Hard drive sleep for selective drives?

Thanks the the community here I earlier this week we solved a problem with my Time Machine back ups-- seems as though I had the Energy Saver Preference set to spin down the drives. Once I unchecked that the TM is working great.
However, In my MBP I've got an SSD as the boot and main drive, but I also have a regular HD (in the optical bay) That HD just has itunes and some movies on it, little used stuff. So... is there a way (a utility or something) to have the internal HD spin down (since it is not used much), but have my external drive that I use for TM set to not spin down?
Thanks

AFAIK, the
pmset disksleep
command only really applies to the startup disk. What power management rules your other drives follow depends very much on their firmware. Some drives will ignore pmset commands (if they're not the startup drive) and others may be manipulated through the vendors firmware.
The best thing you can do is contact the manufacturer or supplier of your HD and ask them for details.
More information here about power management in OS X.

Similar Messages

Can I reselect an external hard drive for backup after selecting another?

Hello,
I attached the hard drive I am using for my time machine backups to my new airport extreme in order to have the other partition on the disk available over my home network. Time machine didn't recognize it immediately as the same disk, so I navigated to it from my time machine preferences and selected the disk. It wanted to do a full, new backup, suggesting to me that it did not recognize it as the same disk.
I canceled the backup, but when I plugged it back in directly to my imac, it again thought it was a different disk (since it is now expecting the network drive to be its disk). Any way to convince time machine that this is the same disk, or do I have to delete the old backups and start a fresh new time machine backup?
Thanks for your help!

all this is happening because remote backups are stored differently from directly attached ones. directly attached backups are stored directly in a folder on the drive. remote ones are stored inside a sparse bundle. when you moved the drive to AEBS it created a sparse bundle and tried to make a full backup to the sparse bundle. when you canceled that and moved the drive back to be directly attached it continued trying to back up to the sparse bundle (this seems a bug to me). you can trash the sparse bundle on the external and empty trash. then TM should resume your old backups while the drive is directly attached. but DO NOT try to trash anything from backups.backupdb folder by hand via finder.

Set sleep time for multiple hard drives

I have 2 internal hard drives on my mac, one SSD boot drive and an HDD for media.
I would like to have the HDD go to sleep when it is not in use (i.e. when I am not using itunes) which is most of the time.
I have energy saver set to sleep drives when possible, and I have used CHUB Spindown HD to set the sleep time to 7 minutes. As far as I understand though, sleep time applies to both drives (i.e. if one drive is running then it wont sleep the other). This would explain why my HDD always shows active.
Is there way to set sleep times separately for separate drives?
Thanks

Obviously, spin down doesn't apply to SSD's but for others the key phrase is "when possible." Some (usually external) drives ignore system settings completely & spin up or down according to their own internal logic. Typically, some of them automatically spin down after an internally set interval of inactivity & this is cannot be changed. Less typically, some spin up any time they are accessed, even if no actual read or write is requested, usually as a result of how proprietary energy saver features are implemented.
This should not apply to drives Apple has supplied as original equipment, or to almost any "raw" internal drive. However, certain operations keep drives spinning or spin them up, thus resetting the spin down timer, & it it isn't always obvious what they are. With your settings, if you leave the Mac alone for while, does internal never spin down? (IOW, can you hear it running without using any command to check on that?)

How in the world can I select my external hard drive as a scratch disc for video? Please skip the obvious, like 'is it plugged in?'

At wit's end trying to select my external hard drive to load video on. Time Machine backed stuff up on it so the computer knows it's there but it won't show anywhere else, iMovie or FCE4.

Hi Eric and thanx for the fast response. I've had very little time to piddle around with this iMac and fce4 since I got it a few years back but I DO remember seeing an option back then--when capturing video from the camera--to choose some other scratch disc. Some time after buying and plugging in the ext. drive I clicked on Time Machine (not even knowing what it was--some window popped up and it looked good). I wonder if turning on Time Mach has locked me out of the ext. drive. It doesn't show up ANYWHERE ANYTIME now, not under system pref., user pref. in fce4 or iMovie or anything else EXCEPT when I click on Time Machine it does tell me I've 2.97 terrabytes of space (which has to be the ext. drive; the iMac has 500 gb). I'm thinking of uninstalling and reinstalling fce4 and starting over.

