Hard disk drive problem

Everything on my computer saves to image backup (C and it only has 40GB. Whenever I install or update anything else it says "Insufficient space, please free up additional space" so how do I save stuff to Windows (D which has 891 GB instead of image backup (C

xl wrote:
Hmm....
If you are installing an application. It's better to save to C: for stability. A lot of software is not tested for any other drive letter.
By default, a lot of documents or data goes to the "My Documents" folder. It's best to save your data to another drive letter instead of C: or use the "My Documents" folder. Also moving your data/documents to another drive letter makes backups easier.
regularly clean your browser temp files. This might help free up some space.
You might want a third drive letter for temporary files or swap space. This will keep your C: from fragmenting.
You need something that can resize your partition. 40GB C: drives is awfully small. Can anyone recommend a good piece of software that can resize partitions?
What version of Windows are you using?
I install everything to D, both on my personal hardware and the servers I manage. Never have any issues doing it that way, and it comes in handy when either your C: drive fills up or you need to do an OS reinstall. That Steam Library can get pretty darn big.
Gparted bootable CD will do it, I can't think of any free windows utilities that will.

Similar Messages

External hard disk drive problem with windows laptops?

my other hard disk drive cannot be read or write on windows and on my macbook pro 13.

If the HDD cannot be read on either machine, it may have failed. Connect it to your MBP and open Disk Utility. Is it recognized there?
Ciao.

Help NEEDED! External Hard Disk Drive Problem!

Dear Forum,
I am using MacBook with snow leopard and I am also using a WD Ext.HDD 500GB. Ok, I will described in detailed regarding what problem has occurred so that you guys can help me:D. Firstly, I formatted my wd hdd to hfs+j as the default format is NTFS. Then afterwards, I forgotten that hfs+j cannot support windows, thus I partition it to 2, with one hfs+j and one Fat32(formatted to ntfs when in windows), then I realised that my macbook don't have enough space, thus, I reformatted the whole hdd to one partition only, hfs+j. Now, the problem comes, when I formatted it to hfs+j, I found the free space not right, at default, the wd is 499.41GB(as seen on disk utility), but when I look at the hfs+j partition, the free space is only 499.06GB(as seen on disk utility with no files in it). Another thing, when I looked into the disk utility info of my hfs+j partition, there is 400+MB of hard disk space already taken. Then, I transferred one of my files(4.82GB) into my ext.hard disk, when the transfer is complete, I 'get info' my ext.hdd and found out that 5.26GB are taken up, but I have only transferred 4.82GB of files. So what is happening to my hard disk? Any ways to fix this problem guys?
I really need your help! I will appreciate greatly if you guys can help me, thanks!:D
Regards
Ala.

The odd 400MB is the hidden files put there by the system to define the file structure of the partition, plus other stuff like .Trash. It's perfectly normal and the HDD wouldn't be recognised if they weren't there.
You will see a similar situation with the internal boot drive if you compare the Drive size (leftmost item with the manufacturers designation) and that of Macintosh HD (which is the working partition). In my case this shows 640.14 GB for the drive, 639.79 GB for Macintosh HD, a difference of 350MB
This will be the same within about ± 50MB whatever drive you format in HFS+J, including pen drives.

