Hardware

Hardware Issues

__Adding an external drive __ Have you had problems connecting your newly purchased external drive to your Mac? Specifically, have you plugged your new drive into a USB port and had a message pop that told you that there was some kind of failure to mount? (giggle, giggle) You'll need to format your drive. Here's how you solve that problem:


 * With your external drive connected to the USB of your computer, go to FINDER-->Applications--->Utilities and click on DISK UTILITY
 * Click on the icon for your new drive
 * Select FORMAT-TM EXTENED
 * Let your Mac do the rest

Remember that every time you format a drive ALL your data are wiped out, so do this BEFORE you begin using your drive.

Because at times I like to throw some complexity into life, I've actually partitioned my new WD My Passport external drive. Partitioning is dividing the drive into independent sections. I've partitioned my drive into 2 sections because I want one section of the drive to be devoted to periodically backing up the information on my laptop and I want the other section devoted to other stuff, including hot-swapping between Windows and Mac. This is what I did:


 * Went to DISK UTILITY
 * Selected PARTITION
 * Selected 2 PARTITIONS from the drop box
 * Selected one section and named it TIME MACHINE---that section I formatted as FORMAT-TM-EXTENDED
 * Selected the other section and named it WINDOWSMAC---that section I formated as MS-DOS FAT

I let the laptop do the rest. So far so good.

**Question:** Why is it that you don't have to go through all of this when you get a new USB flash drive/jump drive/thumb drive?

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">**Answer:** I think part of the reason is that USB flash drive/jump drive/thumb drives are solid-state, which means they have no moving parts and aren't as fussy as typically rectangular external drives that connect to your USB port via a lead. I welcome the day when flash/solid-state technology becomes less expensive than it is already and I can purchase a solid-state terabyte drive for a few hundred dollars or less!

__<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">How to Clear a Hard Drive __ <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">If you're like me, you probably have several portable hard drives, flash drives, and other storage devices around your home. At some time, you are going to have to get rid of those dust collectors. <span style="background-color: #ffff00; color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Before you do, make sure you clear them of all traces of whatever you've put on your hard drives. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;"> You'd be surprised at how much data unscrupulous hackers can piece together from your discarded hard drives to create another you.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;"> Short of driving several nails from a nail gun into your drive, there are products you can use to erase your files.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;"> A product suggested by the Middle School is **Darik's Boot and Nuke www.dban.org.**

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;"> Supposedly, DBAN completely clears off viruses and spyware from MS Windows. DBAN also prevents sleuthing techniques intended to uncover information you saved on your drives.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;"> Here's the link to a video that supports DBAN: Click here

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;"> Supposedly, **MAC Leopard** offers a way of securely erasing data. Here's a link to a discussion about this feature's effectiveness: Click here

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;"> Before you give any old computer to the garbage or resale be sure you clean the hard drive properly. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">

__<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">How to Triple Boot Your Mac __ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">If you have a school-issued Mac, it's likely that you have two operating systems running on one machine: Mac OS and Windows. But you may be curious about using Linux, an open-source operating system. How do you make your Mac a triple operating system running machine? Consult Lifehacker.com. Lifehacker is a Web site that has great information about how to make the most out of your computing experience. Click here to jump to the Lifehacker page that gives you the 411 on triple boots.