user’s guide & reference manual
TRANSCRIPT
The ul'mate u'lity suite for your Macintosh™
User’sGuide&ReferenceManual
DocumentRevision3.6
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• Safely Defragment Files
• Scan and Repair Bad Sectors
• Monitor S.M.A.R.T. Diagnos'cs
• Test Data Transfer Integrity
• Verify and Repair Volumes
• Backup/Restore Volumes
• Analyze Capacity Usage
• Hide Volumes
• Monitor Low Disk Space
• Preference File Inspector
• Find/Repair Broken Aliases
• Device/Volume Informa'on
• Benchmark Disk Performance
• Complete Ac'vity Log
• Schedule Important Tasks
and more...
LicenseAgreement ForOneComputer
READTHEFOLLOWINGSOFTWARE LICENSEAGREEMENT("LICENSE")CAREFULLY,BEFOREYOUUSETHEACCOMPANYING SOFTWARE. BY INSTALLING ORUSINGTHE SOFTWARE ORANYOF THEMATERIALSENCLOSED,YOUAREAGREEINGTOBEBOUNDBYTHETERMSOFTHISLICENSE.IFYOUDONOTWISHTOAGREETOTHETERMSOFTHISLICENSE,(IFAPPLICABLE)PROMPTLYRETURNTHEUNUSEDSOFTWARETOTHEPLACEWHEREYOUOBTAINEDITFORAREFUND.
1. License. The so+ware and documenta4on accompanying this License, known as the SpeedTools™U4li4es (So+ware), whether ondisk, in read‐only memory,or containedon any other mediaand therelateddocumenta4onarelicensedtoyoubyIntechSo+wareCorpora4on(Intech)anditsLicensor(s).YouownthemediaonwhichtheSo+wareis recorded, but Intech retains4tleto theSo+wareandrelateddocumenta4on. ThislicenseallowsyoutousetheSo+wareonasinglecomputerandmakeonecopyofthe So+ware retained by you for backup purposes only. You may transfer your license rights of theSo+wareandrelateddocumenta4on,theSo+warebackupcopywhichyoumayhavemade,andacopyofthislicensetoanotherperson,providedtheotherpersonagreestoacceptthetermsofthislicensea+erreadingitscompletetextandcondi4ons.
2.RestricRons. Youmay not, inwholeor part, copy,photocopy, reproduce, translate, reverse compile,disassemble,reverseengineer,reducetoanyelectronicormachine‐readableform,orotherwisereducetoahumanperceivableform(except forabackupcopy,asstatedinparagraph1), theSo+wareorrelateddocumenta4on without the prior wriJen consent of Intech. You may not change, rent, lease, loan,distributeor createderiva4veworks based upon theSo+ware in any form, in wholeor in part. Thisprohibi4onincludestransmissionof theSo+wareovera network fromonecomputertoanother. THISSOFTWARE IS NOT INTENDED FOR USE IN THE OPERATION OF NUCLEAR FACILITIES, AIRCRAFTNAVIGATION, COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, OR AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLMACHINES IN WHICH CASE THEFAILURE OF THE SOFTWARE COULD LEAD TO DEATH, PERSONAL INJURY, OR SEVERE PHYSICAL ORENVIRONMENTALDAMAGE. Yourrightsunderthis Licensewillterminateautoma4callywithoutno4ceifyoufailtocomplywithanyterm(s)ofthisLicense.
3.ServiceorSupport.ByusingtheSo+wareandagreeingtothislicense,youunderstandandagreethatIntechmaynotofferyouanytechnicalsupportregardinguseoftheSo+wareorrelatedproducts.Intechreservestheright to revisetheSo+wareanddocumenta4onwithout obliga4ontono4fy anypersonororganiza4onofanysuchchangesorrevisions.
4.WarrantyDisclaimer.ByusingtheSo+wareandagreeingtothislicense,youexpresslyacknowledgeandagreethatuseof theSo+wareisatyoursolerisk.TheSo+wareandrelateddocumenta4onareprovided“ASIS”andwithoutwarrantyofanykind.INTECHEXPRESSLYDISCLAIMSALLWARRANTIES,EXPRESSEDORIMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY ANDFITNESSFORAPARTICULARPURPOSE.INTECHDOESNOTWARRANTTHATTHEFUNCTIONSCONTAINEDINTHE SOFTWAREWILLMEET YOURREQUIREMENTS,ORTHATTHEOPERATIONOFTHESOFTWAREWILLBEUNINTERRUPTEDORERROR‐FREE,OR THAT DEFECTS INTHE SOFTWARE ORRELATEDDOCUMENTATIONWILLBE CORRECTED. NO ORALORWRITTEN STATEMENTS ORINFORMATIONORADVICE PROVIDEDBY AINTECH REPRESENTATIVE SHALL ESTABLISH A WARRANTY OR EXPAND THE SCOPE OR TERMS OF THISWARRANTY.IFTHESOFTWARE ISDEFECTIVE,YOUWILLBERESPONSIBLEFORTHECOSTOFALLNECESSARYSERVICING, REPAIRS, OR CORRECTIONS. Some jurisdic4ons do not allow for exclusion of impliedwarran4es, so the aboveexclusionmay not apply to you. The So+waremay not work properlywithmodifiedversionsofyourcomputersopera4ngsystem,certainresidentso+wareapplica4ons,orhardwarethatisnot100%compa4blewiththatprovidedbythecomputersmanufacturer.
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5.LimitedWarrantyRegardingMedia.IntechwarrantsthatthemediaonwhichtheSo+wareisrecordedshallbefreefromdefectsinmaterials andworkmanshipundernormalusefora periodofninety(90)daysfromthedateofyourpurchaseof theSo+ware,asestablishedbyyourreceipt.Intech’sen4reliability,aswellasyoursoleandexclusiveremedy,will bereplacementofthemediawhichisdefec4ve. ThemediamustbereturnedtoIntechwithacopyofyourreceipt.Thiswarrantydoesnotincludemediadamagedbyaccident,abuse,ormisapplica4on.ANY IMPLIEDWARRANTIESONTHEMEDIAARE LIMITEDTOAPERIODOF NINETY(90) DAYS FROM THE DATE OF DELIVERY TO YOU. THIS LIMITATION INCLUDES IMPLIEDWARRANTIESSUCHASTHEIMPLIEDWARRANTIESOFMERCHANTABILITYANDFITNESSFORAPARTICULARPURPOSE.Thiswarrantygivesyouspecificlegalrights,andyoumayalsohaveotherrights whichvaryfromstatetostate.
6.LimitaRononLiability. INNO EVENTWILLINTECHBE LIABLE TOYOUFORDIRECT,INDIRECT,SPECIAL,INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING FROM YOUR USE OR INABILITY TO USE THESOFTWARE ORRELATEDDOCUMENTATION,EVEN IF INTECHHASBEENADVISEDOFTHE POSSIBILITY OFSUCHDAMAGES.INTECHSHALLHAVENOLIABILITYFORANYHARDWARE,SOFTWAREORDATASTOREDORUSED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE SOFTWARE, INCLUDING THE COSTS OF REPAIRING, REPLACING, ORRECOVERINGSUCHHARDWARE,SOFTWAREORDATA.UndernocircumstancesshallIntech’stotalliabilitytoyoufor alldamages, losses,and causesof ac4on (whether incontract, tort (including negligence) orotherwise)exceedtheamountpaidbyyoutoobtaintheSo+wareandrelateddocumenta4on.
7.Severability.Shouldacourtofcompetentjurisdic4ondeclarethislicenseagreement,oranypor4onofthis license agreement, to be unenforceable, that por4on shall be enforced to the maximum extentpossiblesoastoeffectuatetheintentofthepar4es,andtheremainderoftheagreementshall con4nueinfullforceandeffect.
8.CompleteAgreement.Thislicensecons4tutestheen4reagreementamong thepar4esregarding theuseoftheSo+wareandrelateddocumenta4on.Thislicenseagreementreplacesandsupersedesanypriorunderstandings or agreements, whether oral or wriJen. No contemporaneous understandings oragreementswere entered into in conjunc4onwith this licenseagreement. Nochange to this licensingagreementwillbeeffec4veagainstIntechunlessitisinwri4ngandsignedbyanauthorizedrepresenta4veofIntechSo+wareCorpora4on.
©Copyright1994‐2009byIntechSo+wareCorpora4on.Allrightsreservedworldwide,includingthosetoreproduce, modify and/or distribute this document or part thereof, in any form without prior wriJenconsentfromIntechSo+wareCorpora4on.
Apple,theAppleLogo,Macintosh,PowerMacintosh,MacOS,MacBook,andPowerBookaretrademarksorregistered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. SpeedTools, CD‐ROM SpeedTools, CD/DVD SpeedTools,Hard Disk SpeedTools, PeripheralView, Cache Monitor, QwikInstall, Integrity, QuickBench, QuickBenchClassic,DrivePC,DeviceTuner,QuickBack,S.M.A.R.T.Guard,SMARTAlert,FolderTrim,DriveTrim,theIntechLogo and “The ul4mate u4lity suite for your Macintosh” are salesmarks, trademarks or registeredtrademarks ofIntechSo+wareCorpora4on.Allotherbrandandproductnamescontainedintheso+wareandrelated documenta4onwereusedinaneditorialfashiononlyandarethetrademarks or registeredtrademarksoftheirrespec4veholders.
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TableofContents
About This Guide 7Updating SpeedTools Utilities 7System Requirements 7Introduction 8
About Pro and OEM Versions 9Installing SpeedTools Utilities 9
Uninstalling SpeedTools Utilities 9
Technical Support 9
Overview of the SpeedTools Utilities Features 10Using the SpeedTools Utilities Software 12
First Time Users 13
Describing the Main Window 13
Get Quick Help with Help Tags 14
The SpeedTools Utilities Main Toolbar 15Unmount Button 15Benchmark Button 15
Schedule Button 15
SMART Alert Button 15
Clear Tasks Button 15
Users Guide Button 15Choosing a Volume For a Task 16Choosing a Task 16Scan and Repair Bad Sectors 17
Block/Sector vs. Allocation Block 17
Scan Files for Bad Sectors 18Scan Volume for Bad Sectors 19
Scan For Bad Sector Options 20
Viewing Results in the Repair and Maintenance Log 21
Defragment Files 21About Fragmented Files 22What is File Fragmentation? 22
What are File Forks? 22
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Defragmenting vs. Optimizing Explained 23
Using the Defragment Files Feature 23
Check for Fragmentation 24
Defragment All Files 24
Viewing Results in the Repair and Maintenance Log 24Common Questions about Defragmenting a Volume 24
Test Data Transfer Integrity 25Why do I need to run Data Transfer Integrity tests? 25
Test Size 26
Duration 26Status 26
I/O Monitor 26
Starting a Data Transfer Integrity Test 27
Verify and Repair Volume 27Verify Volume 27Repair Volume 28
Common Questions about Repairing a Volume 28
Analyze Capacity Usage 29Backup / Restore Volume 30
Backup Volume 30Archive Selected Items 31
Restore From Disk Image 31
Find and Repair Broken Aliases 32Repair Alias Options 33
Volume Options and Settings 34Hide this Volume from Finder 34
Alert Me When a Volumeʼs Free Space Becomes Low 35
S.M.A.R.T. Diagnostics 35The S.M.A.R.T. Diagnostics Window 36
Automatic S.M.A.R.T. Monitoring with S.M.A.R.T. Alert 37Preference File Inspector 40
Starting an Inspection 40
About the XML/Property List (.plist) Format 41
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Device / Volume Information 42Volume Information 42
Device Information 42
Repair and Maintenance Log 43Scheduling an Automated Task 44
Adding a New Scheduled Task 44
Viewing a Scheduled Task in Progress 46
Preferences 46Disk Benchmarking 48
Using QuickBench™ 48QuickBench Benchmarking Tips 53
Using ZoneBench™ 54
SpeedTools Utilities Menu Options 59SpeedTools Utilities (main application menu) 59
File 59Advanced 59
Update 60
Help 60
Frequently Asked Questions 60SpeedTools Utilities Keyboard Commands 62
General Keyboard Menu Commands 62
Show Task Keyboard Commands 63
Show Volume Heading Information Commands 63
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AboutThisGuide
Theinstruc4onsandexplana4onsinthisguideassumethatyouunderstandhowtooperateyourMacintoshcomputer.Youshould,forexample,knowhowtochoose,select,launch,anddragbyusingyourmouse.Inaddi4on,youshouldalsounderstandhowthedesktop,windows,dialogboxes,buJonsandfile/foldersworkwithintheMacintoshenvironment.Formoreinforma4onabouttheseitems,pleaserefertoyourMacintoshUser’sGuide.
UpdaRngSpeedToolsURliRes
From4meto4me,updatesmaybeprovidedforthisproduct.Tocheckforso+wareupdates,gototheUpdatemenuandchooseCheckforUpdatesNow…menuitem.Ifanupdateisavailableyouwillseeawindowwithupdateinstruc4ons;otherwiseamessagewillsimplystateyourversioniscurrent.
Youcanalsoselecttheop4onintheUpdatemenutoAutomaRcallyCheckforUpdateswhichwillcheckforanupdateeach4meyoulaunchtheSpeedToolsU4li4esapplica4on.Uncheckthisop4onifyoudonotwanttheso+waretoautoma4callycheckforupdatesatlaunch.
SystemRequirements
PowerPCG4(400MHz)processororfasterMacOSX10.3.9orlater(10.4orlaterishighlyrecommended)CD‐ROMdrive(ifso+warewasprovidedoncompactdisc)256MBRAMorhigher80MBharddiskspace
Theserequirementsmaychangewithfutureupdates.Youcanfindoutthelatestrequirementsbyvisi4ngtheSpeedToolsU4li4esproductpageontheIntechwebsiteat:
h_p://www.SpeedTools.com
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IntroducRon
ThankyouforpurchasingSpeedToolsU4li4es.Thecollec4onofharddisku4li4esincludedintheso+waremakesiteasytokeepyourcomputerrunninglikenewbyusingprofessionaltes4ngtools thathavebeenadoptedbyindustrygiantstostayontopofanyproblemsthatmayoccur,andhelpprotectyourdataincaseofharddrivefailure.
WithSpeedToolsURliResyoucan:
• Scanandrepairbadsectors
• Defragmentfiles
• Verifyandrepairvolumes
• Testdatatransferintegrity
• Findandrepairbrokenaliasandsymboliclinkfiles
• Analyzecapacityusage
• Checkandautoma4callymonitorATA/SATAS.M.A.R.T.status
• Viewdetaileddeviceandvolumeinforma4on
• Monitorlowfreespacelevelswithalerts
• HideVolumesfromtheFinder’sview
• Backupandrestorevolumes
• Iden4fyandRepair/RemoveDamagedPreferenceFiles
• Benchmarkdiskandvolumeperformance
• Viewac4vitymaintenancelogs
• Scheduleautomatedtasks
SomeaddiRonalabiliResinSpeedToolsURliResthatmanycompeRRveproductsdonotoffer:
• ThereisnoneedtobootfromaCDwhiledefragmen4ngorrepairingbadsectorsonyour
startupvolume.
• Youcanschedulevolumeandfolderbackups,filedefragmenta4onandsectorscanning/
repairtasksforyourvolumesinoneeasy‐to‐useinterface.Thisincludesserngautoma4c
shutdownandsleepeventswhenyourtask(s)arefinished.
• Youcantestandrepairmorethanonevolumeata4me.
• ReceiveS.M.A.R.T.alertno4fica4onstofindoutifadeviceisabouttofail.
• Monitorandalertyouwhenfreediskspacebecomelow‐‐withindividualvolumeserngs.