Comparison of SSD with hard disk drives

Attribute or characteristic
Solid-state drive
Hard disk drive
Spin-up time
Instantaneous.
May take several seconds. With a large number of drives, spin-up may need to be staggered to limit total power drawn.
Random access time[45]
About 0.1 ms - many times faster than HDDs because data is accessed directly from the flash memory
Ranges from 5–10 ms due to the need to move the heads and wait for the data to rotate under the read/write head
Read latency time[46]
Generally low because the data can be read directly from any location; In applications where hard disk seeks are the limiting factor, this results in faster boot and application launch times (see Amdahl's law).[47]
Generally high since the mechanical components require additional time to get aligned
Consistent read performance[48]
Read performance does not change based on where data is stored on an SSD
If data is written in a fragmented way, reading back the data will have varying response times
Defragmentation
SSDs do not benefit from defragmentation because there is little benefit to reading data sequentially and any defragmentation process adds additional writes on the NAND flash that already have a limited cycle life.[49][50]
HDDs may require defragmentation after continued operations or erasing and writing data, especially involving large files or where the disk space becomes low. [51]
Acoustic levels
SSDs have no moving parts and make no sound
HDDs have moving parts (heads, spindle motor) and have varying levels of sound depending upon model
Mechanical reliability
A lack of moving parts virtually eliminates mechanical breakdowns
HDDs have many moving parts that are all subject to failure over time
Susceptibility toenvironmental factors[47][52][53]
No flying heads or rotating platters to fail as a result of shock, altitude, or vibration
The flying heads and rotating platters are generally susceptible to shock, altitude, and vibration
Magneticsusceptibility[citation needed]
No impact on flash memory
Magnets or magnetic surges can alter data on the media
Weight and size[52]
The weight of flash memory and the circuit board material are very light compared to HDDs
Higher performing HDDs require heavier components than laptop HDDs that are light, but not as light as SSDs
Parallel operation[citation needed]
Some flash controllers can have multiple flash chips reading and writing different data simultaneously
HDDs have multiple heads (one per platter) but they are connected, and share one positioning motor.
Write longevity
Solid state drives that use flash memory have a limited number of writes over the life of the drive.[54][55][56][57] SSDs based on DRAM do not have a limited number of writes.
Magnetic media do not have a limited number of writes.
Software encryption limitations
NAND flash memory cannot be overwritten, but has to be rewritten to previously erased blocks. If a software encryption program encrypts data already on the SSD, the overwritten data is still unsecured, unencrypted, and accessible (drive-based hardware encryption does not have this problem). Also data cannot be securely erased by overwriting the original file without special "Secure Erase" procedures built into the drive.[58]
HDDs can overwrite data directly on the drive in any particular sector.
Cost
As of October 2010, NAND flash SSDs cost about (US)$1.40–2.00 per GB
As of October 2010, HDDs cost about (US)$0.10/GB for 3.5 in and $0.20/GB for 2.5 in drives
Storage capacity
As of October 2010, SSDs come in different sizes up to 2TB but are typically 512GB or less[59]
As of October 2010, HDDs are typically 2-3TB or less
Read/write performance symmetry
Less expensive SSDs typically have write speeds significantly lower than their read speeds. Higher performing SSDs and those from particular manufacturers have a balanced read and write speed.[citation needed]
HDDs generally have symmetrical read and write speeds
Free block availability andTRIM
SSD write performance is significantly impacted by the availability of free, programmable blocks. Previously written data blocks that are no longer in use can be reclaimed by TRIM; however, even with TRIM, fewer free, programmable blocks translates into reduced performance.[25][60][61]
HDDs are not affected by free blocks or the operation (or lack) of the TRIM command
Power consumption
High performance flash-based SSDs generally require 1/2 to 1/3 the power of HDDs; High performance DRAM SSDs generally require as much power as HDDs and consume power when the rest of the system is shut down.[62][63]
High performance HDDs generally require between 12-18 watts; drives designed for notebook computers are typically 2 watts.

I wish I could get my head round the SSD vs HDD with a NLE rig. My builder is trying to persuade me to use a Toshiba 256Gb THNSNC256GBSJ for OS and programs, and it is only NZ$20 more expensive than the 450Gb 10k rpm VelociRaptor I was originally planing to use for the OS. That sounds suspiciously cheap to me, and I am concerned about the finite writes to SSD - mainly because I don't really understand it.
The rest of the new build is
3930K
Gigabyte X79-UD5
8 x DDR3 1600
Coolermaster with 750W PSU
Geforce GTX570
I plan to transfer the drives from my current system as a starting point, and reassess after giving it some use. That means
Either the above SSD or 450Gb 10k Raptor for OS (new drives)
300Gb 10k rpm Raptor (currently used for OS in old box)
150Gb 7k4 rpm Raptor (reserved for Photoshop Scratch in old box)
2 x 1Tb WD Blacks (data drives)
2 x 1Tb WD USB3 externals
I don't know how I would configure the drives in the new box, but have seen Harm's table and will try to follow his advice. It's a dreadful thing to admit, but I don't have a backup strategy, and the above drives are well over half full. Well over! And I am only just getting serious about video, (the rest is mainly CR2 files from my Canon 1Ds3 and 1D4)
I know it must be like banging your head against the wall, but should I avoid that SSD and go with the 450G Raptor? I have read a comment that the WD Blacks don't work well as Raid0. Is that BS or true?
I am about to give the go-ahead so need to confirm the spec.