I just had a new hard drive installed. After loading everything back on my computer from external drive, i came to the "select wireless network screen. I've misplaced the WEP password for my internet. Is there anyway to find it on another computer?

i just had a new hard drive installed. After loading everything back on my computer from external drive, i came to the "select wireless network screen. I've misplaced the WEP password for my internet. Is there anyway to find it on another computer?

Maybe. What kind of other computer are you talking about? What operating system is it running? What kind of wireless router are you using?
Your best bet may be to just reset the router and set it up again.
Just so you know, WEP is a very old security system for wireless and is considered insecure. If you have it available, use WPA2.

Which Is True for 24/7 Sleep? Hard Drive Could Fail Because It's Constantly Spinning or Because It's Suddenly Switched ON

Hi. It's sleep vs. shutdown again. I read some computer components are better off on sleep mode, some components are better off shutted down. If each component lasts longer in sleep mode and some shutted down, what then is the best for Macs as a whole?
If it's sleeping for 24/7 won't the hardisk for example wear out more because it's constantly spinning. Won't the power supply wear out more because there's some heat? On the other hand with shutting it down then turning it back on, the components could fail because of the sudden expansion they say from cold components when it's switched ON (or sudden jerk to moving components when it's switched ON)?
Doesn't sleep turn off components anyway like they were shutyed down so even if you use sleep, there's still a possibilit of it expanding from a cold components to warm components (or sudden jerks with components like in the hard drive)?
Apple's manual says put it on sleep. What do they mean exactly? Are the recent Macs designed be ON 24/7 for years? Or do they mean put it to sleep mode as must as possible in a day but still shut it down at some point?
There should be a more thorough scientific study on component failure for Macs and computers already on sleep vs. shutdown. Thank you in advance. Gbu.
What're your experiences between sleep and shutdown. Which components lasted longer for sleep, for shutdown?

baltwo wrote:
I never sleep desktop computers or their HDs, only their displays, run 24/7, and have only had one HD faiurel the past 11 years. Most electromechanical devicesw fail during power on.
Some questions: Is it possible to keep the drive platters constantly spinning? Doesn't most drive firmware set the drive to spin down after about 10 minutes of inactivity? If this is the case, wouldn't it make the question moot, at least as far as drive life is concerned? Drives have a finite number of spin up/ spin down cycles. I don't know if you get around this by never sleeping the computer. If the computer is sleeping, the drive is spun down and the heads are parked. If the computer is set to never sleep, will the drive spin down anyway?
In additon, even if the platters can be kept constantly spinning, don't we have to figure in the long term damage from the extra heat that generates, which might make the whole thing a wash?
Message was edited by: WZZZ
This would appear to support Baltwo's and Dennis's usage scenario. But it doesn't address the drive firmware question I raised, above.
It is better to spin down the hard disk drive whenever you can to       reduce stress on the spindle motor.
Truth :
Normally, the platters are spun up at start up and kept spinning           after that. The spinning up process is the most taxing part on the hard disk drive's spindle motor. Maintaining the spindle speed thereafter requires a lot less           effort.
If the platters have spun down and you need to read/write something           on the platters, you will need to spin up the platters to full speed         before you can read or write. Therefore, if you want maximum performance, it's better to keep the hard disk drive spinning.
However, spinning down the hard disk drive during periods of inactivity can not only reduce power consumption, it can also reduce the heat produced. The reduced thermal output will increase the longevity of your hard disk drive.
So, while spinning down the hard disk drive will not reduce stress on the spindle motor, it can reduce the hard disk drive's power consumption and thermal output as well as increase its lifespan.
http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=84&pgno=3

Device Removal message for internal hard drive after coming out of sleep

Hi,
I have search the forums and all the info I can find seems to just refer to external hard drives, how ever the problem I am having is with the internal drive.
When my G5 comes out of sleep mode, shortly after, I get a Device Removal error message then I loose my second drives and have to reboot for them to return. The drive is a 500 GB divided in two partitions, Mac OS Extended (Journaled), in slot B.
I have used Disk Utility and Tech Tools to check the drive, and the drive passes with no errors. I can't check file permissions as the drive is not a start-up drive.
This problem just started not long after using a USB thumb drive in the front, maybe just a coincidence or something went haywire after ejecting the USB drive?
Thanks,
Bill...