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AboutProandOEMVersions
From4meto4meinthisguide,youmayseesec4onswhichbeginwith.Thismeansthatthefeatureorinstruc4onwhichfollowsarenotavailableorprovidedinOEMversionsofthisso+ware.IfyouhaveanOEMversion(aversionwhichwasincludedwithahardwarepurchase,usuallyatliJleornocost),youcanupgradetotheProfessionalversionofthisso+wareatany4mebyselec4ngtheUpgradetoProVersion...menuiteminthemainUpdatemenu.OEMversionsareclearlymarkedinthemainwindow’s4tlebarwith“OEMEdi4on”.
InstallingSpeedToolsURliRes
Toinstall:
• InserttheSpeedToolsU4li4esCDordouble‐clickthedownloadeddiskimagefiletomountit.
• Double‐clicktheCD(ordiskimage)icononyourdesktoptoviewitscontents.
• DragtheSpeedToolsU4li4esapplica4onicontoyourApplica4onsfolderonyourstartupdisk.
• StartSpeedToolsU4li4es(fromyourApplica4onsfolder)bydouble‐clickingit’sicon.
• Enteryouradministratorpasswordwhenprompted.
• Acceptthelicenseagreement.
• EnteryourNameandtheSerialNumberprovidedwithyourpurchase.
See:FirstTimeUserslaterinthisguideformoreinforma4on.
UninstallingSpeedToolsURliRes
SpeedToolsU4li4esincludesabuilt‐inUninstallop4onthatcompletelyremovesallSpeedToolsU4li4esso+warecomponentsfromthevolumeitwasinstalledon.Touninstalltheso+ware,chooseUninstallthisSodwarefromtheAdvancedmenu.
TechnicalSupport
Should you need assistance with the installation and/or use of this software product, you may contact the support staff at Other World Computing. Intech Software has chosen OWC for this important support role because we want you to receive the best possible care and assistance. OWC is well known in the Macintosh community for its outstanding product support staff and we believe that your experience with them will be second to none.
Using your web browser, type in the following web url at the top of the browser window. When the page opens, you will be provided with assistance options for this product.http://eshop.macsales.com/Service/
Or, while running the SpeedTools Utilities application, you may select Online Support from the Help Menu.
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OverviewoftheSpeedToolsURliResFeatures
SpeedToolsU4li4esisasafeandreliableharddiskmaintenanceandrepairu4litysuitedesignedtobeeasyenoughtousebyanoviceorprofessional.Manyoftheu4li4esarestraight‐forwardindeterminingifafixisneededand,inmostcases,offeringasolu4ontotheproblem.
ChancesarethatyouwillnotregularlyuseeveryfeatureintheSpeedToolsU4li4esso+ware,butyouwillquicklybecomecomfortablewithsomefavoritesthatallowyoutotakecontrolofthemaintenanceandrepairofyourcomputer.Thefollowingisabriefsummaryofwhateachfeatureallowsyoutodo.
ScanandRepairBadSectors
Occasionally,sectorsonaharddrivewillgobad.Thisiscompletelynormal.Whenthishappens,thedataonthebadsectorwillbecomedamaged,butdataontherestofthedrivewillbeunaffectedandyourdiskcanremaincompletelyusable.
Usethisu4litytoexaminesectorsformediadefectsandrepairthembasedonseveralop4ons.Youcanscanjustthesectors/alloca4onblocksoccupiedbyfilesontheselectedvolume,orscanallthesectorsoccupiedbyfilesandfreespaceontheselectedvolume.Ifdataisaffectedbyabadsectoryouprobablywon’tbeabletousetheassociatedfileanymore,butSpeedToolsU4li4escanshowyouwhichfilewasaffected(inScanFilesmode)andallowyoutomakesurethatthebadsectorisneverusedagain.A+erwards,youcanreplacetheaffectedfilefromoneofyourpreviouslysavedbackupsorothersavedloca4on.Thiscansaveyouatremendousamountof4meoverrestoringanen4reharddiskbecauseyoudidn’tknowwhichfilehadthebadsector.
DefragmentFiles
Theregularuseoffilesonyourcomputercancausethemtobecomefragmentedover4me.Fragmentedfilescanmakeyourharddiskworkslowerandharderasitmovesitsheadsacrosslargesec4onsofthemediainordertoreadallofthepartsofafragmentedfile(whichcouldbelocatedalloverthediskmedia).
YoucanusetheDefragmentFilesop4onintheSpeedToolsU4li4esso+waretoexamineandrepairfilefragmenta4onontheselectedvolume.Onceyoudefragmentyourfiles,youmayno4ceanimprovementintheoverallspeedofusingyourharddisk.
TestDataTransferIntegrity
Thisisbasicallya“stresstest”foryourharddisk.TheIntegritytestcandetectdatatransferproblemswithstoragedevices,andiscompa4blewithnearlyallmountedreadable/writablevolumesandFilesystems.
UsethisfeaturetotesttheabilityofyourstoragedevicetoreliablyandrepeatedlyreadandwriteprecisedatapaJerns.RunningtheIntegritytestwillnotdisturbyourexis4ngdatafiles.
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VerifyandRepairVolume
Over4meyoumayno4ceproblemssuchasapplica4onsquirngunexpectedly,filesbecomingcorruptedorunreadable,anexternaldeviceisnolongeropera4ngproperlyoryourcomputerfailstostartup.Thiscanoccurwhenyourvolumedirectoryhasbecomedamagedduetopoweroutages,systemcrashesandhardrestartstonameafew.
SpeedToolsU4li4esallowsyoutoverify,andifproblemsarefound,repairissueswithadiskorvolume‐o+enrestoringfullaccesstothefilescontainedonit.Torepairyourboot(startup)volume,youwillneedtobootfromanotherharddiskwhichhasaMacOSinstalla4onandrunSpeedToolsU4li4es.Or,youcanbootfromyourMacOSXInstallCDandrunApple’sDiskU4lity.
S.M.A.R.T.DiagnosRcs
Atsomepointin4me,alldiskdriveswillfail.Onceadrivecrashesitcanbedifficulttoretrievethecontaineddata,soitiscri4caltotryanddetectafailingdriveandcopyitsdataoffitbeforeitfails.
TheS.M.A.R.T.diagnos4cstaskinSpeedToolsU4li4eschecksharddiskindicatorsforhealthandreliabilitybasedonyourharddiskmanufacturersspecifica4ons.Youcanrunon‐the‐spotchecks,orsettheS.M.A.R.T.Alerttorunatregularintervals.Ifadiskispredictedtofail,youcanbealertedbyanon‐screenmessageorhaveawarningemailsenttoyou.Thismaygiveyouthe4meyouneedtomakeabackupoftheaffecteddiskdrivebeforecompletediskfailureoccurs.
AnalyzeCapacityUsage
Wanttofindoutwhatfilesaretakingupthemostspaceonyourharddisk?SpeedToolsallowsyoutoeasilyanalyzeyourdisktoseewhichfilesareconsumingyoursystem.Youcanviewbyfiletypeor“ShowLargest”inordertofindthefileswiththelargestsizeandthenarchiveand/orremovethemtofreeupspaceonyourcomputer.
VolumeOpRonsandSefngs
Thissec4onincludesop4onstoconfigureanalertwhenavolume’sfreespacebecomeslow.Alsoincludedisavolume“Hide”featurewhichcanhelpprotectdatafrombeingeasilyseenbyotherpeoplewhomightuseyourcomputer,suchaschildren.
Device/VolumeInformaRon
Easilyfinddetailedinforma4onabouttheavolumeanditsparentdevice.Viewinforma4onsuchasdeviceserialnumbers,firmwarerevisions,fileandfoldercounts,usesta4s4csandmuchmore.
FindandRepairBrokenAliases
CleanupunusedorbrokenfilelinksonyourMac.Quicklyexaminethealiasand“so+”symboliclinkfilesonaselectedvolume.Ifatargetitemcannotbefoundforanaliasfile,youcanchoosetolinkthealiastoanotheritem,deleteit,orleaveituntouched.
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Backup/RestoreVolume
Beforeyoueverdoanyrepaironyourcomputerorharddiskdevices,youshouldfirstconsiderdoingafullbackup/cloneofyourvolumeandstoreitinasafeloca4on,suchasonastoragedevicethatisnotconnectedtoyourcomputer.Thisway,ifanythinghappensorfailsonyourprimarydiskdriveyoucanhavethepeaceofmindofrecoveringyourimportantdatafiles.
SpeedToolsU4li4esallowsyoutoduplicatetheselectedsourcevolumetoanothervolumeordiskimagefile.Youcanalsobackupspecificitemsifyoudon’twanttobackupyouren4revolume(whichcantakeupalargeamountofspace).Torestoreavolumetoapreviousstate,simplychoosethesaveddiskimageyouareinterestedin.
RepairandMaintenanceLog
Thisfeatureallowsyoutoquicklyviewac4vi4esandtestresultsperformedbySpeedToolsU4li4es.Inaddi4on,thislogwillprovideyouwiththeoutcomeofanautomatedscheduledtask.
BenchmarkDiskPerformance
SpeedToolsU4li4esincludestwodifferentBenchmarku4li4es.Onethatmeasuresvariousperformancefactorsofamountedvolume(par44on).And,anotherwhichmeasurestheperformanceofyourdisk’sen4remediafromendtoend.SeeDiskBenchmarkingfordetails.
UsingtheSpeedToolsURliResSodware
ItishighlyrecommendedthatyouuseSpeedToolsU4li4esregularlytokeepyourcomputerrunninglikenewandpreven4ngproblemsbeforetheyarise(or,atleasttolimittheirdamageifirreversibledamageoccurs).Tohelpyouinthistask,SpeedToolsU4li4esistheonlyu4litythatallowsyoutoschedulewhentodefragmentfiles,scanandrepairbadsectorsandbackupyourvolumesandimportantfoldersinasingle,easy‐to‐useinterface.
Formoreinforma4ononthescheduleop4ons,pleaserefertotheScheduleanAutomatedTasksec4onofthismanual.
Note:Beforedoinganyrepairyoushouldalwaysmakesuretofirstrunavolumebackup.Thiswayifanyproblemswithyourcomputeroccurinthefutureyouwillbeabletorecoveryoursystem.Doingregulararchivalbackups(severalbackupsmadeatdifferent4mes)canofferevenbeJerprotec4onbyallowingyoutolocateundamagedfilesthatmaybeonanearlierbackupbutdamagedornotpresentonalaterone.
Alloftheu4li4esyouneedtokeepyousystemrunningsmootharelocatedinthemaintaskmenuwhenyoufirstlaunchtheSpeedToolsU4li4esso+ware.
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FirstTimeUsers
WhenyoustarttheSpeedToolsU4li4esso+wareforthefirst4me,youwillbepresentedwithanAdministratorpasswordwindow.Itisnecessarythatyouenterthispasswordsothattheso+warecaninstallandrunimportantsystemcomponents.Next,youwillbepresentedwithaLicenseAgreementwindow.YouwillbegiventheopportunitytoAcceptorDeclinethisagreement.WhenyouclicktheAcceptbuJonthefollowingwillhappen:
AnAc4vateSo+warewindowwillbepresented.Here,typeinyournameandtheserialnumberwhichaccompaniedtheso+wareandclicktheAcRvatebuJontocon4nue.TheAcRvatebuJonwillbecomeenablediftheserialnumberiscorrect.
A+erwards,youwillbepresentedwithasmallwindowwhichwillshowtheprogressofvariousini4altasks.Whenthesetasksarecompleted,themainwindowwillbedisplayed.
DescribingtheMainWindow
TheSpeedToolsU4li4esmainwindowhasseveralareasofimportancewhichwewillcalltoyouraJen4onhereandregularlyreferencethroughoutthisguide.
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ThisareaistheSpeedToolsU4li4esMainToolbar.Itprovidesseveralgeneralfunc4onswhichwillbediscussedlaterinthesec4on.SeeTheSpeedToolsURliResToolbarformoreinforma4on.
ThisareaistheVolumeList.TheVolumeList(inlightblue),willprovidealis4ngofall volumeswhichtheSpeedToolsapplica4onpredetermineditcouldworkwithinsomefashion.Fromhere,youcanselectavolumetoperformagiventaskon.Todothis,simplyclickonanyofthelistedvolume(s).A+erwards,thelistitemwillturndarkbluerepresen4ngthenewvolumeselec4on.SeeChoosingaVolumeForaTaskformoreinforma4on.Inaddi4on,area#3(theSelectedVolumeHeading)willdisplayotherusefulinforma4onabouttheselectedvolume.
ThisareaistheSelectedVolumeHeading,see#2formoreinforma4on.
ThisitemistheMainTaskMenu.Youcanusethismenutoselectanewtasktoperformontheselectedvolume.Whentheselectedvolumestartstoperformatask,thismenuwillbecomegrayedoutandunavailableforanewselec4onun4lthetaskcompletesorun4lyouselectandifferentvolume.
ThisareaistheMainTaskArea.Whenyoufirststarttheapplica4on,thisareawillfeaturethetasksthatyoucanuseontheselectedvolume(thesametaskswhicharecontainedintheMainTaskMenu),onlyinlargeiconform.WhenyouselectataskbyclickingtheSelectTaskbuJon,thisareawillconvertintoop4onsandprogressforthetaskthatyouselected.
ThisbuJonistheViewBu_on.TheSpeedToolsU4li4esapplica4onprovidestwouniquelydifferentviewsthatyoucanchoosefromtomakeyourtaskselec4ons.Totogglebetweenthetwoviews,clickthele+orrightsideoftheViewBuJon.Alterna4vely,youmaypressthekeycombina4on:commandkey+“/”key.
ThisistheHelparea.Dependingonwhatyouaredoingwithintheapplica4onatvarious4mes,thisareawilldisplayhelpfulinforma4on,4psoraddi4onalinstruc4ons.
ThisistheCPUMeter.TheCPUMeterrepresentsthetotalprocessingpowerofyourmachineandhowmuchofthetotaliscurrentlybeingusedbyallrunningprocesses.Themetertakesintoaccountmul4pleCPUsand/orcores(ifyouhavethem)andisautoma4callyupdatedeveryfewseconds.Thisfeaturemaybeturnedonoroffin"Preferences",ifdesired.
GetQuickHelpwithHelpTags
Ifyoueverneedsomequickhelptolearnwhatafeatureorop4oncando,tryhoveringyourmousepointerdirectlyovertheop4onitself.Manyop4ons(checkboxes,buJons,etc.)includehelptagsthatappearifyouhoveryourmousepointeroverthem.Thiscansaveyou4mefromhavingtolookinthisguideforquickbitsofinforma4on.
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TheSpeedToolsURliResMainToolbar
TheSpeedToolsU4li4esToolbarcontainssixbuJonswhicharedescribedbelow:
UnmountBu_on
Tounmountadiskvolume,firstselectitfromtheVolumeListandthenclicktheUnmountbuJon.A+eryouunmountadiskvolumefromyourDesktop,theUnmounttoolbarbuJonwillchangeto“Mount”.ClickingtheMountop4onwillre‐mounttheselectedvolumetoyourDesktopagain.
Note:TheUnmountop4oncannotbeperformedonyourboot(startup)volume.IfyouclickonyourbootvolumeintheVolumeList,theUnmountbuJonwillbedisabled.
BenchmarkBu_on
SeeDiskBenchmarkinglaterinthisguideformoreinforma4onsaboutthisfeature.
ScheduleBu_on
UsetheScheduleop4ontoscheduleautoma4crunsofDefragmentFiles,ScanandRepairBadSectors,andVolume/FolderBackups.SeeSchedulinganAutomatedTaskformoreinforma4on.
