see its icon on the desktop, try the following:

nIf the hard disk is internal, shut down your PowerBook, wait at least 10 seconds, and then turn it on again.

nIf the hard disk is your startup disk, start up with a different disk. If the hard disk’s icon appears on your desktop, reinstall system software on the hard disk (use your backup copy or use the Installer program and the original system software).

continues .

Chapter 7: Using Disks 113