This time, it worked! Go figure... your input must have inspired my MacBook. So I now have a Disk Warrior 4.2 DVD.
When I go to use it, do I just insert it into the drive and be prompted or something else? Should I go ahead and use it now?
Also, is there any "regular" thing I need to do with Disk Warrior, like every week or month or so?
Thank you VERY much for your help. I'm a Mac newbie and need all the help I can get.
I've been doing the following at least once per month on my internal drive, or if my machine seem to be running sluggish or slower than normal, or if there where any major changes to my machine (major update or upgrade to the OSX or applications):
1. "Directory" - Rebuild the directory. The "Graph" feature allows you to see how many items are out of order. It will tell you that an optimized directory will have "0" items out of order, but in most cases there will still be a few items out of order after running the rebuild - anything less than 1% out of order after running the rebuild is fine.
Keep in mind that this procedure will dis-mount your internal drive from your system (the drive icon will disappear). Don't let this alarm you - the drive needs to be free from your system for this to run. Also before it make changes to your directory, DW gives you the opportunity to review the changes it will make if you continue. It advises you to inspect each change. Personally, I have been allowing it to make the changes without inspecting - NEVER had any problems with the changes made by DW. Plus I always have an updated clone of my system in case of problems. I have yet to encounter any problems with DW in the 5 months I've been using it.
2. "Files" - be sure to check both, "Repair Disk Permissions" and "Check All Files and Folders" (the latter is the only option available when working on a non-bootable drive).
3. "Hardware" - just a test to see if your internal drive is working.
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I'm fairly new to Macs myself (since 2/09). But from reading the forums, more than once it was advised if you can have only one application for preventative maintenance on a Mac, it would be DiskWarrior. If you could have two, it would be DiskWarrior and Tech Tools Pro. A third utility that is highly recommended is Onyx (and its FREE).
Good luck!!!