SMARTAlertBu_on
UsetheSMARTAlertop4ontosetupautoma4cmonitoringandno4fica4onsforS.M.A.R.T.failuresandwarnings.SeeAutomaRcS.M.A.R.T.MonitoringwithS.M.A.R.T.Alertformoreinforma4on.
ClearTasksBu_on
UsetheClearTasksop4ontoclearallcompletedtaskresultsyouhavealreadyrun.Forexample,ifyourunaScanandRepairBadSectorstask,theresultsofthescanremaininthetaskwindowevenifyoumovetoanothertaskorvolumeandthenreturn.TheClearTasksbuJonwillresetalltaskssothepreviousscanresultswillnolongerbeshown.
TheClearTasksbuJondoesnotremoveanyRepairandMaintenanceLogentriesforaselectedvolume,butdoescleartaskresultsforeverydiskvolumeintheVolumesList,notjusttheonethatisselected.
UsersGuideBu_on
TheUsersGuidebuJonopensaPDFversionofthismanualonyourcomputer.
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ChoosingaVolumeForaTask
TheVolumeListshowsyouwhatvolumesareavailabletorunchosentaskson.Youmayonlyrunasingletaskontheselectedvolumeata4me,butyoucantestandrepairmorethanonevolumeata4me.Thismeans,forexample,youcanberunningtheScanandRepairBadSectorstaskononevolume,whilerunningDefragmentFilesonanothervolumesimultaneously.Tochooseanewdiskvolumetorunataskon,simplyclickonitsiconintheVolumeList.Oncethetaskisstarted,youarefreetoclickonanotherdiskvolumeintheVolumesListifyouwishtobeginanewtaskonanothervolume.
AnyvolumerunningataskwillshowastatusprogressbarintheVolumeListsothatyouknowwhenavolumeisbusyperformingataskandhowfaralongthetaskisasshownbelow.
Tip:YourStartupvolume(bootdisk)willbeautoma4callyiden4fiedwiththeblue“HappyMac”(Finder)iconasshownabove.
Tip:VolumeswhicharemountedfromDiskImageFileswillbe“badged”withasmallDiskImageicon(overthevolumeicon)foreasyiden4fica4on.
ChoosingaTask
WhenyouarereadytochooseatasktorunontheselectedvolumeyoucansimplyclickonanyofthetaskiconslocatedintheMainTaskArea,thenclicktheSelectTaskbuJonorchooseataskfromtheMainTaskMenupopup(shownbelow).
Anotherwaytoquicklychooseataskforaspecificvolume,istoclickyourmouse’srightbuJononavolumeintheVolumeList(whennotalreadyperformingatask).Thiswillrevealamenuwhichcontainsatasklis4ngsimilartotheMainTaskMenu.Addi4onally,thismenuwillcontainop4onsformoun4ng,unmoun4ngand/orejec4ngtheclickedonvolumewhenapplicable.
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ScanandRepairBadSectors
TheScanandRepairBadSectorsfeatureisdesignedtotestthereliabilityof,andpoten4allyrepairdefec4vesectorsonthevolumesofyourlocalstoragedevices.
Therearetwoalterna4vemethodstodetectdefec4vesectors:scanningthefilesonavolume(ScanFilesforBadSectors),orscanningtherawsectorsonavolume(ScanVolumeforBadSectors).Bothmethodshavedis4nctadvantagesandsomedrawbackswhichwewilldetaillaterin thissec4on.
Tobegin,firstselectavolumefromtheVolumeListonthele+sideofthemainwindow.Thenchooseoneofthetwomainop4ons:
• ScanFilesforBadSectors–Usethisop4ontoscanjustthesectors/alloca4onblocksoccupiedbyfilesontheselectedvolume.
• ScanVolumeforBadSectors–Usethisop4ontoscanallthesectorsoccupiedbyfilesandfreespaceontheselectedvolume.
Block/Sectorvs.AllocaRonBlock
Beforeproceedinganyfurther,itisimportanttounderstandtwotermswhichwillbeusedextensivelythroughoutthissectionandinthesoftware:"AllocationBlock"and"Sector."Strictlyspeaking,a"Block"anda"Sector"denoteexactlythesamething:thesmallestnumberofbytesthat
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canbetransferredtoorfromaphysicalstoragedevicesuchasaharddiskdrive(aka"BlockDevice").However,an"AllocationBlock"issomethingsignificantlydifferentandneedstobeclearlyunderstoodtofullyappreciatetheramificationsofreassigningdefectiveareasofstoragemedia.
SpeedToolsU4li4eshasintroducedtheabilitytocheckindividualfilesonallfilesystemssupportedbyMacOSX.ExamplesofsupportedfilesystemsincludeHFSExtended,FAT32,UFS,UDF,CDDA,ISO9660,etc.Thisfile‐basedapproachrequirestheintroduc4onoftheconceptofan"Alloca4onBlock."Analloca4onblockissimilartoaphysicalblock/sectorbutdiffersinaveryimportantway:itrepresentsthesmallestnumberofbytesthatcanbetransferredtoorfromafile locatedonagivenvolume.Analloca4onblockisalogicalgroupingofoneormorephysicalblocks/sectorsonthestoragedevice.Addi4onally,thesizeofanalloca4onblockcanvarywidelyfromvolumetovolumeandfromfilesystemtofilesystem.
Becausea"Block"andan"Alloca4onBlock"cansoeasilybeconfused,theterm"Sector"willbeusedinthismanualtodenotethesmallestnumberofbyteswhichagivenblockstoragedevicecantransfer.Likewise,theterm"Alloca4onBlock"willrefertothesmallestnumberofbyteswhichagivenvolume'sfilesystemformatcantransfer.
Note:Mostread‐only(writeprotected)volumesaresupportedforbadsectordetecRononly.Defec4vesectorscannotberepairedonreadonlymediaandyouwillonlybeprovidedwiththeop4ontoskipoverthedefec4vesector.Addi4onally,inscanfilesmode,youwillbeabletoviewtheaffectedfile,cancelthescan,orskipoverthesectororen4refile.
ScanFilesforBadSectors
IMPORTANT:BeforebeginningtheScanFilesforBadSectorsfeature,itisvitalthatyoutestthevolumeforFileSystemerrorsand/orinconsistencies.IftheFileSystemisdamagedornotworkingproperly,theScanFilesforBadSectorscoulderroneouslyreportbadsectorsfound.Ifthevolume’sFileSystemisMacOSStandard(HFS)orMacOSExtended(HFS+),youcanusetheSpeedToolsVerifyandRepairVolumefeaturetoquicklyverifythattheFileSystemisinperfectworkingorder.Ifyouareunabletoverifythecondi4onofyourvolume’sFileSystem,itisstronglyrecommendedthatyouusetheScanVolumeforBadSectorsfunc4oninstead,asadamagedFileSystemwillnotinfluenceitsfindings.
IntheScanFilesmode,SpeedToolsU4li4eswillaJempttoaccesseveryfileonthecurrentlyselectedvolumeandverifyeachalloca4onblockofthefile.Ifanerrorisdetected,thefilewhichcontainsthedefec4vesectorwillbeiden4fiedandseveralop4onswillbepresentedfortheproblem:
• OpRon1:"ShowFileinFinder."ClickingthisbuJonwillcausetheFindertoopenthewindowcontainingthefilewiththedefec4vesectorandhighlightitforeasyfollowupexamina4on,whendesired.IfclickingthisbuJondoesnotpresentthefileintheFinder,itmaybeinvisibleormaybeinaloca4onthatyoudonothaveuseraccessto.Inthesecases,hoveringyourmouseoverthenameofthefileinthewindowwillrevealtheitem’sfullpath.
• OpRon2:"CancelScan."ClickingthisbuJonwillstopthecurrentscanandresetthefilescanningstar4ngpointbacktothebeginningofthevolume.
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• OpRon3:"SkipFile."ClickingthisbuJonwillcauseSpeedToolsU4li4estostoptheexamina4onofthecurrentfileandcon4nuewiththefilescanofthenextfile.
• OpRon4:"SkipSector."ClickingthisbuJonwillcauseSpeedToolsU4li4estoskipoverthecurrentalloca4onblockwhichcontainsthedefec4vesectorwithinthecurrentfileandcon4nuewiththefilescan.
• OpRon5:"DeleteFile."ClickingthisbuJonwillcauseSpeedToolsU4li4estopermanentlydeletethefilewiththedefec4vesectorandcon4nuewiththefilescan.Thisisusuallythebestchoicesincereassigningthesectorwillputablank"hole"inthefileequaltothevolume'salloca4onblocksize.See"ReassignSector"belowformoreinforma4on.
• OpRon6:"ReassignSector."ClickingthisbuJonwillcauseSpeedToolsU4li4estoaJempttoreassignthedefec4vesector.Butbeawarethatinfilescanmode,onefullalloca4onblockwillhavetobeblankedoutinordertorepairasinglephysicalsector.Forexample,ifthevolumeisHFS+,itverylikelyhasa4096bytealloca4onblocksize.Inthiscase,reassigningasingledefec4ve512bytesectorwillputa4096byteblankspotinthefile.Suchablankspotinthefilemayleadtounpredictablebehaviorwhentheprogramwhichcreatedthefiletriestoopenitandreadinitsdata.
Ofcourse,sincethesectorisbadtobeginwith,theprogramwhichcreatedthefilewillnotbeabletoaccessthealloca4onblockwhichcontainsthedefec4vesector,either,soyourop4onsareratherlimited.Seethe“Advice”sec4onbelow.
AdviceonDetecRngBadSectorsinScanFilesModeIftheScanFilesmodediscoversadefec4vesectorpresentinafilewhichyoucreated,youhaveseveralop4onstotryandminimizethelossofdata:
1) Deletethefileandreplaceitwithyourbackup.Thisisdependentonhavingabackupsavedforfilerecovery.
2) Ifyoudon'thavearecentenoughbackuptomakethisaviableop4on,youcouldtrytoopenthefilewiththeprogramwhichcreatedit.Thereisalwaysachancethatthedefec4vesectorislocatedinanalloca4onblockwithinthefilewhichisnotcri4cal.Youcouldthensaveanewcopyofthefileanddeletetheoriginal.
3) TrytheScanVolumemode.ScanVolumemodewillfindthesamedefec4vesector,butwillalmostalwayshavetheadvantageofbeingabletoleaveasmaller"hole"inthefile.Inscanvolumemode,onlyonephysicalsectorismappedout(usuallyonly512bytes)insteadofonefullalloca4onblock(usually4096bytes).That's87.5%lessdatatypicallywipedout!
ScanVolumeforBadSectors
IntheScanVolumemode,SpeedToolsU4li4eswillaJempttoreadeveryrawsectoronthecurrentlyselectedvolume.Ifadefec4vesectorisdetected,SpeedToolsU4li4eswillpresenttwoop4ons:skipthesectororaJempttoreassignit.
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Beawarethatifasectorhassuccessfullybeenreassigned,ablankspotequalinsizetothedrive'sphysicalsectorsize(usually512bytes)willexistwherethedefec4vesectorusedtobe.Insectorscanmode,SpeedToolsU4li4esdoesnotknowifthedefec4vesectorwasbeingusedinsomeapplica4onfileordatafile,butyoucertainlywillnotbeanyworseoffthanyouwerebeforeyoureassignedsincethesectorwasbad,a+erall.
AdviceonDetecRngBadSectorsinScanVolumeMode
Sectorscanning(ScanVolume)tendstobequickerthanfilescanning,especiallyifyourvolumeisratherfulland/orcontainsalargenumberofsmallfiles.Ifyouareinahurryandyouwanttocheckforbadblocksquickly,sectorscanningisprobablyyourbestchoice.Ifabadsectorisdetected,youcanalwayscancelthescanandswitchtofilescanmode.Iffilescanmodefailstodetectabadsector,thenyoucanhaveahighdegreeofconfidencethatthedefec4vesectorcanbesafelyreassignedwithoutfearofanyfilebeingaffected.Ontheotherhand,ifthedefec4vesectorresideswithinafile,atleastyouwillknowwhichfileisaffectedandyoucanmakeamoreinformedchoiceabouthowtoproceed.
ScanForBadSectorOpRons
Thefollowingop4onsareavailableinbothScanFilesforBadSectorsandScanVolumeforBadSectorsmodes:
• SkipandLogBadSectors–Automa4callyskipfoundbadsectorsandaddthemtothelogforlaterviewing.Thisisasafeop4onifyouwouldliketoevaluateyourvolumeand/orfileswithoutrepairingthemandwithouthavingtodismissanalertwindoweach4meabadsectorisfound.
• AutoReassignBadSectors‐Becarefulwiththisop4on!CheckingthisboxwillcauseSpeedToolsU4li4estoaJempttoreassignalldefec4vesectorsdetectedduringthescan.Thisop4oncanbedangerousifyourdriveisrepor4ngmediaerrorsforsomereasonotherthanactualbadsectors,suchaswithexcessiveheat,excessiveelectricalnoise,etc.Werecommendusingthisfeatureonlya+errunningthoughascanwiththe“SkipandLogBadSectors”op4onsothatyouknowhowmanybadsectoryouhavefirst.Ifitturnsoutthatyouhavelotsofbadsectors,itmaybethatthedriveishavingothertrouble,suchasoverhea4ngforexample.Inthissitua4on,thereportedbadsectorsmaynotactuallybebad.Ifhowever,onlyafewbadsectorsturnupwiththeskipandlogop4on,thesectorsarelikelybadanditissafetousetheauto‐reassignfeature.
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• ConRnuousScan‐CheckingthisboxwillcauseSpeedToolsU4li4estorestartthescanningprocedureeach4meoneen4rescaniscompleted,un4lthescaniscancelledmanually.Repe44vescanninglikethiscanturnup“weak”sectors(sectorsthatareaccessiblesome4mesandother4mesnot).
ViewingResultsintheRepairandMaintenanceLog
SpeedToolsU4li4eswillkeeptrackofalldetectedbadsectors,regardlessofwhetheritisbeingusedinfilescanmodeorvolumescanmode.Alltheinforma4onthatwasprovidedatthe4meofthescanwillbeenteredintothelog.ToviewtheSpeedToolsU4li4eslogfile,gotoRepairandMaintenanceLoginthemaintaskmenu.Thelogfilewillbe4tledwitheitherScanFilesforBadSectorsorScanVolumeforBadSectors,alongwiththedateand4methetaskwasrun.
Inaddi4on,youcanscheduleScanandRepairBadSectorstorunatany4meusingtheScheduleop4oninthemainSpeedToolsU4li4estoolbar.Formoreinforma4ononthis,seetheScheduleanAutomatedTasksec4onofthismanual.
DefragmentFiles
TheDefragmentFilesfeatureisdesignedtospeedupyourMacintosh'saccesstofilesstoredonyourharddisks.Todothis,SpeedToolsU4li4esiden4fiesfilesonHFS+(alsoknownasMacOSExtended)formaJeddriveswhichhavepiecesstoredinmorethanoneplaceonyourdriveandrewritesthosefilessothattheyformonecon4nuousdataloca4on.Thisprocesscandrama4callyreducethenumberofdatareadsandwritestoaccessyourfiles,therebysignificantlyspeedingupfileaccessrelatedfunc4ons.
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AboutFragmentedFiles
Note:Anaddi4onalando+enoverlookedside‐benefitfromdefragmen4ngyourfilesisbeJerfilerecoverability.Intheeventthatadiskvolumebecomesinaccessibleduetocorrup4on,afilerecoverytoolshouldhaveahigherprobabilityofrecoveringthecontentsofafileifitisphysicallylocatedinasingleplaceonthediskinsteadofoccupyingmul4plescaJeredloca4ons.Thisispar4cularlytruewhenusingu4li4eswhichperformrawmediascansandaJempttofinddatafileswithoutusingthevolume’scatalogfile.
WhatisFileFragmentaRon?