DaddyPaycheck wrote:
What brand is the drive?
Do you have a USB hub to try?
Have you checked the disk manufacturer's website to see if there are any updated drivers or firmware available and/or needed?
DaddyPaycheck wrote:
I have two Western Digital drives in the computer, both partitioned into two drives. One is a 1 TB the other a 500 GB. The 1 TB drive is the boot drive and I installed it about 2 months ago. The 500 GB drive, the one that is disappearing, I installed it about 6 months ago. Both drives pass Disk Utility, and TechTools testing (that is before the one disappears).
I do not have a USB hub, I have a DVD/RW connected via Firewire, and I have a USB external 320 GB to use for whatever.
No, I didn't think to check the manufacturer's web site for updates as the drives work fine, just the one 500 MB drive out of the blue I get the Device Removal message. And I am using the G5 at this moment replying here, and so far today I have connected my camera via usb with out issues.

When trying to import images from an external hard drive into Lightroom 5 it states no preview for the files selected

Go easy on me here….
Trying to import images from external hard drive into Lightroom 5 but the selected images state 'no preview for file'.
All other images on the external hard drive can be previewed and imported without issue.
I have tried adding the images onto the computers hard drive as well but still no joy.
I've used Lightroom 5 previously and had no issue so convinced its the files I'm trying to import (jpeg files).
Any help greatly appreciated.

Go easy on me here….
Trying to import images from external hard drive into Lightroom 5 but the selected images state 'no preview for file'.
All other images on the external hard drive can be previewed and imported without issue.
I have tried adding the images onto the computers hard drive as well but still no joy.
I've used Lightroom 5 previously and had no issue so convinced its the files I'm trying to import (jpeg files).
Any help greatly appreciated.

When attempting to upgrade my iMac from Snow Leopard to Mavericks, I receive the message "This disk is used for Time Machine Backups" when I try to select the lone available hard drive.

When attempting to upgrade my iMac from Snow Leopard to Mavericks, I receive the message "This disk is used for Time Machine Backups" when I try to select the lone available hard drive. I have ensured that Time Machine is turned off. Upon some Google research, some who reported this problem were told to delete the folder backup.backupdb, but I do not have this folder on my Mac. Any suggestions?

The folder would be at the root of your hard drive. Double-click Macintosh HD and look there.
If it isn’t there, I’m not sure what it is seeing.

HT4718 Installed new hard drive, click on restore from time machine, get to 'select a destination' but just keeps searching for disks.. any help please?

Installed new hard drive and want to restore from time machine.
Get as far as 'select a destination' then it goes no further - just keeps 'searching for disks'
Help anyone please?

1. Be sure your drive is attached and mounted.
2. If you have already written any data to the drive, back it up before proceeding to the next step.
3. In the Finder, choose Go > Utilities. The /Applications/Utilities folder will open.
4. Launch Disk Utility.
5. Click the icon for your external hard drive in the sidebar on the left.
6. Click the Erase tab along the top of the window.
7. From the Volume Format menu, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
8. Enter a name for the external hard drive in the Name field.
9. Click the Erase button.
Make Sure that you choose the correct drive

Hard drive usage / selecting proper hdd for cache & offline lists

As now Spotify uses without any permission my system (win7) drive (C:), which happens to be pretty fully loaded ssd drive.I was just wondering why the F*** is the ssd stacking itself full for "no reason".The reason happened to be Spotifys cache(?), which had grown to over 20GB.Location = C:\users\*****\appdata\local\spotify\data <--- This is the "cache" i wish to get rid of.I would have three additional 2TB hdd:s for this matter, but there is no way to point a location for cache(?) / offlinelists(?) to use.If i remember right, there was an option for this some time ago? Option for selecting spotifys location on hdd:s should be added, as some cases (such as mine) cache usage makesSpotify usage near impossible. Daily cache removal by force, should not be the only solution for product of this grade. I didn't find any other way to get answers or help of any kind for this matter, so i put this in here.There's pretty much none options left on the Spotify and it's hard as hell to give feedback. Improve this

Updated: 2015-08-06Hello and thanks for the feedback!
Any news regarding this request will be announced in the original idea topic here:
https://community.spotify.com/t5/Live-Ideas/Desktop-Actually-bring-back-the-cache-location-and-let-us-limit/idi-p/1167335
Please add your kudos and comments there, if you haven't already. ;)

My Macbook starts up, shows the screen saver, then immediately goes to sleep. I tap the spacebar, it comes back for a second, shows the tool bar and the hard drive icon then immediately "goes to sleep". This can go on forever, on, sleep, on, sleep.

