[KJT]

I have a MacBook Pro (mid 2009) but the serial number info website says it was built in the 13 week of 2010. Anyway, I am having some issues and I would like to run the Install Disk and Disk Utility to repair permissions. This may sound very novice, but once I boot up with the install disk and select English as the language, what do I do after that? Do I repaid permissions on the "Macintosh HD" as it is listed between 2 other hardware devices that have a number associated with them and then the Install disk is on that list. Would I do repair Disk too or just repair permissions?

Do I hold down the C key when I am booting up to the install disk? I have never done this, so if anybody knows the current Apple recommendations for using this to check things out, please let me know.

Any special way to get out of this after I repair what I need to? Do I eject the disk or reboot then eject the disk or what?

Finally, what is the difference between what I mentioned above and restarting while holding down the "Shift" key?

Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving!

[AKcrab]

No need to boot from the DVD to repair permissions. You can do that on your "live" system in disk utility.

If you want to repair your boot drive, you DO need to boot from the DVD. Pick your language, then under "Utilities" in the menubar choose 'Disk Utility'. Then click on "Macintosh HD", choose "First Aid" and click 'Repair Disk'.

When you're done, choose "Startup Disk" under "Utilities" and simply reboot back to normal.

Holding down the shift key invokes "Safe Boot". Totally different thing:
Mac OS X: What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode?

[KJT]

Thank YOu. I was told that to effectively use the Disk Utility to either repair permissions or check the boot drive it is best to boot using the install disk. I thought maybe there was an article that goes over it. But you say no need to do that just to repair permissions. Is it best to "check" permissions first or go right into repairing them?

I kept doing the Disk Utility and repair permissions without booting from the Install disk but it left some unresolved errors until I did the repair permissions from the Install Disk and it repaired those issues. I thought maybe whoever told me that was possibly right.

Do you mean repair or check my Boot Drive? I am not sure if there is anything wrong, but I thought I would try the repair of the permissions and then the boot drive.

When I restart and hold down the shift key it does get me to Safe Mode, but I was also told lol, (sorry I hate to keep saying that) that the reason it takes so long and the new tube type illustration that gradually fills up with black color, is the system checking itself and fixing some minor issues. With my old MBP I heard that too, but it did not have the tube type display under the turning gear gradually filling up with a black color. That is something that I first noticed with my newer Mac. do you know what I am referring to? I hope so because I did not describe it very well.

I was going to ask you one other question. I want to get an iPod. In Mr. Jobs last "unannounced" press conf. (or maybe it was the one before the last), but anyway he went over the changes that they had made with the iPods. do you think it is helpful if I try to get that from iTunes and listen to it so I can make a better decision on which iPod to get?

Thanks for your help.

[P]

It is best to run Disk Utility from the install disk to repair the disk directory of the boot disk. You can run the repair permissions script from wherever you want. It doesn't really do much useful anyway.

[KJT]

Since I got my first MBP I have heard both ways will work. Even from the Genius bar, I have been told with an earlier MBP to repair disk permissions from booting from the Install disk. I did have some permissions that I could not repair from using Disk Utility with my newer MBP, but when I used the install disk and booted from that, I repaired the permissions I could not get repaired from using Disk Utility. I tried to find the latest article on this because I think it has changed, but it was the article for older MBPs.

Is it a good thing to "repair" the disk as a preventative thing or does there have to be something seriously wrong with the drive in order to get he benefit of booting from the install disk and repairing the disk drive? Does that make sense? Probably not. I am having a lot of crashes, the underside of the MBP gets real hot, and a few other odd things all of the sudden have started, so I repaired the permissions and I was going to try to repair the disk drive. Any other maintenance anybody would recommend beside emptying the cache. I was told I would not lose my passwords but I lost a lot of them when i emptied the cache, and I do not want to go through that again. Why doesn't Apple have a set list of preventative maintaince they recommend MBP users perform every so often?

[msuper69]

Originally Posted by KJT 

... Why doesn't Apple have a set list of preventative maintaince they recommend MBP users perform every so often?

Because it's not necessary for the vast majority of Mac OS X users on any of Apple's Mac models.

I haven't had to repair permissions or disks in ages. I can't remember when.

[flmiller]

Repairing Permissions is a over-promoted but sometimes useful procedure, particularly after installing software or a system upgrade. After the 10.6.5 upgrade by Apple, I had loads of permission repairs that never appeared before or after. The installation of Adobe products seems to mess things up for me, as well. Permission repairs can be done while booted from your normal boot drive or from an install disk. According to an Apple Tech, the required permissions 'list' is read from the disk being examined, not the boot disk FWIW.

Frank

[P]

Originally Posted by flmiller 

Repairing Permissions is a over-promoted but sometimes useful procedure, particularly after installing software or a system upgrade. After the 10.6.5 upgrade by Apple, I had loads of permission repairs that never appeared before or after.

Permissions repair is about resetting the permissions to what they were at installation. Permissions don't go bad by themselves - there is no rot in the OS, or anything. They're changed by something. If the OS update changed the permissions, then the permissions should have been changed.

It's more likely that something else had changed the permissions before, and the new installation package included a bigger bunch of default settings. The next review found changes that had happened long ago, but wasn't detected before.

Permissions repair should be considered equivalent to trashing preferences. You reset the system to the default, because you think it might help fix a problem. It should NOT be done unless you have a problem that needs fixing, or you enjoy Apple's default settings. Even if Adobe changed the settings, you don't know why they did so. There might be a good reason for it. Defaults exist because they are a good starting point, not because they're the only possible option.

Regular permissions repair is directly destructive and should be avoided. IME, it's done when people feel that they ought to clean or do the dishes, but that's too much work so they "clean" their computer instead. The one good thing about it is that if they couldn't repair permissions, they'd defragment their drives instead, and that's potentially much more detsructive.