Filefragmenta4onoccurs,typically,asaresultofthecon4nuousprocessofcrea4ng,dele4ngandmodifyingfiles.Whenafileisdeleted,forexample,itleavesa"hole"(unusedspace)inthediskattheplaceitusedtooccupy.Ifanewfileiscreatedthatislargerthanthedeletedfilewhose"hole"thenewfileisfilling,thefilemaybesplitintomul4plepiecesandplacedwithintheavailable"holes".Thisfilewhichnowoccupiesmorethanonephysicalloca4ononthediskissaidtobe"fragmented."Eachpartofthefilelocatedonseparateareasofthediskiscalledafilefragment.Thenumberoffragmentsthatafilecanbebrokenintoisvirtuallyunlimited.Itistypicalforlargefilesonheavilyfragmenteddrivestobemadeupofseveralhundredfragments!
Whydofilesystemsallowfilestobecomefragmented?
SincethefirstdaysoftheMacintosh,harddiskspacehasbeenatapremium.Asaresult,mostfilesystemsallowfilestobebrokenupandstoredinchunksonyourdiskwhentheyarecreatedandlatergrowntoholdmoreinforma4on.Ifthisweren'tthecase,diskswouldfillupmuchmorequicklybecausetherewouldalwayshavetobeenoughfreespaceonthedisktostoretheen4refilefrombeginningtoend.Forlargefilesonrela4velyfulldisks,thiswouldbeespeciallyimprac4cal.
WhatareFileForks?
ThereisonemoreconceptwhichshouldbeexplainedinordertounderstandhowDefragmentFilesworks:fileforks.UndertheMacintoshHFS+(MacOSExtended)filesystem,theinforma4oninfilesisorganizedintosmallerstructurescalled"forks."Everyfilemusthaveatleastonefork.InMacOSversionspriorto9,therecouldonlybetwokindsofforks:ResourceandData.ResourceforksaremappedandcontaindatatypicallydefinedbyApple,suchasinforma4onaboutanapplica4onprogram'smetadata,dialogs,controls,versioninforma4on,etc.Dataforkscancontainanyinforma4on,includingexecutablecode.
ButfromMacOS9.1throughallversionsofMacOSX,Applehasallowedfortheaddi4onofmore thantwoforks.Theseforksaresimplyiden4fiedbyname,notbytypeasinthecaseofdataandresourceforks.
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HowdoestheconceptofforksaffectthedefragmentaRonoffiles?
SpeedToolsU4li4esworksunderthebeliefthatitismuchmoreimportanttokeepeachforkwithinafilecon4guous(inonepiece)thanitistokeepanen4refilewithmul4pleforkscon4guous.Thereasonforthisissimple:theMaccanonlyaccessoneforkata4me.ForthisreasonittakesveryliJleextra4metoaccessdifferentforkswhicharenotsequen4alwithrespecttooneanother.Thissitua4on,whereafilehascon4guousforks(buttheforksthemselvesarenotcon4guouswiththerespecttooneanother)iscalleda"filewithnon‐sequen4alforks."
Therefore,whiletheDefragmentFilesfeaturewillaJempttomaketheforksofafilesequen4altoeachother,themainpriorityistoremovethefragmentsofeachforkofafile.Defragmen4ngindividualforksiswherenearlyallthespeedimprovementisgained.
DefragmenRngvs.OpRmizingExplained
Anop4mizingprogrammakestheforksandfilescon4guousliketheSpeedToolsDefragmentFilesfeaturedoes,butop4mizingprogramsaddi4onallygroupallthefilestogether,backtoback,insomesortofpre‐determinedarrangement.Forexample,allfilescouldbemovedtothebeginningorendofadisk,andpoten4allyevengroupedintocategories,etc.Whilethistypeoffunc4onalitycanserveapurpose,theDefragmentFilesfeaturedoesnotperformthisfunc4on.
Whydoesn'ttheDefragmentFilesfeatureperformanopRmizingfuncRon?
Thereareseveralreasons.Firstandforemost,itisnotsupportedbyApple.Thereasonissimple:fileop4mizingrequiresdirectmanipula4onoflow‐levelfilesystemdatastructures.WheneverAppledecidestochangethesestructures(whichtheyhaveonmul4pleoccasions),afileop4mizercouldwreakhavocinthesestructures.Furthermore,ifthereareanyerrorsinthesestructures,directmanipula4onofthemcouldmakethesitua4onfarworse.Secondly,fileop4miza4oncanactuallyencouragefilefragmenta4ontoreturnsoonerandmoreseverelythanperformingdefragmenta4onexclusivelysincethefilesareplacedendtoend.Asaresultoftheendtoendfile placementproducedbyop4mizing,thereisnoroomtogrowanyfilewithoutimmediatelycrea4nganewfilefragmentelsewhereonthedisk.
UsingtheDefragmentFilesFeature
TobeginaDefragmentFilestask,firstselectavolumefromtheVolumeListonthele+sideofthemainwindow.
A+erthevolumehasbeendeterminedtoallowwri4ngandusesApple’sHFS+(MacOSExtended)format,theinforma4onaboutthevolume'ssizeandfileswillbedisplayedintheMainTaskArea.Nowyou'rereadytobeginavolumecheckordefragmenta4onrun.
Note:ItisvitalthatyoufirstrunaVerifyVolumetask(seeVerifyandRepairVolumeinthisguide)beforeworkingwithtaskscontainedwithinthisu4lity.Thiswillensurethatyourvolume’sfilestructureisingoodworkingorderandthattheselectedtaskwillnotencounterunexpectedproblemswhileperformingothertasks.
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CheckforFragmentaRon
ChoosetheCheckforFragmentaRonop4ontogetinforma4onabouttheamountoffragmenta4onandwhichfilesarefragmentedontheselecteddiskvolumewithoutrepairingit.Thisop4onwillNOTmodifyyourvolumeinanyway.Whileacheckisinprogress,youmayclicktheCancelbuJontostoptherunatany4me.
DefragmentAllFiles
ChoosetheDefragmentAllFilesop4ontostartadefragmenta4onrun.YoucanclicktheCancelbuJonatany4me.
A+ertheDefragmentAllFileshascompleted,allfilesthatwereunabletobedefragmentedwillbedisplayedintheboJom‐le+listbox,alongwiththeassociatederrorcode.Youcanlookupanerrorcodedescrip4onbyselec4ng“CommonMacOSErrorCodesTable”inthemainHelpmenu.
Note:Notallfilescanbedefragmented.Some“FilesNotDefragmented”canbecorrectable,suchaswhenthefragmentedfileiscurrentlyinusebyanotherprogram.Tofixthisproblem,quitallapplica4onswhichmayhaveopenfiles.Also,ifyouaredefragmen4ngfilesonyourboot(startup)volume,theremaybeasmallnumberoffilesthatcannotbedefragmentedbecausetheyareinusebyyouropera4ngsystem.Inthiscase,youcaneitherignorethesefewfiles,orruntheSpeedToolsU4li4esonyourbootvolumefromaseparateharddisk.Alterna4vely,ifyouhaveavolumewhichcontainsadozenormorefileswhichwerenotdefragmented,considerrestar4ngyourMacintoshandrunningSpeedToolsU4li4esimmediatelya+ertherestart(andbeforerunningotherapplica4ons)tominimizetheamountofopenfiles.
Inaddi4on,youcanscheduleDefragmentFilestorunatany4meusingtheScheduleop4oninthemainSpeedToolsU4li4estoolbar.Formoreinforma4ononthis,readtheScheduleanAutomatedTasksec4onofthismanual.
ViewingResultsintheRepairandMaintenanceLog
Each4meavolumeischeckedforfragmenta4onordefragmented,informa4onaboutthatopera4onisstoredinalogfile.ToviewtheDefragmentFileslogfile,gotoRepairandMaintenanceLoginthemaintaskmenu.Thelogfile4tlewillincludeeitherCheckFileFragmentaRonorDefragmentAllFiles,alongwiththedateand4methetaskwasrun.
CommonQuesRonsaboutDefragmenRngaVolume
Q.CanIDefragmentaMacOS9volumeinMacOSX?A.Yes,providedthevolumehasbeensetupwithaMacOSExtendedHFS(plus)format.
Q.CanIDefragmentMyBootVolume?A.Yes,butanyfragmentedfileswhichareinusebytheopera4ngsystemorotherapplica4onswillbeskipped(thisusuallyonlyamountstoahandfuloffilesthough).
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TestDataTransferIntegrity
TestDataTransferIntegrityisdesignedtodetectproblemsassociatedwithdiskfirmware,datacablesignalqualityandtheoveralldatatransferringreliabilityofvariousstoragedevicesandthebussestowhichtheyareconnected.
Thistestexclusivelylooksfordatacorrup4onwhiletransferringdatatoandfromyourdisk.Todotothis,SpeedToolsU4li4escreatesatestfile.ItthenwritesarevolvingdatapaJerntoyourdiskandreadsitbackin,each4mecomparingthedatapaJerntotheoriginal.And,itdoesitallasfastasyourdiskanditsinterfacecanhandle.Thistestisbasicallya"stresstest"foryourharddiskdriveanditsinterface.Addi4onally,thetestisextremelysafesinceallofitstestsareperformedtoatemporarytestfile,leavingyourexis4ngdatacompletelyuntouched.
WhydoIneedtorunDataTransferIntegritytests?
ADataTransferIntegrityTesteffec4velyreproducestheenvironmentandstepsthatotherapplica4onsusetosaveandretrievedatafromyourdiskdevice(s).Inotherwords,eachtestitera4onverifiesthereliabilityofeverythinginvolvedwithadatatransferprocessincludingvariousfunc4onsoftheopera4ngsystemitself,anapplica4on'sabilitytosaveandretrievedatathroughtheopera4ngsystem,thediskdevicedriver,thebusthatthediskdeviceisconnectedto,thediskdevicedatacable,thefirmwareofthediskdeviceandthediskdevicecache.
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TestSize
Theselec4onsinthismenurepresentthesizeofthefiletobecreatedandisusedforthereadingandwri4ngtests.Testsizesfrom1MBto10MBareavailabletochoosefrom.Formostpeople,a1MBsizeisusuallysufficienttodetectanyproblems.However,largersizesareavailableforthosewhowishtotestdatatransfersthatbeJersimulatedatatransfersusedbysomespecial‐purposeapplica4ons.
DuraRon
Theselec4onsinthismenurepresenttheamountof4methetestwillrunforbeforestopping.
Status
TheStatusareashowsdetailedinforma4onregardingthecurrentrunningtest.ThetestStatusinforma4onfieldsaredescribedbelow:
• HexBytePa_ern–AtextualsampleofthecreateddatapaJernwhichiscurrentlybeingwriJenandreadduringatestitera4on.
•MBTransferred–ThecombinedamountofdatawhichiswriJentoandreadbackinfromthestoragedevice.ItisdisplayedinMegabytes(MB).
• Sum–The“check‐sum”usedtoverifytheintegrityofthedata.
• RunTime–TheRunTimedisplaywillmonitortheamountoftes4ng4methathaselapsedduringatestsession.
• ErrorsFound–ThisfieldrepresentseachinstancethatthereturningdatadidnotmatchthetestpaJerndatawhichwasoriginallywriJen.
I/OMonitor
ThisareaoftheTestDataTransferIntegritywindowvisuallydisplaystheoverallperformanceofyourharddiskwhiletheintegritytestisbeingperformed.
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StarRngaDataTransferIntegrityTest
Onceyouhaveselectedyourtestsizeanddura4on,clicktheStartbuJontobeginthetest.Youcanstopthetestatany4mebyclickingtheCancelbuJon.
ViewingResultsintheRepairandMaintenanceLog
Each4meyoucompleteatestfordatatransferintegrity,informa4onaboutthatopera4onisretainedinalogfile.Toviewthelogfile,gotoRepairandMaintenanceLoginthemaintaskmenu.Thelogfile4tlewillincludeTestDataTransferIntegrity,alongwiththedateand4methetaskwasrun.
VerifyandRepairVolume
VerifyandRepairVolumecanhelpgetyourcomputerworkingsmoothlyagainifyoubegintoexperienceproblemsrunningyoursystem.Theseproblemsinclude:applica4onsquirngunexpectedly,filesnotopening,externaldevicesnotworkingproperly,oryourcomputerfailingtostartupfortheselectedbootdisk.
Tobegin,makesureotherapplica4onsandfilesareclosedandthenselectavolumefromtheSelectedVolumepaneonthele+.ThenclicktheVerifybuJon.
VerifyVolume
TheVerifyVolume(Filesystem)op4onwillexamineyourselectedvolume’sdirectorystructureforerrors.Ifyouarescanningyourboot(startup)volume,youmayexperienceperiodsoftotalsystemunresponsiveness.Thisisnormal.Justmakesurethatyouarenotrunninganyotherapplica4ons,orworkingwithotherfiles,whileSpeedToolsU4li4esscansthevolume.
Whilethescanruns,youwillseeeachitemthatischeckedintheresultswindow.Oncethescancompletes,thiswindowwilldisplayamessagetellingyouiftheselectedvolumeappearstobeOKornot,andthatVerifyisfinished.
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Ifaproblemisfound,SpeedToolsU4li4eswillrecommendarepairbedone.MakesurethevolumeremainsselectedintheSelectedVolumepaneandthenclicktheRepairbuJon.
RepairVolume
TheRepairVolume(Filesystems)op4onwillverifyanyerrorsonceagainandthenaJempttorepairthemiffound.
Oncetherepairprocesscompletes,theresultslistwilltellyouthattheRepairisfinished.
Ifyouhavebeenexperiencingmajorproblemswithyourcomputer,itisrecommendedyoucon4nuetoruntheVerifyandRepairVolumeop4onsun4lnofurthererrorsarefound.
CommonQuesRonsaboutRepairingaVolume
Q.DoesVerifyandRepairVolumealsorepairanyphysicalmediadefects?
A.No.ToscanforanymediaerrorsyouwillneedtorunScanandRepairBadSectors.
Q.WhyistheRepairVolumeopRondisabledformyselectedvolume?
A.RepairrequirestheselectedvolumebewritableanditmustbeMacOSExtended(HFSPlus)formaJed.Addi4onally,thevolumemustbeunmountedduringtherepairsequence,thus,youcannotrepairastartupvolumewhileyouarebootedfromit.Torepairyourboot(startup)volume,youwillneedtobootfromanotherharddiskwhichhasaMacOSinstalla4onandrunSpeedToolsU4li4es.Or,youcanbootfromyourMacOSXInstallCDandrunApple’sDiskU4lityprogram(FirstAidop4on).
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Q.HowdoIuseApple’sDiskURlitytorepairmyboot(startup)volume?
A.ToperformbasicrepairusingApple’sDiskU4lity,followthesesteps:
1.InsertyourMacOSXInstalldiscintoyourcomputer
2.Start(orrestart)yourMacwhileholdingdowntheCkey
3.WaitfortheInstallertoboot
4.ChooseOpenDiskURlityfromtheInstallerapplica4onmenu
5.OnceDiskURlityopens,selectadisk(defaultonmostcomputersis“MacintoshHD”)and
thenmakesuretheFirstAidtabisselected.
YoushouldthenbeabletoVerifyDiskand/orRepairthevolume.Formoreinforma4ononthese,aswellasotherDiskU4lityfeatures,pleaserefertotheHelpguideintheDiskU4lityHelpmenu.
AnalyzeCapacityUsage
SpeedToolsU4li4esprovidesahandytooltoquicklyseewhatkindoffilesaretakingupthemostspaceonyourMac.Thisallowsyoutoeasilylocateanylargefilesyoudon’tuseonaregularbasisandarchiveorbackthemuptoaCD/DVDorotherstoragedevice.Doingthiswillfreeupaddi4onalharddiskspaceforotherfilesandapplica4onsyouworkwithmoreo+en.