My Macbook starts up, shows the screen saver, then immediately goes to sleep. I tap the spacebar, it comes back for a second, shows the tool bar and the hard drive icon then immediately "goes to sleep". This can go on forever, on, sleep, on, sleep. I can only see the screen for maybe 3-5 seconds; not enough time to do anything. Someone did step on it, so I don't know if the problem is with screen or ??
Thanks!

Hello, Juniorjr2.
Thank you for visiting Apple Support Communities.
This sounds like screen curtain may be enabled. Screen curtain is a feature that allows display privacy. To disable screen curtain while VoiceOver is enabled, you can three finger triple tap the screen to disable this feature. You may need to press the home button once in order to process these steps. If you wish to disable VoiceOver, see the link in the article below.
iOS: Configuring accessibility features
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5018
If the issue persists, try reaching out to us here.
Cheers,
Jason H.

PLEASE HELP me select new internal hard drive for Macbook Pro 2012 (non-retina)

Good afternoon.
I just bought a Macbook Pro 2012 (non-retina) 15 inch from a friend. I think it is running Mountain Lion (has not been upgraded to Mavericks yet), and has iLife on it. It came with the stock 500 gb 5400 rpm internal hard drive. At home, I only have the Snow Leopard OS installation Cds and a copy of iLife 2011 installation Cds. I am going to buy 16 gb of RAM from Other World Computing to install.
I want to replace the hard drive with a 1 tb hard drive, preferably something that is $100 or less.
I talked to Other World Computing (OWC) and looked at the Data Doubler Option to replace the optical drive with a Solid State drive, but decided that for now I want to keep the optical drive inside the computer for portability issues.
I know that Solid State drives are better, but they are still too small, and I want the ease and portability of a 1 tb size INSIDE my computer.
Initially I was going to order this from Other World Computing: 1.0TB 2.5" HGST Travelstar 7K1000 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 9.5mm Notebook Drive 32MB Cache. *'New' Factory Replacement with 2+ Year HGST Warranty*    As of April 4, 2014 it's on sale for $79
But then I started reading some of the discussions online and thought maybe I should get a hybrid solid state drive?
I saw on Amazon the Seagate 1TB Solid State Hybrid Drive SATA 6Gbps 64MB Cache 2.5-Inch ST1000LM014 It's on sale for $94.
But according to some reviews, this Seagate has a platter that is only 5400rpm, unlike the previous Seagate Momentum that has a platter speed of 7200rpm.
How reliable are the Seagate, versus a Toshiba or Western Digital or Hitachi or something else?
Here are my questions about replacing the hard drive:
1. Is a hybrid solid state drive going to need some kind of special formatting after I put it into the macbook so that I can put the operating system on it?
2. Is a "normal" platter hard drive more reliable than a hybrid solid state drive?
3. Is there any additional driver or special software that I have to install for a hybrid solid state drive?
4. Currently there is no personal data stored on the computer. Can I just put the new hard drive in, and then insert the snow leopard install cd?
5. If I install snow leopard, can I just go to the App store and get the free upgrade to Mavericks?
6. If I want to do the "Data Doubler" option in the future and add a normal Solid State drive into my computer, will it have trouble interacting with the 1 tb hybrid solid state drive?
I would love to get some recommendations about the smartest option to upgrade my hard drive with something that will be fast (I edit lots of photos) and large (1 tb) that isn't going to cost too much. I don't know much about the different brands or options (and there are so many listed in tons of online reviews), that I got really overwhelmed and confused by the info out there.
I would really appreciate any help and advice. I've never switched out a hard drive before.
PLEASE HELP !!! Thanks!
Here is the "About this Mac" Info:
Macbook Pro 15-in Mid 2012
Model Identifier: MacBookPro9,1
Processor: 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7
Memory: 4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Software: OS x 10.8.5
Storage (Hard drive): APPLE HDD ST500LM012 Media, Rotational, SATA, GPT (GUID Partition Table)