I can't copy my itunes library to an external hard disk drive!!

this is my first time at the forum and i dont find a better way to ask, i want to copy my itunes library to an external hard disk drive for have a back up, but when i try to copy it it appears this message "the item "itunes music" has 1 or more items that are in use and cannot be modified", i dont know why, then i search for help in apple support and this article http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751, but i do what it says and i still having my problem, i can't copy my music, that message keep's appearing and it dont let me copy my music.

forget it i discover my problem, this message gives u 2 option stop or continue i just click continue and it get copied, i think this is normal but like this is my fisrt time i dot this i get confused, i think i still used to windows, i cant believe because i have a ear with this computer. well anything is a good experience.

Satellite M30X - high hard disk drive utilization

After login in Windows XP (SP2), my toshiba laptop is very slow. The hard disk drive light is continuously on for 5 minutes. I've looked at the task manager, but CPU utilization is low and RAM usage is low. There is no program that seems to use a lot of CPU or RAM.
I've actually turned off the paging file to see if the problems due to intensive use of the paging file on the HDD, but problem persists. The model of the laptop is Satellite M30X-113.
I don't know if it's related, but this problem arose around the time that I've taken out a 256 MB RAM module and installed a 512 MB one (making the total ram memory 1024 MB).

Hi
> I don't know if it's related, but this problem arose around the time that I've taken out a 256 MB RAM module and installed a 512 MB one (making the total ram memory 1024 MB).
If this issue has begun after installation of the new memory module then I would say that the new memory module is responsible for this issue.
You could also try to put back the 256MB module to check if the issue still persist.
This would be the easiest way for checking

Hi there! yesterday I installed Mavericks on my Macbook. Since then, it doesn't mount my external hard disk drive anymore, which he did a week ago (without the update). Is there anyone out there who knows a solution?

Hi there! Yesterday, I installed Mavericks on my Macbook. Since then, it doesn't recognize my external hard disk drive anymore (at least not on the desktop. In Germany they call it "it doens't mount it". I don't know if it's the same expression in english?)
I just used it a week ago, before I did the update and it worked perfectly fine.
Is there anyone out there who knows a solution for this problem? I've been googleing for hours now and can't find any answer.
Thank you!!!

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you turn on the computer, and again when you log in.
Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually login automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem?
After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

Mac OSX wont reognise my internal hard disk drive

I have a problem where for some reason when I start up my Macbook Pro (intel core duo) it does not detect the internal hard disk drive at all. I have run a hardware test and it shows no problems whatsoever. I have tried resetting the PRAM etc and to no avail. Yesterday the system hung and I tried to force quit and it wouldn't do anything so eventually I held down the power key and when it tried to reboot this is the problem I was faced with (it would boot up with the "no entry" sign). I accepted complete defeat and went to completely re-install OSX however it doesn't even show the internal hard drive when I wait for it to give me install destinations. I had tried seeing the hard drive through disk utility however it only shows the install DVD and that's it in the sidebar. I resigned myself further to thinking either the logic board or the HDD had packed in all and I took it round to my brother in law to see if there is anything he could do without opening the machine (he is Oxford educated and writes programmes etc so is very knowledgable), now this is the part that has miffed us both, he started it up using a Linux disc and once running, Linux see's the hard drive with no problems. He has been able to access the HDD with absolutely no problems under Linux both reading and writing to it. I even took my Mac Mini round and he booted them both up in Linux and completely copied Mac OSX from the mini to the macbook pro but still when I try booting up its as if the HDD isn't even there. Why can Linux see the drive and not Mac OSX? Please don't be affraid to get very technical in your answers as they may mean nothing to me but will probably all make sense to my brother in Law. Any sugestions at all would be greatly accepted.

