Best Disk Repairer for 9.2.2

One of my computers is on 9.2.2.

I have DiskWarrior for 9 which has always pretty much fixed any problem.
But, this time, it says: “Directory is too severly damaged,“ so it won’t
defrag or optimize it.

And, it has 15% fragmentation. (Is 15% considered a lot?)

The computer is working fine. And, I'm well aware of the adage “if it’s not
broke, don’t fix it.” But, this is on an older G4, and I know it won’t grow BETTER.
So, I’d like to fix it and keep it in good working order as I want to keep system
9 on it with the programs I have for 9, etc.

If DiskWarrior won’t fix it, what else would you all recommend? I USED to use
Norton, several years back, but it’s my understanding that Norton got so it
caused more problems than it fixed, and they quit making it.

So, what else is still out there that will repair 9? Thank you.

Big Jimm

I would back-up, wipe the drive and restore your old files back again

Did you try running Apple's Disk First Aid, I think it was called in the OS 9 days? TechTool for hardware problems did a decent job as well.

But to verify that disk of yours, run Apple's disk repair utility first and see what you come up with and if it is repairable.

Ditto MacHeadCase, start with Disk First Aid.
Norton for System 9 was the best thing going. Then Symantec totally blew it with OS X. Don't be afraid of using Norton on your System 9 drive. However, do not use it if that System 9 drive also has OS X on it!!! Bad things will happen.
A 15% fragmentation is not good, but do not attempt to defrag or optimize until your directory repairs are happy. Defragging and Optimizing involve physically moving files, if your directory is damaged you can lose the entire drive.
I have seen System 9 drives that Norton, Disk First Aid and Disk Warrior all report various problems. One program will fix one set of problems and ignore problems that another program discover. Run them all until all the problems are repaired.

I did run Disk First Aid and it said it fixed a problem. That it was ok after that.
So I tried DiskWarrior again. Same directory damage message that it couldn’t
fix it.

My G4 does have both 9 and X on it. (The first X that came with the G4’s back
then.) Never used that X as I have X on another drive. In fact, I wish I had
that X totally removed from my G4, but I don’t know how to (safely) remove
it .. and, all its “tentacles.”

Is there an easy, SAFE way to do this X removal? I especially would like to
remove it if that would make it easier to maintain my 9 system on it.

Big Jimm

Sherman Homan said:

.. Don't be afraid of using Norton on your System 9 drive. However, do
not use it if that System 9 drive also has OS X on it!!! Bad things will happen ..

Click to expand...

What about TechTool Pro 3 (for OS9)? Could it be used on my G4 which also
has the original X on it?

I checked on iDefrag, but that appears to only be for X, unless I misread it.

Big Jimm

If you are not using OS X, then you can safely delete it while in System 9. It does take up a lot of drive space. My concern about running Norton has nothing to do with the actual OS X files. Running Norton on a drive with OS X is fine as long as you don't ever intend on booting OS X. The problems only occur if you are actually running OS X which it sounds like you are not. So if you are willing to stick with System 9, throw out the folders "System", "Applications", and "Library". Be very careful! By "Applications" I mean exactly that, don't throw out "Applications (Mac OS 9)".
iDefrag is a (pointless) utility that only runs under OS X.
TechTool Pro 3 for System 9 is excellent although somewhat intimidating.

Thanks fellas.

Sherman .. you said that “TechTool Pro 3 for System 9 is excellent
although somewhat intimidating.”

Would you please elaborate on “intimidating.” In what way? (With
computers, I tend to surrender easily.)

Big Jimm

Big Jimm said:

Thanks fellas.

Would you please elaborate on “intimidating.” In what way? (With
computers, I tend to surrender easily.)

Click to expand...

Probably means it had lots of buttons and options

Big Jimm, the interface of TechTools, whether for System 9 or OS X, is more involved for most people than Disk Warrior, Disk Utility or Disk First Aid. There are more options, choices, selections, etc.

Sherman Homan said:

So if you are willing to stick with System 9, throw out the folders "System", "Applications", and "Library". Be very careful! By "Applications" I mean exactly that, don't throw out "Applications (Mac OS 9)".

Click to expand...

Sherman -

I see that I have 2 “libraries.” One, however, does have a question mark.
(It’s probably the one.) BUT, how can I be sure which one to throw out?

Thanks.

Big Jimm

Big Jimm,
System 9 didn't use any folder called Library at the root level, toss it. Well, toss it, don't empty the Trash and use your Mac until you are sure that nothing valuable is in there!

Not sure if these apps are compatible with your OS, but they might help. It can't hurt to try them.

Apps for disk repair Mac

[links removed as they are not compatible with this OS]

These utilities will not work with OS 9 and are OS X-only, riscy.

Oops, sorry. Thanks MacHeadCase.

No problem, man.

I am a newbie here, but am trying to help out.

I did say that they might not work with that OS.

riscy said:

Not sure if these apps are compatible with your OS, but they might help. It can't hurt to try them.

Apps for disk repair Mac

MainMenu
YASU
MacJanitor

Click to expand...

riscy said:

I am a newbie here, but am trying to help out.

I did say that they might not work with that OS.

Click to expand...

True, you did mention that. I simply confirmed it, sparing Big Jimm downloads for nothing. And just in case it could hurt something.

In that case, I will remove the links as they are not appropriate in this thread.

Ta.

Sherman -

I‘m in a pickle. I took out System, Applications (not 0S9) and Libraries.

It started up fine after I did that. So, then I ran Norton to try to fix the
original problem .. “directory is too severely damaged to repair” problem.

It would appear that Norton messed up. Now that drive won’t mount.
I have password protection on it and as I try to start up with the backup
drive, with it turned on, it asks me for its password, but never mounts.

Drive Setup shows that it is there but not mounted. Norton shows that it is
there but won’t mount, but asks if I want to initialize it.

I do have a backup drive with everything on it which starts up fine.

Three questions: (1) How can I get it to mount just as it is?
(2) If I can’t get it to mount as it is, and do initialize it, then can I just drag
everything from my backup onto it? Or, do I have to use a special program?
(3) My problem message “directory is too severely damaged” .. does that
sound like hard drive damage, or content damage?

Your help is very important. Thanks so much.

Big Jimm