1. Is a hybrid solid state drive going to need some kind of special formatting after I put it into the macbook so that I can put the operating system on it?
The boot drive, regardless of what it is, needs to be formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). This is standard with OS X.
2. Is a "normal" platter hard drive more reliable than a hybrid solid state drive?
There are arguments pro and con. Bottom line, SSD's and hybrid drives are still quite expensive per GB than standard hard drives. If you have the bucks and are a speed demon, go ahead.   I have better use for my money.   Standard hard drives are mechanical and may wear out over time. But even though SSDs are not mechancial, they can still go bad and ultimately they even have a limit to their write capacity. The jury is still out on this debate.
3. Is there any additional driver or special software that I have to install for a hybrid solid state drive?
No
4. Currently there is no personal data stored on the computer. Can I just put the new hard drive in, and then insert the snow leopard install cd?
You can physically put the hard drive in but probably not install Snow Leopard on this MBP.
The mid-2012 MacBookPro9,1 models came with Lion 10.7.3 (11D2097) preinstalled.   It is very unlikely you would be able to install Snow Leopard on it. Historically you cannot install a version of OS X that is earlier than the version that came with your Mac (even if you replace the hard drive).
5. If I install snow leopard, can I just go to the App store and get the free upgrade to Mavericks?
Not via Snow Leopard on this MBP. See my response to #4.
6. If I want to do the "Data Doubler" option in the future and add a normal Solid State drive into my computer, will it have trouble interacting with the 1 tb hybrid solid state drive?
No. They are completely independent of each other; they are just independent storage units (drives) and their RAM does not interact.

Time Machine hard drive is not sleeping.

I have been using a 1TB Maxtor Basics (Seagate?) external USB hard drive for Time Machine on my iMac for over a year now without any problems, until recently. Between backups, the Time Machine HD does not go to sleep anymore. I am certain that until recently it would automatically go to sleep between backups and wake itself for each scheduled hourly backup. The USB HD is now running constantly when the iMac is awake. Has anyone else had this issue? Can anyone confirm that their "Time Machine" does in fact sleep between backups?

tuttle1150 wrote:
Hey Pondini. It appears my Internal HD is not sleeping either.
Since you've already replaced the preferences file (the first suspect), there may be something using both disks. If you're running any anti-virus software, turn it off (or uninstall it). Exclude both from Spotlight Indexing, if you haven't already, via +System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy.+
If that doesn't help, use the +Activity Monitor+ app (in your Applications/Utilities folder), to see what's running. When it starts, select either +All Processes+ or +Active Processes+ in the toolbar, and sort the list by the +% CPU+ column, so the highest numbers are on top, and select the CPU tab towards the bottom. Some system processes run more or less continually, so it's not easy to see what's using the disk(s), but you may find something. If the process(es) involved aren't familiar to you, post their names here (and/or check this out: http://triviaware.com/macprocess/all)
I would like to do an "Erase and Instal"
That's extreeeeeeeemly unlikely to change anything, unless you have some software that you loaded for the Maxtor (if so, just delete it and Restart).
As another poster (Kiraly, I think) says, that's like fixing a dripping faucet by tearing out the kitchen!
but although I know my Documents are backed-up, where are the other things like all my emails and stickies, favourites, notes etc. filed?
What are you contemplating? Erasing your HD, installing OSX, applying the "combo," and selectively restoring things? If so, that's a large project, with very little chance of success.
First, make a second full backup on a separate external HD, via the Restore tab of Disk Utility, CarbonCopyCloner, SuperDuper, or the like. It's rare, but on occasion a backup drive fails during a restore, and everything is lost.
Then, here's what you'd be looking at:
|
• Erase your internal HD, per the yellow box in #1 of [Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks|http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/DU.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of the +Using Snow Leopard+ forum).
• Quit Disk Utility, and install OSX from your Snow Leopard Install disc.
• Set up a temporary User Account (different from any on your backups).
• Go through the set-up procedure for your Internet connection(s), power settings, and other system-wide settings and preferences.
• Download and install the "combo" update, to get back to your current version of OSX.
• If you've upgraded either OSX or iLife since purchasing your Mac, find the disks with iLife and restore those apps.
• Find all the discs for 3rd-party apps and install them. Re-enter any purchase keys.
• Find the websites for all downloaded 3rd-party apps, download and install them. Re-enter any purchase keys.
• Restore whatever data you saved. See #28 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum) for some common data.
• Re-enter all your Users' preferences and settings, including email accounts: account info, passwords, server names, etc. (if you didn’t save them).
• Wonder what you missed, and find out the hard way . . . for months . . . or longer.
|
Is it really worth all that?