Tobegin,firstselectavolumefromtheVolumeListonthele+sideofthemainwindow.Next,clicktheUpdatebuJon.Thescanmaytakesome4medependingonthesizeofyoursystemandhowmanyfilesyouhave,sopleasebepa4ent.
Onceascancompletes,youhavetwoviewingop4onsavailable:
ShowUsagebyFileType–Thiswilldisplaywhatfiletypesaretakingupthemostspaceonyourselectedvolume(forexample,whatpercentageofyourdiskdriveisoccupiedbyphotoormoviefiles).
ShowLargestFiles–A+erscanningtheselectedvolume,SpeedToolsU4li4eswilldisplaythelargestsizedindividualfilesbasedonwhatyouenterintothetextbox.Bydefault,thelargest100fileswillbeshown,butyoucanchangethisfromanynumberbetween1and1000.
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FilesdisplayedintheresultslistwhileinShowLargestmodecanbeopenedtotheirloca4onwithasimpledouble‐click,andyoucanthenremoveorarchiveanynon‐essen4alfilesinordertorecoverspaceonyourMac.
YoucansortthecolumnsbyclickingonthecolumnheadersRank,File,Owner,FileSize,or(%ofUsed).
Note:DonotremoveanyfilesyouarenotfamiliarwithoryoususpectisacriRcalfileneededbyyouroperaRngsystemorapplicaRonsthatyouuse.OnlyremovefilesyouknowwillnotharmyourMac.AgoodruleofthumbistonotremoveanyfilesthathavetheOwner“root”.
Backup/RestoreVolume
Backup/RestoreVolumecanbeusedtomakeacopyofasinglevolumeorspecificfilesandfoldersasneeded.IfyoubackupavolumeasaDiskImagefile,youcanalsorestoreavolumefromthediskimageusingSpeedToolsU4li4es.
Therearethreemainop4onspresentedas“tabs”whenusingBackup/RestoreVolume:
BackupVolume
UseBackupVolumetocopytheen4reselectedsourcevolume’scontentstoeitheraNewDiskImageFile,orOtherDiskVolume.
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BackinguptoNewDiskImageFileprovidestwoadvantages:First,youcanbackupmul4plevolumestoasingledes4na4onwithoutfearofcopyingoverfileswiththesamenamewhichmayalreadybeonthedes4na4on.Thisisbecausetheen4rebackupwillbecontainedinasingle,restorablefile.Second,thediskimagefileiscompressedandtherefore,willtakeuplessspaceonthedes4na4on.However,youcan’tbootfromadiskimagefileifyourprimarybootvolumebecomesdamagedorincapableofboo4ng.Toturnadiskimagefilebackintoaharddiskthatisbootable,youwillneedtorestoreit(SeeRestoreFromDiskImagelaterinthissec4on).Ifyouneedtogetspecificfilesfromadiskimage,youcanmountitbydouble‐clickingthediskimagefile itself.Doingthiswillmountthediskimageonyourdesktopjustlikeanormalharddisk.
BackinguptoOtherDiskVolumeprovidestheabilitytobootyourcomputerifyourprimarybootvolumefails.Whenfinished,theOtherDiskVolumewillhaveexactlythesamefileandfoldercontentsoftheselected“Source”volume.However,youshouldnotbackupmul4plevolumesofdatatoasingledes4na4on.Otherwise,youwillruntheriskofreplacingsimilarlynamefilesandfolders.Withthismethod,youcanalsochoosetoEraseDesRnaRon(cleanoffthevolumeyouare backinguptopriortosavingyournewbackuptoensureanexactcopy).IfyouchooseNOTtoEraseDesRnaRon,itemswhichhaveauniquenamewhicharealreadyonthedes4na4onvolumewillremain.
Whenready,clicktheBackupbuJontobegin.
ArchiveSelectedItems
UseArchiveSelectedItemstobackupimportantfilesandfolderstoacompressedZIParchivefile.Unlikecrea4ngZipfilesusingtheFinder,youcaneasilyadditemsfrommul4plefolderloca4onsandfromanywhereontheselectedvolume.Addi4onally,youcanselectaspecificdes4na4onforthearchivefile.Ifyoumakeamistake,clicktheRemovebuJontoremovetheselecteditemorclicktheClearbuJontoremoveallitemsfromthelist.ThenchooseaDesRnaRontosaveyourbackupto.
Note:ArchiveSelectedItemsdoesNOTremovetheoriginalitems.
Whenready,clicktheBackupbuJontobegin.
RestoreFromDiskImage
Usethisop4ontoreplacethecontentsoftheDes4na4onvolumewiththecontentsofapreviouslysavedDiskImagefile.Torestoreyourboot(startup)volumefromaDiskImagefileyouwilleitherneedtobootfromanotherharddiskandrunSpeedToolsU4li4es,orbootfromyourMacOSInstalldiscanduseApple’sDiskU4litytorestoreyourharddisk.
A+erselec4ngaDiskImagefile,clicktheRestorebuJontobeginrestora4onofthevolume.
Inaddi4on,youcanschedulebackupstorunatany4meusingtheScheduleop4oninthemainSpeedToolsU4li4estoolbar.Formoreinforma4ononthis,readtheScheduleanAutomatedTasksec4onofthismanual.
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FindandRepairBrokenAliases
Analiasisasmallfilethatessen4ally“points”toanotherfile,applica4on,folder,removablemedium,printerorotheritemonyourMac.Double‐clickingonanaliasactsinthesamewayasifyoudoubleclickedtheoriginalfile:itopensit.
MacOSXsupportsbothaliasfilesandUnixsymboliclinkfiles.Asymboliclinkisbasicallyasimplis4cformofanaliasfile.Asymboliclinkstoresapath(orrela4vepath)totheoriginalfile,whilealiasfilesstorepathsandaddi4onalinforma4onabouttheoriginalfile.O+en,thisaddi4onalinforma4oncanhelpanaliasfindtheoriginalfile‐evenifithasbeenmovedtoanotherloca4ononyourharddisk.
Some4mes,aliasfilesandsymboliclinkfilesbecomebrokenandlosetheirabilitytofindtheoriginalfile.SpeedToolsU4li4escanquicklyscanforbrokenaliasandsymboliclinkfiles,andhelpyourepairthemifneeded.
Tobeginfindingbrokenaliasfiles,firstselectavolumefromtheVolumeListonthele+sideofthemainwindow.
Youhavetwoop4onsforscanning,andcanselectbothop4onsifdesired.
• FindBrokenAliasFiles–Selectthisop4onifyouwanttofindbroken“Apple‐style”aliasesontheselectedvolume.
• FindBrokenSymbolicLinkFiles–Selectthisop4onifyouwanttofindbroken“Unix‐style”aliasesontheselectedvolume.
ClicktheFindbuJonwhenyouarereadytobeginthescan.
ArunningprogressisdisplayedasSpeedToolsU4li4essearchesyourselecteddiskvolumeforbrokenaliasesand/orsymboliclinks(dependingonwhatop4onsyouselectedatthetop).
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Oncethescancompletes,alistofunresolvedaliasfilesand/orSymboliclinkfileswillbeshown.Witheachitem,anaJemptwillbemadetogetanddisplayinforma4onabouttheoriginal(target)itemthatthealiasorsymboliclinkfileoncepointedto.Inmanycases,youcanyouusethisinforma4ontohelptrackdowntheoriginalitemifyouwishtorepairthebrokenaliasfile.
Oncethelistisdisplayed,theLinkTargetcolumnwillbeginwitheitherofthefollowingtwostatements:
1) Unfoundtarget–Thisindicatesthatthevolumethealiasoncepointedtowasfound butthetargetfileorfolderwasnot.Inotherwords,thelinkisbroken.
2) UncheckedlocaRon–Thisindicatesthatthetargetfileorfolderresidesonavolume thatisnotcurrentlypresentonyoursystem.Therefore,thetargetcouldnotbechecked forvalidity.Thisdoesnotmeanthatthealiasisbroken,itjustsimplycouldnotbe checked.
Inaddi4ontorepairingbrokenaliasfiles,SpeedToolsU4li4esprovidestheabilitytodeletethefilesorleavethemunchanged.
RepairAliasOpRons
• RepairAlias–SelectafilefromtheresultswindowandclicktheRepairAliasbuJon.Abrowserwindowwillopenthatallowsyoutoselectanewaliastarget.Thismeansyoujustmanuallyselectwhichitemonyoursystemyouwantthebrokenaliastoopen.
• DeleteSelected–SelectafilefromtheresultswindowandclicktheDeleteSelectedbuJon.Thiswillaskforaconfirma4onfromyoubeforeyouremovethisaliasfromyoursystempermanently.Youshouldonlydeletealiasfilesthatyouarefamiliarwith;beverycarefuldele4ngsystemaliasfiles.Youcanalsosavesome4mebyselec4ngmorethanonefileintheresultswindowanddeleteallatonce.
Toseewhereaselectedbrokenaliasislocated,clicktheShowinFinderbuJon.
Note:Some4mesfilescannotbeautoma4callyshownintheFinder,suchaswhenafileislocatedinafolderthatyouruseraccountdoesnothaveaccessto.IfyouclickontheShowinFinderbuJonandthefiledoesnotappearintheFinder,youcanhoveryourmouseoverthelistitemtoshowtheitem’sfullpathasaHelpTag.
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VolumeOpRonsandSefngs
Thissec4onincludesop4onstoconfigureanalertwhenavolume’sfreespaceisbecominglowanda“HideVolume”serngwhichcanhelpshieldyourprivatedatafromotherpeoplewhomayuseyourcomputer.
HidethisVolumefromFinder
Thisop4onallowsyoutopreventthevolumefrombeingdisplayedinFinderwindows,onyourDesktopandinFileDialogs,whilecon4nuingtoallowaccesstoapplica4ons.
Inotherwords,thevolumeiss4llthereandaccessible,youjustcan’tseeit.Youcanusethisfeaturetopreventthevolume’sdatafrombeingeasilyviewedbyothers,suchasbychildrenusingyourcomputer.Addi4onally,thisfeatureisgreatforbackupvolumesthatyoudon’twantcluJeringupyourdesktopand/oraccidentallymodifyingwhiles4llprovidingaccesstobackupapplica4onslikeSpeedToolsU4li4es.
Note:Hidingavolumeusingthisfeatureisnotasecurewaytorestrictaccesstoavolumefromothers.Ifasecurelevelofrestrictedaccessisdesired,considerpurchasingacommercialvolumeencryp4onu4lityoruseApple’sFileVault.
Note:Hidingavolume“follows”thevolume.Thatis,ifyouhideaUSBorFireWirevolumeonyourcomputerandthenmovethedevicetoanothercomputer,thevolumewillremainhiddenonthenewcomputerun4litiseitherreformaJed,erasedortheHideVolumefeatureisunselectedusingSpeedToolsU4li4es.
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Note:Thisop4onisnotavailableinMacOSX10.3.x.
Youcannotusethisop4ononyourboot(startup)volume,butyoucanuseitonallotherMacOSExtended(HFSplus)formaJedvolumes/devicesconnectedtoyourcomputer.Tounhideavolume,simplyuncheckthecheckboxwhilethehiddenvolumeisselectedintheVolumeList.
AlertMeWhenaVolume’sFreeSpaceBecomesLow
Thisop4onallowsyoutobewarnedwithanon‐screenmessagewindowifavolume’sfreespacefallsbelowalevelthatiscomfortableforyou.Addi4onally,youcanchoosehowo+entheselectedvolume’sfreespaceischecked.Agraphofthevolume’scurrentused/freespaceisprovidedtohelpyoumakeyourchoices.Ifyouwish,eachofyourvolumesmayhaveanindividualFreeSpaceAlertserngandcheck4me.
S.M.A.R.T.DiagnosRcs
Anythingmechanicalhasreliabilityissues,includingdiskdrives.Theactualdutycyclestheycanwithstandareunknown.Allyoucanknowforsureisthateverydiskdrivewillfailatsome4me.Somemayfailbeforetheires4matedlifespan,whileothersmaycon4nuerunningyearsbeyondwhatanyonewouldexpect.
HowapersonusestheirMaccanalsomakeadifference.Forexample,asystemsengineerdoingintensiveworkontheircomputereverydaymayreducethelifespanoftheirharddiskmorequicklythanacasualuserwhoonlylogsonacouplehoursadaytobrowsetheInternetandrespondtoemail.
So,whatcanyoudoaboutit?
Sinceafaileddiskdrivecannoto+enberepaired,itisimportanttosavethedataonadrivebypredic4nganimpendingfailurebeforeithappens.Thiscanallowyoumore4metosaveorbackupthedatabeforethedrivefullyfails,whichcanbewithinminutesoruptoseveraldaysorevenweeks.
ThisiswhereS.M.A.R.T.DiagnosRcscomesin.S.M.A.R.T.standsforSelf‐MonitoringAnalysisandRepor4ngTechnology.Thisallowsdiskdrivestomonitoraspectsoftheirownhealthandstatusandreportthemtoyouusingso+warelikeSpeedToolsU4li4es.
Today’sS.M.A.R.T.representstheculmina4onoftheeffortofthemajordiskdrivemanufacturerstoaddressoneofthegreatestdrawbacksofmodernharddiskdrivestoragetechnology:hardwarefailureresul4nginpar4alortotaldataloss.Beawarethattherearetwokindsofhardwarefailure:predictableandnon‐predictable.Luckily,manyfailuresarepredictablebecausetheyaretheresultofagradualdeclineinthereliabilityofadriveover4me.Thisprogressivedegrada4onofreliabilitycanusuallybedetectedbythedriveitselfandimpendingfailurecanbepredictedBEFOREcatastrophicdatalossoccurs.
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TheSpeedToolsS.M.A.R.T.DiagnosRcstaskisacompleteharddiskdrivediagnos4cu4litywithpowerfulandintelligentreport‐viewingandearlywarningcapability.
SpeedToolsU4li4esalsoprovidesapre‐failurealarmwhichvigilantlykeepswatchoveryourdrivesandalertsyouatthefirstsignoftrouble,bothlocallyand/orremotely.Thinkofitasanearlywarningsystemforyourdiskdriveswhichwill,inmanycases,providevaluablewarning4metobackupyourcri4caldataBEFOREcatastrophicdrivefailureoccurs!SeeConfiguringSMARTAlertformoreinforma4onaboutautoma4cS.M.A.R.T.monitoringandno4fica4ons.
TheS.M.A.R.T.DiagnosRcsWindow
YoucanviewcurrentS.M.A.R.T.reportinforma4onfortheselecteddiskdrivebyselec4ngtheS.M.A.R.T.DiagnosRcsitemintheMainTaskMenu.
NOTE:Notalldiskdevicesand/orinterfacessupportS.M.A.R.T.diagnosRcs.Currently,theMacintoshanditsdriverssupportS.M.A.R.T.onATAandSATAdevicesexclusively.S.M.A.R.T.capabilityonFireWireandUSBinterfacesisNOTsupported.
Fromhereyoucanseethedateand4meS.M.A.R.T.Diagnos4cswaslastrun(LastUpdated),andthestatusofthatcheck(LastStatus).IftheLastStatusdisplaysagreencirclenextto“Verified”thentherearecurrentlynothresholdsexceededfortheselecteddevice.Ifawarningisdisplayed,findoutwhatisfailingfromtheresultswindowbylookingatthestatusforeachitem.
TocheckS.M.A.R.T.Diagnos4csmanually,clicktheCheckbuJon.Theresultsshoulddisplaynearlyinstantly.