Dear mcdkev,
You guys may have made a big error cloning the Mini HD into the MBP. They both have very different drivers and hardware settings and their OS X versions are customized to fit the hardware. That is why each mac comes with it's own version of OS X and their backup disks. That's a reason why it did not work.
Ok, so now that you do not have any of the original info on the MBP try the following:
Use linux to scan the disk surface & repair any problems.
Reformat the drive as DOS or FAT 32. (I wouldn't go into any linux specific format unless you can "Apple" format it, which I don't think linux has that option.)
Now, the MBP should be able to see it's drive...
boot from the OS X DVD , from the Utilities menu choose Disk Utilities, partition the drive as GUI file system (in case the linux format made the drive a "system boot record", you do not want that... )
Then format the drive as "OS X Extended Journaled"
Now go back to install and install your original basic set of OS X (the factory default).
*If nothing works, please do take your MBP to the Apple store or to a certified tech before you do more damage to the drive and it becomes unusable ...*

Access external USB hard disk drive with REISERFS Linux filesystem.

I recently bought second-hand an older MBP Pro (2006 model) with Tiger installed, which I use as a desktop system at home and I would like to be able to connect an external IOMEGA 500 GB hard disk drive to it and have read/write access to its contents (mostly video / picture / music files). I spent a while searching on the Internet for solutions - nothing usefule came up. Does anyone in here have any ideas on how to do this? Is it possible at all after all?
P.S.: Apart from this older MBP Pro, I also have a newer model (bought in early 2008) with Leopard installed - I wouldn't mind finding some solution on my problem on that OS instead...

Hi,
The two ways I can see to possibly do it are to network the Linux machine & Drive, then use Samba to access it.
By using the Mac OS X Virtual File System (VFS) capability and writing kernel extensions, you can add support for other file systems. Examples of file systems that are not currently supported in Mac OS X but that you may wish to add to the system include the Andrew file system (AFS) and the Reiser file system (ReiserFS). If you want to support a new volume format or networking protocol, you’ll need to write a file-system kernel extension.
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Darwin/Conceptual/KernelProgramming/Fil esystem/chapter12_section1.html

Arch: Install to & run from External USB Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