Is it time for a new hard drive?

My iMac early 2008 has been running extremely slow even after i reduced 320 gb hard drive so it only has about 150 gigs occupied now. 2 GB memory. I just ran Disk Utility and it said it "stopped verifiying MacIntosh HD. This disk needs to be repaired. Start your computer with another disk." I haven't done that yet. I have everything backed up on Time Machine to an external hard drive. A friend says the HD is going bad and needs to be replaced. Is that right? All advice greatly appreciated.

From the given information I'd find a more knowledgable friend. The first thing you need to do is repair your drive:
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.
If the above indicates the drive is OK after repairs are completed, then you can focus on some maintenance to help improve performance:
Kappy's Personal Suggestions for OS X Maintenance
For disk repairs use Disk Utility. For situations DU cannot handle the best third-party utilities are: Disk Warrior; DW only fixes problems with the disk directory, but most disk problems are caused by directory corruption; Disk Warrior 4.x is now Intel Mac compatible. TechTool Pro provides additional repair options including file repair and recovery, system diagnostics, and disk defragmentation. TechTool Pro 4.5.1 or higher are Intel Mac compatible; Drive Genius is similar to TechTool Pro in terms of the various repair services provided. Versions 1.5.1 or later are Intel Mac compatible.
OS X performs certain maintenance functions that are scheduled to occur on a daily, weekly, or monthly period. The maintenance scripts run in the early AM only if the computer is turned on 24/7 (no sleep.) If this isn't the case, then an excellent solution is to download and install a shareware utility such as Macaroni, JAW PseudoAnacron, or Anacron that will automate the maintenance activity regardless of whether the computer is turned off or asleep. Dependence upon third-party utilities to run the periodic maintenance scripts had been significantly reduced in Tiger and Leopard. These utilities have limited or no functionality with Snow Leopard or Lion and should not be installed.
OS X automatically defragments files less than 20 MBs in size, so unless you have a disk full of very large files there's little need for defragmenting the hard drive. As for virus protection there are few if any such animals affecting OS X. You can protect the computer easily using the freeware Open Source virus protection software ClamXAV. Personally I would avoid most commercial anti-virus software because of their potential for causing problems.
I would also recommend downloading the shareware utility TinkerTool System that you can use for periodic maintenance such as removing old log files and archives, clearing caches, etc. Other utilities are also available such as Onyx, Lion Cache Cleaner, CockTail, for example.
For emergency repairs install the freeware utility Applejack. If you cannot start up in OS X, you may be able to start in single-user mode from which you can run Applejack to do a whole set of repair and maintenance routines from the commandline. Note that AppleJack 1.5 is required for Leopard. AppleJack 1.6 is compatible with Snow Leopard. There is no confirmation that this version also works with Lion.
When you install any new system software or updates be sure to repair the hard drive and permissions beforehand. I also recommend booting into safe mode before doing system software updates.
Get an external Firewire drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
Backuplist
Carbon Copy Cloner
Data Backup
Deja Vu
iBackup
JaBack
Silver Keeper
MimMac
Retrospect
Super Flexible File Synchronizer
SuperDuper!
Synchronize Pro! X
SyncTwoFolders
Synk Pro
Synk Standard
Tri-Backup
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQs on maintenance, optimization, virus protection, and backup and restore.
Additional suggestions will be found in Mac Maintenance Quick Assist.
Referenced software can be found at CNet Downloads or MacUpdate.
If none of the above help then try reformatting the drive and installing a fresh copy of Snow Leopard.

Hard drive sleep for selective drives?

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