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ImportantNoteaboutA_ributesandtheirThresholds
Drivemanufacturesusetheterm“threshold”todenoteareliabilityboundaryforanygivenS.M.A.R.T.“aJribute”.S.M.A.R.T.aJributesdeemedworthyofmonitoringiswhollyuptothemanufacturerofthedrive.TherearetwotypesofaJributes:“Pre‐Failure”and“LifeSpan”.
ALifeSpanaJributethathasexceededthemanufacturer’sthresholdboundaryisnotconsideredtobeanimpendingfailureforagivendevice.However,thiscondi4onshouldnotbetakenlightly.Thiscondi4onmeansthatagivencomponentofyourharddiskisnowrunningbeyondthemanufacturersexpectedlifeexpectancy.Eventhoughthiscondi4ondoesnotdirectlycons4tuteafailure,forsafetywebelievethatyoushouldreplacethedevice.
APre‐FailureaJributethathasexceededthemanufacturer’sthresholdboundaryisanimmediatepredic4onofdevicefailure.Assuch,youshouldbackupthedatacontainedonthedevicetoanotherdeviceandreplaceitimmediately.Tobeclear,4meiscri4calhere,youmaynothavemuch4mebetweenfailurepredic4onandactualfailure!
AutomaRcS.M.A.R.T.MonitoringwithS.M.A.R.T.Alert
SpeedToolsmakesiteasytonotworryaboutconstantlycheckingtheS.M.A.R.T.statusofyourconnecteddevices.UsetheSMARTAlertop4onintheMainToolbartoautoma4callyrunregularS.M.A.R.T.statuschecksandno4fyyouwithanalertand/oremailifafailureisabouttooccur.
TheS.M.A.R.T.AlertfeatureisonlyavailableinProversionsofthisso+ware.
CheckS.M.A.R.T.Status
Bydefault,theCheckS.M.A.R.T.Statuspopupmenuhas“DoNotAutoma4callyCheckS.M.A.R.T.Status”selected.Tochangethis,choosefromanyoftheop4onsshowninthepopupmenu.Ifyoursystemisrela4velynew,youwillprobablybefinechecking“OnceatUserLoginandEvery12HoursA+er”,whichwillrunaS.M.A.R.T.checktwiceaday.Ifyouareusingacomputerthatisseveralyearsold,itmaybeagoodideatoselectanop4onthatchecksS.M.A.R.T.statusmorefrequentlythroughouttheday(atleasteveryhour).
Ifyouarerunningonalaptop,youcanchoosetodisabletheS.M.A.R.T.checkinordertoconserve baJerystrength.Todothis,checkthe“Donotautoma4callycheckwhenrunningonbaJerypower”op4on.OnceyourlaptopispluggedbackintoACpower,theS.M.A.R.T.checkwillcon4nuebasedontheCheckS.M.A.R.T.Statuspopupmenuselec4on.
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Note:Ifyourdeviceisabouttofailthereisnowaytodeterminewhenitwillbecomeunusable.Thiscouldbewithinminutes,ormaylastoutforseveralmoredaysorweeks.Thealertand/oremailno4fica4onmaygiveyouenoughwarning4metosavecri4calfilesorbackupyoursystembeforeitfails.
S.M.A.R.T.FailureNoRficaRonOpRons
Therearethreewaysofbeingno4fiedofaS.M.A.R.T.failure:showcurrentS.M.A.R.T.statusinastatusmenu,openanalertmessage,and/oremailanalert.Youmaychoosejustoneop4onoranycombina4on.
ShowSMARTAlertStatusMenu–DisplaysS.M.A.R.T.Statusinyourmainsystemmenubar(shownbelow).AlsoshownisaniconkeyofthevariousSMARTstatusindicators.Checkthisboxtoac4vatethismonitoringandno4fica4onmethod.
PostAlertMessage–Willdisplayanalertmessageonyourscreenwhenadriveisabouttofail.Checktheboxtoac4vatethisno4fica4onmethod.Youcanalsoclickthe“ShowTestWarningMessage”buJontoviewasamplealertno4fica4on.
SendAlertEmail–Sendsanemailno4fica4ontoyouwhenadriveisabouttofail.Checkthisboxtoac4vatethisno4fica4onmethod,butyouwillalsoneedtoenterinforma4onintotherequiredfieldsthatbecomeac4vewiththisop4on.Theseinclude:
• OutgoingMailServer(theoutgoingSMTPmailserver;ifusingAppleMailyoucanfindthisintheAccountssec4onofPreferences)
•MailFromAddress(thisistheemailaddresssetupundertheoutgoingmailserveryouareusing)
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•MailToAddress(thisshouldbetheemailaddressyoucheckmosto+en)
•MailSubject(don’tchange,unlessyouthinkadifferentmessagewouldbemoreno4ceabletoyou)
Enteranemailaddressintothe“CCMailToAddress”ifyouhaveasecondemailaddressthatyouwanttheno4fica4ontobesentto.
AdvancedOpRons–Theseop4onsshouldnotbechangedunlessyouknowchangesarerequired.ThiscanincludeadifferentServerPort(25isthedefaultformostoutgoingservers,but587alsoworkswellfor.macandMobileMeaccounts),andwhetherornotyouroutgoingserverrequiresauthen4ca4ontosendanemail.Ifauthen4ca4onisrequired,checkthe“UseAuthen4ca4on”boxandaddyourUserNameandPassword.
Ifyouwouldliketobeno4fiedbyemail,itisstronglyrecommendedthatyousendatleastonetestemailtomakesurethatyourserngsareworking.Theemailwarningfunc4ondependsoncertainInternetconfigura4onvaluestobesetcorrectly.Theonlysurewaytovalidatetheemailwarningfunc4onalityistoactuallysendatestmessage.
Note:Ifyouareunsureofthesesefngs,youcancontactyourInternetServiceProvidertofindoutwhattheoutgoingmailserverisnamed,iftheysuggestadifferentport,andwhatyourUserNameandPasswordareifauthenRcaRonisrequired.
OnceyourS.M.A.R.T.AlertNo4fica4onSerngsarecomplete,clicktheOKbuJontosaveyourserngsandclosethewindow.ClicktheCancelbuJontoclosethewindowwithoutsavinganychanges.
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PreferenceFileInspector
PreferencefilesandotherPropertyListformaJed(.plist)filesareusedbyyourSystemandapplica4onstostoreserngsandotherimportantinforma4on.Informa4oninthesetextfilesarestoredusingtheExtensibleMarkupLanguage(aka:“XML”)format,whichfollowsastructured“key‐value”layoutsystem.IftheXMLstructureisbroken,thefileisdamaged.Thisistrueevenifthefileisreadablebyanotherapplica4on,suchasatexteditor.Whenthestructureisbroken,applica4onswhichrelyonthestructureforreadingthedatacancrashorbehaveunpredictably.
StarRnganInspecRon
ThePreferenceFileInspectorfeatureprovidesaquickwaytofinddamagedpreferencefilescontainedanywhereontheselectedvolume(includingtheSystemFolder)orinaspecificfolder,suchasaUser’sFolder.Toselectaspecificfolder,clicktheInspectPreferenceFilesinFolderop4on.Next,clickthe“Choose...”buJontoselectyourfolderofchoice.
Tobeginaninspec4on,clicktheInspectbuJonattheboJom‐rightofthemainwindow.A+eraninspec4onhasstarted,theInspectbuJonwillchangetoaCancelbuJon,allowingyoutostoptheinspec4onatany4me.
Note:Beforeremovingoreditinganyfileusingthissoftware,itisstronglyrecommendthatyoubackupallofyourimportantdatafirst.
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Ifoneormoredamagedfilesarefound,youhaveafewoptionstoresolvetheproblem:
1) Youcanreplacethedamagedfilefromabackup.Todothis,double‐clickonthefileintheDamagedPreferenceFilelist.ThiswillrevealthedamagedfileintheFinder.Next,locatethebackupversionanddragitoverthedamagedfile’siconintheFinder.ThiswillusuallyprompttheFindertoaskyouifit’salrighttoreplacethefile.Note:Itmayalsobenecessarytoprovideyouradministrator’spasswordtoreplacethefile.
2) Youcandeletethefilebyclickingthe“RemoveSelected...”button.Thisactionwillusuallycausetheapplicationwhichcreatedthefiletocreateanew“default”file.Note:Thisoptionmaycausetheparentapplicationtorequestnewinformationfromyousuchasaserialnumberthenexttimethatyoulaunchit.Additionally,theapplicationmaynotremembercertaincustompreferencesthatyoupreviouslytoldittoretain.
3) YoucanopenthefileusingApple’sTextEditapplicationbyclickingthe“OpenSelectedFile...”button.Thisactionwillallowyoutoviewand/oreditthefile.IfyouarefamiliarwiththeXMLformat,youmaybeabletorepairthemissingordamagedstructurewithouthavingtoremovethefile.Tohelpyouwiththisoption,clickthe“ShowProblem”checkbox.Thiswillrevealanarea,belowtheDamagedPreferencefilelist,whichcandirectyoutotheoffendingstructure.
4) Youcanuseacombinationofthepreviousoptions:Youcould,forexample,openthefileusingthe“OpenSelectedFile...”button.AfterthefileisopenedinApple’sTextEdit,saveacopytoyourdesktop.Then,deletetheoriginalfileusingthe“RemoveSelected...”button.Often,informationstoredinpreferencefileswillbereadabletoyou.Asaresult,youmaybeabletousetheopenedcopytohelprestoresomeorallofthesettingswhileyouruntheassociatedapplication.
AbouttheXML/PropertyList(.plist)Format
ApplehasprovidedseveraldocumentsontheuseofthisformatwithMacOSXontheirwebsiteandwiththeiropera4ngsystem.Fromtheplistmanpage:
“PropertylistsareconstructedfromthebasicCoreFounda4ontypesCFString,CFNumber,CFBoolean,CFDate,andCFData.Tobuildacomplexdatastructureoutofthesebasictypes,youputtheminsideaCFDic4onaryorCFArray.Tosimplifyprogrammingwithpropertylists,anyofthepropertylisttypescanalsobereferredtousingareferenceoftypeCFPropertyListRef.
InaCFDic4onary,dataisstructuredaskey‐valuepairs,whereeachkeyisastringandthekey'svaluecanbeaCFString,aCFNumber,aCFBoolean,aCFDate,aCFData,aCFArray,oranotherCFDic4onary.WhenusingCFDic4onaryasapropertylist,allkeysmustbestrings.
InaCFArray,dataisstructuredasanorderedcollec4onofobjectsthatcanbeaccessedbyindex.Inapropertylist,aCFArraycancontainanyofthebasicpropertylisttypes,aswellasCFDic4onaryandotherCFArrayobjects.”
Formoreinforma4ononPropertyLists,seeApple’sonlinedocumenta4onat:hJp://developer.apple.com/mac/library/documenta4on/CoreFounda4on/Conceptual/CFPropertyLists/CFPropertyLists.html
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Device/VolumeInformaRon
Usethisfeaturetoviewdetailedinforma4onabouttheselectedvolumeanditsparentdevice.
Tobegin,firstselectavolumefromtheVolumeListonthele+sideofthemainwindow.Youwillseetwoop4onsavailabletoyou:VolumeInformaRonorDeviceInformaRon.
VolumeInformaRon
Viewinginforma4onaboutyourvolumesisagoodwaytofurtherdis4nguishbetweentwoormorevolumeswhichmaylooksimilarintheSelectedVolumepane.Otherinforma4ondisplayedhereincludesthenumberoffilesandfolderscontainedontheselectedvolume,andthedatethevolumewaslastformaJed/erased(seeCrea4onDate),forexample.
DeviceInformaRon
TheDeviceInforma4onop4onprovidesinteres4nginforma4onaboutthecapabili4esoftheselectedvolume’sparentdevice.Thisincludesinforma4ononthemediacapacity,whetheritisS.M.A.R.T.compa4ble,theserialnumber,firmwarerevision,productname,andmountablevolumes,amongotherthings.
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RepairandMaintenanceLog
TheRepairandMaintenanceLogallowsyoutoquicklyviewanyrepair,maintenanceandtaskresultperformedbytheSpeedToolsU4li4esso+ware.SimplyselectavolumefromtheSelectedVolumepaneonthele+toviewanyrelatedlogentries.
Youcansortthelogentriesby“NewestEntryLast”(descending)or“NewestEntryFirst”(ascending).ThetotalnumberofLogEntriesisshownattherightoftheSortop4ons.
Eachlogentrywillincludea“Successindicator”(GreenLEDforsuccessorRedLEDforfailure),ataskdescrip4on,thedateand4methetaskwasrun,andsomeaddi4onalsummarydetailsfortheresultsofthetask,whichcanbeseenbyclickingthedisclosuretriangleofthelogentryyouwanttoview.
Youmayalsoexpandorcollapsealllogentryitemsallatonce.Todothis,holddowntheOpRonkeyonyourkeyboardwhileclickinganydisclosuretrianglenexttoalogentry.
UsetheExport...buJontosaveyourloginfotoanRTFcompa4bletextfile.Thefilewillbesavedwiththedisclosuretrianglesopenedorclosedexactlyasyouhavethemonscreen.
Toremovealllogentriesforaselectedvolume,clicktheClearbuJonandconfirmtheremovalofthelogentries.
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SchedulinganAutomatedTask
Tostart,clicktheSchedulebuJonintheSpeedToolsU4li4esMainToolbar.WhentheSchedulewindowopensyouwillseeanemptyScheduledTasklist.Youwillalsoseethreeop4ons atthetopofthewindow:
AddNew–AddsanewScheduledTask.ChoosebetweenBackupVolume,BackupFolder,RepairBadSectorsandDefragmentFiles.
EditTime–Allowsyoutoeditthescheduled4mefortheanexis4ngScheduledTask.Youcanchoosebetweenhavingthetaskrepeat,havingthetaskoccuronlyonce,changethe4me/day/month,andwhetherornottoputyoursystemtosleeporshutitdowna+er
thetaskcompletes.YoucanalsoopentheEditTimeop4onsbydoubleclickingonataskintheScheduledTasklist.
Remove–RemovestheselectedtaskfromtheScheduledTasklist.Thiswillautoma4callystopthetaskfromrunning(although,ifascheduledtaskisalreadyrunning,itwillnotstopthecurrentprocess…onlystopitfromrunningagain).
AddingaNewScheduledTask
A+erclickingtheAddNewbuJon,youwillbegivenfourchoices:
Clickthetaskiconthatyouwishtoschedule.A+erwards,op4onswillbe providedwhichareapplicabletotheselectedtask.Theseop4onsaredescribedbelow:
• BackupVolume–Makesureyoufirstselectavolume(yourBackupSource)andthenselectaBackupDesRnaRon(eitheranothervolumeoraDiskImage).Ifyouareselec4ngavolumebackupofyourboot(startup)volumethenyoucannotselectyourbootvolumeastheBackupDes4na4on.Youcanfindmoreinforma4ononperformingavolumebackupintheBackup/RestoreVolumesec4onofthismanual.
A+erserngthe4me/day/month,youcanalsosetyourcomputertosleeporshutdowna+erthescheduledtaskiscomplete.ShurngdownyourMacmaybepreferableifyouarerunningthescheduledtaskovernightanddon’twantyourcomputertoremainonallnight.
• BackupFolder–Thisop4onallowsyoutobackupaspecificfolderthatcontainsimportantdataasacompresseddiskimagefile.Tostart,clicktheChoose…buJonbelowFoldertoBackup.This willdisplaythestandardMacOSfolderselec4onwindow.NavigatetothefolderthatyouwanttobackupandclicktheSelectbuJon.Next,clicktheChoose…buJonbelowBackup
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DesRnaRonandnavigatetowhereyouwantthisdiskimagetobesaved.Ifyouareperformingthistaskrepe44vely,each4methetaskruns,anewdiskimagewillbecreatedreplacingthepreviousone.
