I have a few external HDs that I want/need to zero-out. That takes time - 2 are done via FW, one has to be done via USB2 (mobile rikiki go only has a USB2 connection)
Is it possible to have the process of zero-ing-out going on while I continue to work on the iMac? ๐
OR is it something that is better left alone and done overnight when the computer is not otherwise in use? ๐
Mrs H
Hi Mrs H!
You do come up with them don't you! ๐
Is it possible to have the process of zero-ing-out going on while I continue to work on the iMac?
If it is an exsternal HD, yes.
OR is it something that is better left alone and done overnight when the computer is not otherwise in use?
Yes!
The only good reason to zero out is if you intend to dispose of the HD, i.e. to prevent recovery of your data.Otherwise simple deletion of contents and subsequent overwriting by new contents will suffice. IMO.
Klaus1 wrote:
...You do come up with them don't you! ๐
...If it is an exsternal HD, yes.
...The only good reason to zero out is if you intend to dispose of the HD, i.e. to prevent recovery of your data.Otherwise simple deletion of contents and subsequent overwriting by new contents will suffice. IMO.
I work really hard at coming up with "them" ๐ - why ask the easy stuff?
Yes, they are "exsternal" (sic) drives.
I was writing to the creator of SuperDuper about back-up strategies and he suggested zero-ing out any new external HD and any old one that I am re-doing. Hence, I am zero-ing out my 2 new HDs and going back and reformatting and reorganizing some of the old ones and copying things anew and not bothering with the backups for the now dead G4 whose space can be more profitably used. I read somewhere, that the life of an HD is extended if it is reformatted occasionally - jazzes up the old magnetic thingies.
(I keep one HD backup on a tiny mobile HD in our safe deposit box just in case...Little Miss Paranoia ๐ )
At this point, I will probably do the zero-ing out at night, though I think you are saying if it's an external I can do it whilst I do other work.
If you want to see another classic (in the true sense of the word, not Classic in the Mac sense) Mrs H thread, peruse this one and please feel free to put in your 2 pence worth. I begin on one topic and reference you and thank you for info from the past (btw, thank you again) and then get to another issue just as important.
I haven't solved the problem yet. The weather is too iffy to set out on a big project that might be interrupted by a power issue.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3293121?start=0&tstart=0
I am torn between keeping the drives constantly plugged in and letting them go to sleep, or turning them on and off, whether to daisy chain or not, whether to buy a hub with more FW ports...much gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair here.
Another classic for your evening entertainment and again feel free to reply: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3278421
You have an anniversary coming up next month? In case we don't reconnect (not likely) - regards.
And finally, I've missed Lily's birthday for 2 years now. I recall it was sometime in the summer? So to her
Mrs H
PS I think I love my new iMac.
Thread 1: I have no problem with any of the advice you have received. You are in very good hands.
Thread 2: Ditto.
Anniversary? Yep. Seems to come every year! ๐ Approaching 42 years, so we both use the same Admin account on the Mac! The only other Admin account is an account created purely for testing purposes. (Klaus somehow manages to stay on topic...)
Thanks for remembering Lily! Yes, she turned two in May and, having Hannah (5.5) as a role model, she is rather advanced for her age and completely fearless. I am told she went surfing last week!! OK, lying on her stomach in her wetsuit with her Dad holding on to the surfboard, but even so - not bad going! Can't wait to see the photos!
Meanwhile, back to this thread:
Yes, the guy from SuperDuper is really helpful, and I always accept his advice. In fact only two weeks ago my bootable clone created via SuperDuper saved me from disaster when a failed archive and install mucked up my startup drive and made that non-bootable. I was able to clone back and start again. But I did not erase first, just over-wrote.
Which made me think: is it safe to only have one bootable clone? Obviously not. So I am now looking for another hard drive, and this is where the fun starts. Like Baltwo I want to alternate backups between two different hard drives and/or daisychain them. My current external is a Maxtor HD connected by firewire. That model is no longer made, and I am having real problems finding any hard drives that still use Firewire. The Maxtor has both Firewire and USB2 connection, but can one connect the Maxtor by firewire and then daisychain via its USB2 to another hard drive? I will let you know!
As for zeroing out because the life of an HD is extended if it is reformatted occasionally - jazzes up the old magnetic thingies, what actually happens (where you zero out first or not) is that by copying back both ways you are effectively de-fragging the files, which makes it all a bit quicker.
Regards
Klaus
At the risk of the Hosts going nuts, this is for you: Lily, 2 weeks ago, hurtling down a long slide (actually a still from the video I shot, hence the quality):
Love it! Thanks! What a cutie!