I wanted to play with ArchLinux 2009.02, but replacing the existing Debian-Lenny on the laptop's HDD wasn't an option. So I experimented with installing Arch on an external USB Hard Disk Drive.
I have tried to make this "newbie-friendly", so I hope the more experienced will forgive the detail.
Materials:
Three year old Dell Inspiron 6000
CPU = 2.0 GHz Pentium
RAM = 2.0 GB
Internal HDD = 80 GB
Internal CD/DVD R/RW
External USB HDD = Freecom FHD-2 Pro 80 GB
Archlinux 2009.02 install CD
Steps to install:
1. I put the Archlinux install CD in the drive and connected the external 80 GB HDD in the USB port.
2. When the Dell laptop was booted, I pressed F2 to enter the BIOS setup. I edited the boot sequence to the following:
Internal CD/DVD
External USB device
Internal HDD
On the Dell, you can also press F12 to select the preferred boot device for that boot.
3. I started the laptop and the Archlinux installation menu came up and I proceeded with installation following the "Official Arch Linux Install Guide" and the "Beginners Guide".
4. Used km to change to UK keyboard layout and then began the installer script (/arch/setup). I was installing from the core CD so I skipped the network steps.
5. HDD preparation.
This was fairly straightforward with two cautions:
(a) Make very sure that the external HDD (sdb) is selected for the operations.
(b) Remember to set the Bootable Flag for the first (/) partition on the HDD.
I chose 20 GB for /, 2 GB for swap and the remainder for /home.
6. The package selection and installation was fairly straightforward.
7. Configuration of System
This was section was straightforward with one warning:
USB had to be added to the HOOKS in the /etc/mkinitcpio.conf file!
I found this to be essential for my external USB HDD to function as a bootable device. Otherwise I got the same sorts of errors relating to unrecognisable file system types that other people have reported in the forum.
The relevant line from the end of the edited /etc/mkinitcpio.conf file is below:
HOOKS="base udev autodetect pata scsi sata usb filesystems"
8. Installation of GRUB was the other point where caution and/or correction was necessary.
When it asked where GRUB should be installed, I had to select sdb (my external USB HDD) and not any of the particular partitions on sdb. If the root partition sdb1 was selected then the laptop won't boot from the external USB HDD.
The GRUB /boot/grub/menu.lst as written by the installation routine specifies hd(1,0) which doesn't work when you try to reboot from the external USB HDD. When you boot Arch from the external USB HDD, as far as Arch is concerned - at that point in time - the external USB HDD is the first drive in the system. To fix this:
(a) When the Arch boot menu comes up, press e to edit the grub entries.
(b) Change the first line to hd(0,0)
(c) To the end of the kernel line add rootdelay=8
(d) Press b to boot the system with these temporary corrections.
(e) Once your Arch system has booted, edit the /boot/grub/menu.lst to make the above changes permanent.
The relevant portion of my /boot/grub/menu.lst looks like the following:
# (0) Arch Linux
title Arch Linux
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/... ro rootdelay=8
initrd /boot/kernel26.img
# (1) Arch Linux
title Arch Linux Fallback
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/... ro rootdelay=8
initrd /boot/kernel26-fallback.img
9. The laptop happily and consistently boots Arch Linux from the external USB HDD when it's plugged in before startup/booting.
Running Arch from the external USB HDD seems as quick as running Debian from the internal HDD.
So if there is a performance penalty associated with using an external USB HDD, my wife and I haven't noticed.
In summary, the three essential points to address during installation to an external USB HDD are:
Remember to set the bootable flag for the first partition.
Add USB to the HOOKS for /etc/mkinitcpio.conf file.
Correct the /etc/grub/menu.lst file.
I hope this is helpful.
Ted

Hi Rookie,
As you say, it is worth remembering the rootfstype= option for the kernel line just in case someone still has problems with GRUB after making all the other changes.
I was working with the most recent Arch 2009.2 release.
I only got messages about unrecognisable file system type when I tried booting with the "stock" or "as-installed" GRUB (before I edited /boot/grub/menu.lst). After editing /boot/grub/menu.lst to identify the drive correctly and add rootdelay, GRUB was able to do the rest and everything worked OK without any error messages.
Best wishes,
Ted

9.2.1 upgrade - hard disk driver prob.

Hi all,
System
PowerPC G4 dig audio dual533
768mb ram
40gb HD - 9.1OS
120gb HD - OSX tiger
I have installed a 2nd hand 120Gb HD which I totally erased writing 0's over it then partitioned (1) MacOS extended.
Loaded OSX tiger onto it and all is sweet no problems at all and loving the new interface!
Now the problem is I want to use my Illust9 & Phsop6 on the old 40gb HD which is running OS9.1.
Tried to access one of the progs via Tiger, classic started up and basically hung on the startup screen so I had to cancel it. That is when the problems started.
I booted up the OS9.1 drive and lost use of my enternet300 adsl internet connection. Reloaded adsl software, didn't fix. Also missing Quicktime VR plus tried using Illust9 and got systems error of controls trip extension. A few other things seemed to go wrong as well.
Read somewhere that it was highly rec to upgrade to 9.2.2 to utilise the classic environment effectively.
As I had lost my internet connection on the old HD I downloaded the Mac OS 9.2.1 Update.smi, Mac OS 9.2.2 Update.smi and HardDriveUpdate1.smi files from my Tiger HD.
Back to the OS9.1 HD to install the updates and it comes up with.....
The hard disk driver on the disk "PowerMac G4 Install" cannot be updated with this program because the disk is not an Apple hard disk. Contact the manufacturer of your computer or hard disk to see if you need to update the driver.
After alot of stuffing around I have done the following in this order.
after each one it didn't fix the problem
1. OS9.1 software restore in place
2. OS9.1 software restore clean install
3. Erased HD and initilised 1 part partition using OS9.1 software install CD
then installed new OS9.1 by booting up from install CD
4. Erased HD and initilised 1 part partition using OSX tiger software install DVD from 120gb HD, then installed new OS9.1 by booting up from install CD
thinking this would sort the driver problem but no go.
same problem when trying to upgrade to 9.2.1!!!!!!!!!!!
any ideas?
40gb HD is a IBM-IC35L040AVER07-0
appreciated
PowerPC G4 digital audio dp533 Mac OS X (10.4.5)
PowerPC G4 digital audio dp533 Mac OS X (10.4.5)
PowerPC G4 digital audio dp533 Mac OS X (10.4.5)