A+erserngthe4me/day/month,youcanalsosetyourcomputertosleeporshutdowna+erthescheduledtaskiscomplete.ShurngdownyourMacmaybepreferableifyouarerunningascheduledtaskovernightanddon’twantyourcomputertoremainonallnight.
• RepairBadSectors–Makesureyoufirstselectavolumetorunthistaskon(RepairBadSectors),andthenchooseyourScanTypeandScanOpRons.Youcanfindmoreinforma4ononthescantypesintheScanandRepairBadSectorssec4onofthismanual.
A+erserngthe4me/day/month,youcanalsosetyourcomputertosleeporshutdowna+erthescheduledtaskiscomplete.ShurngdownyourMacmaybepreferableifyouarerunningthescheduledtaskovernightanddon’twantyourcomputertoremainonallnight.
• DefragmentFiles–Makesureyoufirstselectavolumetorunthistaskon(DefragmentFiles),andthenchoosewhethertoCheckforFragmentaRonorDefragmentAllFiles.Forascheduledtask,theop4ontoDefragmentAllFileswouldberecommendedinordertoactuallyfixthefragmenta4onsomeofyourfilesmaybeexperiencing(ratherthanjustcheckingtoseeifthereisanyfilefragmenta4on).Youcanfindmoreinforma4ononfragmenta4onintheDefragmentFilessec4onofthismanual.
A+erserngthe4me/day/month,youcanalsosetyourcomputertosleeporshutdowna+erthescheduledtaskiscomplete.ShurngdownyourMacmaybepreferableifyouarerunningthescheduledtaskovernightanddon’twantyourcomputertoremainonallnight.
Note:Youcanscheduletaskstooccuratthesame4me.Ifthesetasksaretooccurondifferentvolumes,theywilltakeplacesimultaneously.Ifthesetasksaretooccuronthesamevolume,theywilltakeplacesequen4ally(i.e.onea+eranother)intheorderofthescheduledtasklist.
Tip:AderaddingataskintheScheduledTasklist,youcansimplyuncheckitscheckboxtostopthescheduledtaskfromrunningagain.Youcanthenchecktheboxoncemoretoac4vatethescheduledtaskwithouthavingtoaddanewtaskoreditanexis4ngone.
Tip:Itisnotnecessaryforyoutoleaveyourcomputerpoweredonforascheduledtasktooccur.Ifyouwish,youcansetyoucomputertoautoma4callyturnonorwakeupbeforeascheduledeventusingApple’sEnergySaverfeature.ThisfeatureislocatedinSystemPreferencesundertheAppleMenu.Tousethis,clicktheEnergySavericonintheSystemPreferencesPane.Next,clicktheSchedule…buJonattheboJom‐rightofthewindow.MakesurethatyouconfiguretheStartuporWakeeventtooccur5minutesbeforeyouwanttheSpeedToolsscheduledeventtooccur.Also,makesurethatyourcomputerissettosleepifitisinac4vefor10minutesormore,sothatitdoesnotsleepbeforetheSpeedToolsU4li4esscheduledeventcanoccur.
ClosetheScheduleTaskswindowwhenyouarefinished.Anyac4vatedscheduledtaskswillcon4nuerunningonyoursystemattheirgiven4me(s),evenifyoucloseSpeedToolsU4li4esorswitchbetweenusers.
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ViewingaScheduledTaskinProgress
Whenascheduledtaskbegins,asmallfloa4ngprogresswindowwillbedisplayed.Thewindowwillshowthetaskname,thevolumenamethatthetaskisworkingonandtheprogressofthetask.Ifmul4pletasksstartduringthesame4me,theprogresswindowwillgrowtoshowthosetaskstoo(shownbelow).IfyouruntheSpeedToolsU4li4esapplica4onwhileascheduledtaskisrunning,progressforthescheduledtaskwillalsobevisibleinthemainwindow.
Preferences
AlthoughmostofwhatyouneedforeachtaskinSpeedToolsU4li4esisfoundintherespec4vetaskarea,thereareaddi4onalop4onsavailabletoyou.ToopenPreferences,selectPreferences…fromtheSpeedToolsU4li4esapplica4onmenu(neartheApplemenuatthetopofthescreen).
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WhenthePreferencewindowisdisplayed,youwillbegiventhefollowingopRons:
• Playasoundwhenataskcompletessuccessfully
• Playasystembeeptoalertyouwhenataskfails• ShowthedisknumberassociatedwitheachvolumeintheSelectedVolumepane
• RememberLastWindowHeight
• Show/HideCPUMeter(seeDescribingtheMainWindow#8inthisguideformoreinfo)
• RequireAdminpasswordeach4meSpeedToolsU4li4esstartsup(StronglyRecommended)
• Automa4callycheckforupdatestoSpeedToolsU4li4es• ShowSo+wareVersioninWindowTitleBar
• AllowCPUSleepDuringTasksonACPower
• AllowCPUSleepDuringTasksonBaJeryPower
• PreventALLScheduledTasksonBaJeryPower• RememberTask…
• AutoSelectRememberedTask
ManyofthesePreferencesarestrait‐forwardintermsofwhattheydo.However,thereareafewop4onswhichwefeelcouldusesomeaddi4onalinforma4on:
RememberLastWindowHeight–Thisfeatureisespeciallyusefulforthosewhopreferthe“Grid”icontaskview.Ifyouenlargethewindowsothatmoretaskrowsbecomeexposed,thisfeaturewillrememberthenewwindowheightandautoma4callyexposetheaddi4onaltaskiconrowsthenext4meSpeedToolsU4li4esisrun.AllowCPUSleepDuringTasksonACPower–Bydefault,SpeedToolsU4li4eswillpreventautoma4cCPUsleepingwhiletasksarebeingperformedinboththemainapplica4onandscheduleapplica4onwhenyourcomputerispluggedintoanACpowersource.Thisisdonesothatlonger‐runningtaskscanfinishwhileyouareawayfromthecomputer.Otherwise,thetaskmaybepausedwhileyoursystemgoestosleepandthenresumedwhenyoursystemwakesup.ItisimportanttonotethatwhiletheCPUwillbepreventedfromsleepingbydefault,yourscreenwillcon4nuetofollowthenormalsleepserngsofthecomputer.Addi4onally,SpeedToolsU4li4eswillNOTpreventmanualSleepselec4onsfromtheApplemenu.Ifthisserngischeck‐markedandthesystemaskstheSpeedToolsso+wareifitisOKtosleep,itwillbeallowed.
Pleasenote:Constantdiskac4vitymaypreventtheCPUfromsleepingasnormalonsomesystems.Asaresult,the“AllowSleep”serngsofthisso+waremaynotalwayswork.Thisisbecausethesystemmaynotaskrunningso+wareifitsOKtosleepduringheavydiskac4vity.Instead,thesystemmayelecttokeeptheCPUawakeun4lthediskac4vityhascompletedonitsown.
AllowCPUSleepDuringTasksonBa_eryPower–Bydefault,SpeedToolsU4li4eswillNOTpreventautoma4cCPUsleepingwhiletasksarebeingperformedinboththemainapplica4onandscheduleapplica4onwhenyourcomputerisrunningonbaJerypower.Youmayuncheckthisboxtooverridethisbehavior.
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ShowZoomEffectwithTaskIconSelecRons–Selec4ngthisop4onwillshowaquickgraphicseffectthatmakestheselectediconappeartozoomouttowardsyouduringataskselec4on.
PreventALLScheduledTasksonBa_eryPower–Bydefault,SpeedToolsU4li4esWILLpreventallscheduledtasksfromoccurringwhenrunningonbaJerypower.Thisincludescheckingonandpos4ngLowFreeSpaceAlerts.Youmayuncheckthisboxtooverridethisbehavior.
RememberTask–Selec4ngthischeckboxwillautoma4callymovetheMainTaskSelectortothetaskselectedintheadjacentpopupmenuthenext4methatSpeedToolsU4li4esislaunched.
AutoSelectRememberedTask–Selec4ngthischeckboxwillautoma4callyselecttheRememberedTask(seeabove)andmakethetaskimmediatelyusable.Thisitemwillbegrayedoutun4ltheRememberTaskcheckboxhasbeenchecked.
TorevertallPreferenceserngsbacktotherecommendedserngs,clicktheDefaultbuJon.
Whenyouaredonewithyourpreferencechanges,clicktheOKbuJontosaveyournewserngsandclosethewindow.
DiskBenchmarking
OEMVersionsofthisso+wareincludeavolumebenchmarku4litywhichwecallQuickBench.WhilethePROVersionincludesQuickBenchandanotherdevice‐levelbenchmarkingu4litycalledZoneBench.Togetstarted,clicktheBenchmarkbuJonlocatedintheMainToolbar.InthePROVersion,amenuwillbepresentedprovidingtwoop4ons:BenchmarkVolume(QuickBench)andBenchmarkDevice(ZoneBench).OEMversionswillsimplystartQuickBenchautoma4cally.
• QuickBenchisanapplica4ondesignedtotesttheperformanceofamountedvolumeinthesamewaythatyoursystemandotherapplica4onsusethevolume.Inotherwords,itprovides“real‐world”performancemeasurements.
• ZoneBenchwasdevelopedtotesttheperformanceofyouren4redevicefromthebeginningofthemediatotheend.Thistypeofbenchmarkingcanbeespeciallyusefulfordeterminingpar44onsizessinceperformancewillreduceasdataisaccessedfurtherandfurthertowardthephysicalendofthedisk.SeeUsingZoneBenchformoreinforma4on.
UsingQuickBench™
TheQuickBenchapplica4onisasimpleyetpowerfuldiskdriveperformanceevalua4ontool(a.k.a.Benchmarker)whichhasfourmaincomponents:a"Standard"testsuitewhichmeasuresrela4velysmallrandomandsequen4alreadandwritespeeds;a"Large"and"Extended"testsuitewhichmeasuretwolargertestsizesets,and,lastly,a"Custom"test.TheCustomTestallowsyoutodesignyourowntestaccordingtoyourpersonalrequirements.QuickBenchisextremelysafesincealltestsareperformedbyreadingandwri4ngtotemporarytestfilesexclusively.Tobegin,firstselectavolumefromtheSelectedVolumepopupmenu.
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Note:QuickBenchalwayspresentsbytesizesinpowersoftwo.Forexample,aKilobyteisconsideredtobe1024(2^10)Bytes,NOT1000(10^3)Bytes.AMegabyteisconsideredtobe1024Kilobytes,NOT1000Kilobytes,etc.AlthoughthisisnolongerthepreferrednomenclatureaccordingtotheU.S.Na4onalIns4tuteofStandardsandTechnology,SpeedToolsU4li4escon4nuestousethislabelingsystembecausethisiswhatApple,Inc.supports.KeepingthisuniformwithwhatAppleusesshouldbetheleastconfusingtoSpeedToolsU4li4escustomers.
QuickBenchRequirements
TheStandardtestrequires153MBoffreespace.TheLargetestrequires198MB,andtheExtendedtestrequires594MBoffreespace.
GlobalTestOpRons
Inthegroupboxatthetopofthemainwindow,totherightoftheSelectedVolumepopupmenu,aretwocheckboxes:
• AsynchronousI/O–QuickBenchusesstandardfilesystemcallstoperformreadandwritespeedmeasurements.Broadlyspeaking,therearetwodifferentmodesinwhichtheserou4nescanbeexecuted:synchronouslyandasynchronously.Itisbeyondthescopeofthisguidetoexplainthedetailsoftheseconcepts,butitisworthno4ngthatsomeimprovementinwritespeedscansome4mesbeachievedbytransferringdataasynchronously,especiallyonfasterdevices.
• AllowCacheEffects–Runningatestwiththisboxcheckedwillresultinaveryshortpause(delineatedinmilliseconds)betweeneachtransfersizebeingtested.Amillisecondisathousandthofasecond.
NotethatintheStandardTests,thesepauseswilloccura+erevery1MBofdatatransferred.Also,thisserngisignoredduringrandomtes4ng.
SefngReadandWriteDelayValues
Whenthe"AllowCacheEffects"featureisenabled,theseshortpausescanhaveadrama4c,posi4veeffectonmeasureddrivespeeds.
Furthermore,op4mizingthesepausevaluescansignificantlyimprovemeasuredpeakperformance.Itisrecommendedtobeginchangingthesevaluesusing5millisecondincrements.
Note:Onlyvaluesbetween1and1000millisecondsareallowedforthereadandwritedelays.
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• ReadDelay–Thisserngcontrolshowmuch4meisprovidedtothedrivebetweenreadrequests,allowingthedrivetoan4cipatethenextreadrequestandpre‐fillitscacheduringthepause.Ifthedriveactuallyperformsreadaheadcaching,someorallofthedatawillbereadytotransferdirectlyfromthecachewhenthenextreadrequestactuallyoccurs,significantlyimprovingperformance.
•WriteDelay–Thisserngcontrolshowmuch4meisprovidedtothedrivebetweenwriterequests.Thisallowsthedrivetocommitdataitmayhavestoredinitswritecachetothephysicalstoragemedium.This,inturn,freesthedrive'swritecachetobefullyavailableforthenextactualwriterequest.
TestOpRon:Cycles
ACyclesserngisavailableineverytestmode.Anewtestcyclerepeatstheexactsametestforas manycyclesasarespecifiedandthencalculatesthesimplemeanaverageforeachresult.A+er5cycles,thelowscoreforeachtransfersizeisdiscarded.Thishelpscompensatefor,butdoesnotfullyprevent,occasionalrandomsystemac4vityfrominterferingwiththetes4ng.SeeQuickBenchBenchmarkingTipsattheendofthissec4onforadiscussiononthisandotherissues affec4ngbenchmarktes4ng.
Sincethereiso+enagreatdegreeofvarianceinspeedsforanygivensinglereadorwrite,theaddi4onofmul4pletestcyclescangreatlyassistinaccuratelyandrepeatabilityquan4fyingadrive'sperformanceatagiventask.This,sheddingamuchmoreconsistentlightontheperformancecomparisonoftherela4vemeritsofonedriveversusanother.
TestcyclesareaveragedbyQuickBenchon‐the‐fly,soeachsuccessivetestcycleprovidesanincreasinglyaccurateandrepeatablepictureofadrive'scapabili4es.Ingeneral,toincreasetheaccuracyandrepeatabilityofthetestresultschoosealargernumberoftestcycles.Justkeepinmindthatthemorecycleschosen,thelongerthetestwilltaketocomplete.
ViewOpRon:LineorBarGraph
Thisop4onsimplydisplaythetestresultsineitheralineorbargraph.
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TestStatus
OnceyoustartQuickBenchbyclickingtheRunTestbuJon,thissec4onwilldisplaythenameofthetestcurrentlyrunning.
TheStandardTestSuite
TheStandardTestsuitemeasuresninedifferentdatatransfersizesunderfourdifferentscenariosforupto100cycles:Sequen4alReads,Sequen4alWrites,RandomReadsandRandomWrites.Thetestresultsreflectthefollowinginfluences:thedrive'sinternalmediatransferrate,seek4meandcacheefficiency,theefficiencyofthevariousdriverscontrollingthedriveand,lastly,thespeedofthebusinterfaceconnec4ngyourdrivetoyourMacintosh.
QuickBenchmakeseveryaJempttolimittheinfluenceoftheMacOSfilesystemcachebecause,inourview,theMacOScachemakesittoodifficulttodeterminethedrive’strueperformance.