I'm replying as soon as I found this - in case the pix gets deleted by who knows who.
Mrs H
PS So, you do or don't think I can do a zero-out and work on other stuff at the same time? I read about someone's z-o which was interrupted and failed and they couldn't get the disk to remount to begin again.
Play it safe: close all applications, ensure the Mac cannot go to sleep, and zero out overnight.
Thanks for the answer; it's what I thought.
Mrs H
Klaus1 wrote:
... As for zeroing out because the life of an HD is extended if it is reformatted occasionally - jazzes up the old magnetic thingies, what actually happens (where you zero out first or not) is that by copying back both ways you are effectively de-fragging the files, which makes it all a bit quicker.
I don't think they were talking about things being quicker (the defrag info) but actually helping extend the life span of the physical quality of the magnetic whatevers (formerly "thingies").
Still don't know whether totally powering off the HDs OR letting them (hopefully) go to sleep and shutting themselves close to being shut down i better for longevity (and I do mean lifespan not speed here). I've read that 24/7 on increases likelihood of death, but don't know if sleep is included in that number. My 2 eldest are 4+ years old and still work fine - fingers crossed.
Mrs H
It's starting up that wears out a hard drive, rather than running 24/7 - which is what Macs are designed to do.
My external HD is turned off by ejecting it before shutdown of my iMac, and starts up again on startup and then when I actually have to access it.
But all hard drives can and probably will fail at some time - hence the decision to buy another one!
Klaus1 wrote:...
My external HD is turned off by ejecting it before shutdown of my iMac, and starts up again on startup and then when I actually have to access it.
Never one to leave a topic finished...
To review -
Starting up wears drives out.
Running Macs 24/7 is the right thing to do.
So - you are saying above that you turn off your HD by ejecting the icon - (for me that unmounts the HD, leaves it powered on, but sleeping), before shutting down your iMac - which you do how often? Didn't you just say, leave it on for best results 24/7?? (I turn all our stuff off and disconnect everything from the mains when thunder and lightening are in the foothills)
And - then your HD starts up again on startup and when you access it...
Sounds to me like a lotta shutting off and on (or am I misreading this) and that is what I famously used to do with the G4 and then its powerblock died and that put me here ๐
Are your drives attached in daisy chain or via a hub or how?
Mrs H
Right!
When I shut down my Mac for the night, I
close all applications
drag the icon of the external hard drive to the trash while holding down the Alt key. That ejects and unmounts it, but it remains connected by the firewire cable.
As it is seperately powered it stays on until the Mac completes its shutdown, then it goes off.
The next morning I boot up the iMac and the external HD springs back to life. For the most part it sleeps, but the slideshow that acts as my screensaver is stored in my Photo folder which is on the external HD, so when I sleep the Mac the external HD comes briefly to life, until the iMac itself sleeps 15 minutes later.
(This answer is beginning to read like one of your questions! ๐ )
I turn all our stuff off and disconnect everything from the mains when thunder and lightening are in the foothills
So do I, except that I do not disconnect the surge protector that everything (Mac, Ext HD, powered USB hub, scanner, printer, router) is connected to. Reason: that would disconnect the router which takes an age to reset. (The router is supplied by my ISP and if it fails I just get another).
Running Macs 24/7 is the right thing to do.
That is a majority opinion round here, but I prefer to save electricity!
Starting up wears drives out.
Tough! You can't make them spin at 7200 rpm if they have nothing to do!
Klaus1 wrote:
...Anniversary? Yep. Seems to come every year! ๐ Approaching 42 years, so we both use the same Admin account on the Mac! The only other Admin account is an account created purely for testing purposes. (Klaus somehow manages to stay on topic...)
We're at 42 too, but we've had this conversation already.
Admin account? I thought folks here were saying one needed another for security - not the kind of security you get by keeping the other member of your household out of your folders ๐ - not necessary here either - but to protect you, somehow, while on the web and such. Did I miss the point?
Mrs H
And, thanks for the on-topic reply too. I am still trying to decide - power on or off at night. Apple booklet that came with iMac says leave it on unless gone from it for a few days...But what do they know...?
No you haven't missed the point, but not all of us follow all the advice available!
When we are out for a day or more I disable auto-login, so if the iMac is stolen it would be that bit harder to access my files. Confidential stuff is stored on the external HD, which is hidden elsewhere when we are away.
The booklet that came with my G5 iMac says the same as yours. So? ๐
My shutting down is, as I said, an energy saving measure.
Klaus1 wrote:
...No you haven't missed the point, but not all of us follow all the advice available!
๐ฎ
Mrs H
Zero-out multi-task and compute