OK,
I have Erased the 40gbHD and erased, initilised it with a 1 part partition using disk utility from the OSX tiger on the 120gb HD, then installed a new OS9.1 by booting up from the OS9.1 install CD.
Used the 9.2.1 upgrade which was downloaded from Apple.
Followed thier instructions in the read me file by
turning extensions to 9.1 base
make sure file sharing is off (wasn't on in the first place)
then restarted
no other apps running and straight into starting the upgrade
started the install process
unchecked the option to update driver
starts to install goes for about 6% and then the box comes up with......
This version of Mac OS can not be installed over the localized version of Mac OS on the disk named "XXXXXXX XXXXX".
Please choose a different destination disk, or perform a clean installation.
SURELY IT CAN"T BE THIS HARD TO UPGRADE FROM 9.1 to 9.2.1 to 9.2
COME ON APPLE help me out here!!!!! FFS!
can't do a clean install, haven't got the disks!!!!!

Setup did not find any hard disk drive in your computer

I have an old Compaq Presario 7598 Desktop (Windows XP) which I use as a backup machine. Recently when I tried to start it I am getting "Unable to access hard disk,. Operating system not found on any devices". Then when I tried to start with XP Boot Disk (CD), I am getting "Setup did not find any hard disk drive in your computer".
Can someone help me to resolve this issue?
Thanks.

Repeatedly tap the F10 key at boot, you should see information for the hard disk.
Testing the hard drive:
http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=emr_na-bph05701#N100A0
Please mark my post as SOLVED if it has resolved your problem. It helps others with similar situations.

I am not able to delete or write my files to my external hard disk drive what shall i do?

i am teja i brought a new mac book air here i am not able to write or delete the files that are present in a external hard disk drive what shall i do now to enable required permisions................plz reply me i am new to mac

I guess your external drive is Windows (NTFS) formattet.
By default you were only able to read from that drive, as Mac doesent support NTFS write.
If you want to have read/write access to a NTFS volume you have to use add-in tools like MacFuse or Paragon on your Mac.
Not having write or delete permissions on the external drive may also preventyou from changing existing files on that drive.
Right click on the drive in Finder and choose "Information" from the menu will give you more information about the reasons of your problem.
Lupunus

How to make the RESCUE AND RECOVERY hidden partition when changing the hard disk drive

I've got T61 and I'd like to know if is it possible (in case of changing the HDD) to make the RESCUE AND RECOVERY hidden partition on the new hard disk drive? If yes - please let me know how to do that.

hi you the rescue partition is made automatically when you use your recovery cd's on the new HDD so no problem there!
Cheers and regards,
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I am a volunteer here. I don't work for Lenovo

Macbook pro with retina display cannot read a mobile hard disk drive

My macbook pro with retina display cannot read a mobile hard disk drive but can be read on macbook(the white one). What should i do to solve that problem?

Thanks wjosten.
Makes perfect sense. Guess I will have to hurry up and setup my new MBP with retina display.
Better get started.
Thanks for your help

Hard disk drive problem

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