When run repair disk permissions?

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Level 1

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When run repair disk permissions?

I am going to upgrade from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion.

I have heard/read that you're supposed to run repair disk permissions beforehand.

1. Should I run repair disk permissions on my brand new backup disk (am planning to backup Snow Leopard and all apps and docs before upgrading to Mountain Lion - - so can restore Snow Leopard etc. if want/need to)? If so, do I run repair disk permissions on the new backup disk before or after I partition the backup disk [am planning to have two sections, one with all the Snow Leopard stuff, and one for iMac backups that will be made after have upgraded to Mountain Lion])

2. When's the best time to run repair disk permissions on my iMac - - before I download Mountain Lion or right before I do the installation of Mountain Lion?

Thanks.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8), Mid-2007

Posted on Mar 24, 2015 11:07 AM

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Answer 1

Niel

Level 10

727,307 points

Mar 24, 2015 11:10 AM in response to popcorn008

1. No.

2. It may be useful when you're having trouble with the computer, but is otherwise a waste of time.

(124758)

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Answer 2

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Mar 24, 2015 11:11 AM in response to popcorn008

It's not a requirement, but it may help especially if you don't attend to the state of your running OS. I recommend doing this:

Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions

Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.

If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.

Then you can proceed to click on the Install button after the upgrade finishes downloading. I also suggest you make a bootable backup of your current Snow Leopard system on an external drive just in case things go badly.

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Answer 3

popcorn008 Author

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Mar 24, 2015 11:20 AM in response to Niel

Thanks Niel!

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Answer 4

popcorn008 Author

Level 1

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Mar 24, 2015 11:39 AM in response to Kappy

Hi again Kappy!

I don't have a Snow Leopard Installer disc. My iMac came with Leopard (do have startup disc for that) and received a free download of Snow Leopard due the date the iMac was purchased.

1. I don't attend to the state of my OS unless there is some problem, which luckily hasn't happened much with Snow Leopard. If I do decide to run repair disc permissions on my iMac how do you do that without an installer disc?

2. And if so, sounds like best time to do this would be before installing Mountain Lion (rather than before downloading it) - - is that correct, or does it not matter?

3. Also, am I correct to assume that running repair disc permissions won't hurt anything if I didn't really need to run it?

4. Also, from your response, sounds to me that it might not be important to run repair disc permissions on my new external backup disc - - is that right? If I actually should run repair disc permissions on that backup disc, should I do it before or after it's partitioned?

Thanks.

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Answer 5

Niel

Level 10

727,307 points

Mar 24, 2015 11:43 AM in response to popcorn008

1. Repairing permissions can be done while booted from the computer's internal drive. Note that you'll need to have used a Snow Leopard DVD to install it.

2. If you choose to do so, it's correct.

3. Yes.

4. That's correct.

(124761)

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Answer 6

popcorn008 Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 24, 2015 11:52 AM in response to Niel

Thanks Niel!

I just checked Disk Utility and am given the option to "Repair Disk Permissions" so I guess I must have a Snow Leopard startup DVD hiding somewhere. I thought I had downloaded it, but that was over 7 years ago, so may have mis-remembered this. . .

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