TheStandardTestsuitecanberunwhiledisplayingtheresultsineitheragraphicalrepresenta4onorasortablenumericrepresenta4on(whichshowsmeasuredspeedswithmuchgreaterprecision).Notethatthegraphicalandnumericviewsperformexactlythesametests,butjustdisplaytheresultsdifferently.Ingraphicalmode,onetestop4on,"Cycles,"andoneviewop4on,"Linevs.Bar"chart,areavailable.Innumericmode,onlythe"Cycles"op4onapplies.The"Cycles"op4onappliestoboththegraphicalandnumericmodes.
LargeandExtendedTests
TheLargeandExtendedTestsareprovidedtomeasurethedrive'sabilitytosustainlargeamountsofdatatransferredtoandfromyourMacintosh.TheLargetestmeasurestransfersizesfrom2through10MBinsize.TheExtendedtestmeasures20through100MBtransfers.Notethat,asopposedtotheStandardTests,boththeLargeandExtendedtestsarenotaseriesofsequen4alreadsandwritesaveragedtogether.Eachtransfersizetestconsistsofonlyasinglereadorwriteofthetesttransfersize.However,eachtransfersizeistestedsequen4allyrela4vetotheprevioustransfersizesothatthesameareaofthediskisnotaccessedmorethanoncewithinasinglereadorwritetestset.Thishelpspreventdriveswithverylargecachesfromreceivinganunfairadvantage.
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CustomTest
TheCustomTestsec4onofQuickBenchprovidesanearlyunlimitedrangeofsequen4alread/writetestswhichcanbeperformed.Therearethreetestparameterswhichmustbechosenandonetestop4onavailable.ThethreetestparametersareTransferSize,TransferCount,andTestCycles:
• TransferSize–ThetransfersizeistheamountofdatatobereadfromandwriJentothedriveforeachrequest.ThepopupmenuallowsthesizeyoutypeintobedelimitedasKilobytesorMegabytes.ValidvaluesrangefromoneKilobyteto1024MegabytesandisfurtherlimitedbytheamountofavailablephysicalRAMinstalledonyourcomputer.Forexample,ifyouhave512MBofRAMinyourcomputeryouwillnotbeabletouseaTransferSizeabove512MB.Infact,theamountofactualmemoryavailablefordatatransferswilllikelybefarlessthan512MB.
• TransferCount–Thetransfercountisthenumberofsequen4alreadsorwriteswhichwillbeperformedwiththechosentransfersizeforeachtestcycle.
Note:WhenusingtheCustomTest,youwillneedtobemindfuloftheamountoffreespaceavailableonthetestvolume.ThesizeofthetestfilewhichneedstobecreatedisequaltotheTransferSizemul4pliedbytheTransferCount.Forexample,aTransferSizeof10MegabytesandaTransferCountof100willrequire1000Megabytesoffreespaceonthetestvolume.
• TestCycles–Testcyclesareexplainedearlierinthismanual,butno4ceintheCustomTestthattestcycles,liketheothertwoparameters,aretobetypedinratherthanselec4ngapre‐definedvaluefromamenu.Validvaluesforthenumberofcyclestobeperformedare1to1,000,000(onemillion).
TestOpRon:ForceConRguousTestFileSpace
Afileisconsideredcon4guouswhenalloftheblocksallocatedforthefilearearrangedonthevolumeinasingleloca4on.Afileisconsideredfragmentedwhenitisarrangedintwoormoreseparateloca4onsonthevolume.CheckingtheForceConRguousTestFileSpaceboxwillforceQuickBenchtoonlyallocateacon4guoustestfile.Ifthereisnotenoughcon4guousfreespaceonthetestvolume,thetestwillNOTbeperformed.Notethatifyoudonotcheckthisbox,QuickBenchwills4lltrytoallocateacon4guoustestfile,butfailingthatalloca4on,QuickBenchwillaJemptanewalloca4onallowingthetestfiletooccupymul4plefragments.
Whenyouarereadytobeginbenchmarking,clicktheRunTestbuJon:
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SavingTestResults
Testresultscanbesavedintoeitherawordprocessorfriendlyfileoraspreadsheetfriendlyfile.Thespreadsheetfriendlyfileisspecificallydesignedtofacilitatethecrea4onofquickandeasygraphicalcharts.Tosaveanyandalltestresultsintoafile,gototheFilemenuandselectoneofthetwodataformatop4ons(youalsowillbeabletotogglefileoutputformatsfromtheSaveFilewindow).
ThewordprocessorfriendlyfileisformaJedwithspacesanddesignedtobeviewedbyanywordprocessingapplica4on.Forbestviewing,chooseamonospacedfont,suchasMonaco.ThespreadsheetfriendlyfileisformaJedwithtabsbetweenthedatawhichshouldbeassignedtocolumnsandcarriagereturnsfordatatobedisplayedinrows.
QuickBenchBenchmarkingTips
1)Quitallothernon‐essenRalprograms.DuetothewayMacOSXsplitsprocessor4meevenlyamongallrunningapplica4onsandotherprocesses,itisstronglyrecommendedthatyoucloseallunnecessaryapplica4onswhenusingQuickBench.Compe44onforprocessor4mecansignificantlyaffecttestresults,especiallyduringheavyCPUusage.Addi4onally,manyapplica4onsandotherprocessesgeneratediskaccesswhichalsocanadverselyaffectreliabilityoftheQuickBenchtests.
2)FreshFormat.Ifpossible,youshouldre‐formatavolumepriortobeingtested.BecauseQuickBenchtes4ngisfile‐based,otherfilesonthetestvolumecanaffecttheaccuracyofQuickBenchwithrespecttootherotherwiseiden4caltestconfigura4ons.FormarngasHFSExtendedwithoutjournalingishighlyrecommendedsincethisisthena4vefilesystemofMacOSX,andjournalinggeneratesaddi4onal,unaccountedfordiskaccessduringtes4ng.
3)Smootherisbe_er.Testwithatleast5cycles,ifpossible,especiallyintheStandardTestsandtheLargeTests.Ifyourtestresultslooksimilartoasawblade(up,thendown,thenupagainetc.),tryincreasingthecyclecountun4lthepaJernflaJensout.Ifyouaretes4ngwithcacheeffectsenabled,youmayneedtoadjustthedelay4meupordowntosmoothouttheresults.
4)Re‐testifnecessary.Some4mesanunrelatedprocesswillgeneratediskaccessonthediskyouaretes4ngrightinthemiddleofaQuickBenchtestset.Thiswillproduceaclearanomalousresultwhichshowsupasanunexplaineddropinperformanceatsomearbitrarypointinthetest.Ifthishappens,pleaseignoreitandretest.Ifithappensrepeatedly,youmayneedtotrackdownwhichprocessisgenera4ngtheI/Oandterminateitbeforetes4ng.
5)DonotputQuickBenchintothebackgroundduringtesRng.Strictlyspeaking,thisshouldhavenoeffectontestresults.ButweassumethatifyouputQuickBenchintothebackground,youdidsoinordertodosomethingelse.Itisthis"somethingelse"ac4onwhichmayadverselyaffectthebenchmarkingresults.
6)Maximumaccuracy.MacOSXregularlyreadsandwritesdatatothebootvolumeatfairlyrandomintervals.WhenaccessesoccurduringaQuickBenchtestset,itmayadverselyaffectthetestresults.Thisis trueevenifyouaretes4ngadifferentvolumewhichbelongstothesamedriveasthebootvolume.Forop4mumresults,donottestadrivewhichsharesadatabus(channel)withthebootdrive(suchasamaster/slaveATApair)sinceonlyonedrivewillbeabletosend/receivedataoverthebusatone4mewhichcouldtheninduceaboJleneck.
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UsingZoneBench™
ZoneBenchisabenchmarkingapplica4ondesignedtomeasurethereadandwritespeedsoveranen4relocalstoragedevice.Thatdevicecanbeeitherlogical(suchasadiskvolumewhichisactuallyaRAIDarraymadeupoftwoormorediskdrives)orphysical(suchasyourinternalATAdiskdrive).ZoneBenchalsohasthecapabilitytomeasurethespeedofread‐onlyvolumessuchasamountedCDorDVDdatadisc.ZoneBenchdoesnotmeasurethespeedofburningrecordableCD/DVDdiscs,however.
Measuringspeedsacrossanen4redeviceisimportantbecausemoststoragedevicesdonotmaintainconsistentspeedsacrosstheiren4restoragearea.Forexample,allmodernharddiskdrivesgetslowerasdataisaccessedfurtherandfurthertowardthephysicalendofthedrive.Conversely,CDandDVDROMdiscsgetfasterasyouaccesstowardthephysicalendofdisc.(ThisisbecauseCD'sandDVD'sarereadstar4ngatthecenterofthediscmovingprogressivelyoutwards.
Warning:ZoneBenchisdesignedtobenon‐destrucRve.However,becauseZoneBenchreadsandwritesdirectlytoyourstoragedevice,thereisalwaysapossibilityofdatacorrupRon.Pleasemakesureyouahavecurrentbackupofanywritabledeviceyouwishtotest.
ZoneBenchwascreatedwithmaximumflexibilityinmind.Allzonetestvariablescanbeeasilymodifiedtosuitalmostanytes4ngsitua4on.Testresultscanbesavedintotab‐delimitedtextfiles suitableforimpor4ngintoyourfavoritespreadsheetapplica4onorwordprocessor.
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Lastly,asofversion2andhigher,ZoneBenchincludesaRandomReadandWritetestwhichmeasures10,000small(4KB)transfersoverallpartsoftheselecteddriveorvolumeandreportstheaveragespeed.Thistestdemonstrateshowquicklyadriverespondstomul4pledatarequestswhichareoutofsequenceandwhichspantheen4retestarea.
PleasenotethatZoneBenchisverydifferentfromQuickBench.QuickBenchcreatestestfilestoreadandwritefromandteststhespeedtoaccessthesefilesusingstandardfilesystemaccessrou4nes.ZoneBenchusesdirectreadandwritecallstothedeviceitself(logicalorphysical),bypassingthehigh‐levelfilesystemaltogether.ThismeansthatQuickBenchcanrequireseveralhundredMBoffreespaceonatestvolume.ZoneBenchdoesnotrequireanyfreespaceatall.
WhenyoustartZoneBench,itsmainwindowwillbedisplayed(asshowinthepreviousimage).Thetestop4onswillbedefaultedtoa10Megabytetransfersize,3itera4onscovering7equally‐spacedloca4onsor"zones"onthetestdevice.Feelfreetochangetheparametersatany4me.Seeacompletediscussionofthetestop4onsinthefollowingsec4on.
Tobeginabenchmarkingrun,youwillneedtoselectaphysicalorlogicaldevicetobetested.Physicaldevicesusuallycorrespondtoasinglediskdrive,butnotalways.IfyouhavesetupaRAIDgroupusingDiskU4lity,forexample,youcantesttheen4reRAIDgroupbyloca4ngitinthepopupmenulocated"Drives"tabpane.Ifyousimplywishtotestasinglemountedvolume,clickonthe"Volumes"tab,andlocatethevolumeyouwhichtotestusingthepresentedpopupmenu.Oralterna4vely,draganddropavolume’sdesktopiconontothevolumestabpanearea.Avolumecancorrespondtoasinglepar44onofasingledisk,orcanbeapar44onofmul4plediskswhicharepartofaRAIDarray.Theonlyrequirementisthatalldevicesbe"local"tothecomputer(i.e.theycannotbenetworkedstoragedevices).Onceyouhaveselectedadevicetobetested,youcaneitherbeginthetest,ormodifythetestparameters.
ChangingtheZoneTestOpRons
Ifyouwanttochangethewaythetes4ngwillbeperformedorsetupasemi‐opaquespeedtargetoverlay,clickthe"ChangeTestOpRons..."buJon.Thiswillbringupthewindowshownbelow:
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TransferSize
ThefirstchangeableitemisTransferSize.TransfersizeisthenumberofMegabyteswhichwillbetransferredforeachreadandwriterequest.Themaingoalwhenselec4ngan"ideal"transfersizeistousethesmallestpossiblesizewhichs4llallowsthedevicebeingbenchmarkedtodeliveritsbestperformance.Thisidealsizewillvaryfromdevicetodevice,butitispossibletooffersomeroughsugges4onsforstar4ngvalues.
ForslowerdevicessuchasCD/DVDROMdiscs,atransfersizebetween5and10Megabytesshouldbesufficienttoyieldthemaximumspeedfromthedrivewithoutconsuminganenormousamountof4metoperformthetest.FireWire400andUSB2.0devicesusuallyhitmaximumspeedbetween50and100Megabytetransfersizes.Firewire800andfastATAdrivesreachmaximumspeedbetween100and200Megabytes.Lastly,fastRAIDsystemsshouldusethemaximumpossibletransfersize:511Megabytes.Currently,511MegabytesisthemaximumtransfersizeallowedbyMacOSX.
Note:WhatevertransfersizeyourequestwillrequireanequivalentamountofavailableRAM.IfyouaJempttotestwithatransfersizewhichexceedstheamountofavailableRAM,youwillgetanerror,butnoharmwilloccurtoyourtestdisk.Simplyreducethetransfersizeun4lthetestrunssuccessfully.
IteraRonsPerZone
Thisserngcontrolshowmany4mesthespeedwillbemeasuredateachzone.Inordertogetabalancedresult,werecommendatleastthreeitera4ons.However,itera4oncountbecomeslessimportantasthetransfersizesgetverylargewhichtendstonormalizetheresultsautoma4cally.
ZonesToMeasure
ZoneBenchcanmeasureupto50evenlyspaced,discreteloca4ons(i.e."zones")acrossanylocalstoragedevice.
Note:Pleasebeawarethattheconceptofa"zone"inZoneBenchisNOTthesameasanddoesnotcorrespondtoanactualphysicalzoneonaharddiskdriveorop4caldisc.
Theapproximatestar4ngloca4onofeachzonecanbeseenrightbelowthemainwindowgraph.Foravisualexample,seetheimageonthefollowingpage.Theexactstar4ngloca4onwillbepresentedinthesavedresultsfile.See"SavingTestResults"laterinthissec4onformoredetails.
TargetSpeedOverlay
Atargetspeedoverlayisawhitelineorsemi‐opaquerectangle(ifyouareusingasafetymargin)whichisdrawnsuperimposedovertheresultsgraphonthemainwindow.ThelinecorrespondstothetargetspeedmeasuredinMegabytespersecond.Toenablethetargetspeedoverlayfeature,checkthe"TargetSpeedOverlay"boxandtypeinyourdesiredtargetspeed.Ifavisiblesafetymarginisdesired,selectavaluefrom5to100percentfromthepopupmenu.Foravisual
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example,seetheimagebelowofatestperformedonaninternal500GBUSB2.0harddiskdrive.No4ceinthisexamplea20MBpersecondtargetrateissa4sfiedallthewayacrossthedriveun4ltheveryend(shownasatransparentwhiterectangleinthegraph).Forfinergranularity,youcouldincreasethenumberofzonesandre‐runthetesttogetamuchmoreaccurateloca4onofwherethetransferratefallsbelowthedesiredsafetymargin.
Clickthe"Done"buJonwhenfinishedchangingthetestop4ons.Yournewserngswillberememberedthenext4meyourunZoneBench.
Note:Theremustbeactualtestresultsavailableinorderfortheoverlaytobevisible.
RandomReadandWriteTesRng
TheRandomReadandWritetestwillperform10,000readsandthen10,000writes4KBinsizetothetestdrive/volume(i.e.target).Thistestemploysa"buJerfly"paJern.ThisbuJerflypaJernmeansthatZonebenchfirstdividesthetesttargetinto10,000equallyspacedloca4ons(baseduponthesizeofthetarget)andproceedstotestbackandforthbetweenthebeginningandendofthedisk,progressivelyworkingtowardandfinishingatthetarget'smiddle.
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Forexample,ifthetesttargetis100GBinsize,eachtestloca4onwouldbeabout10MBapartfromthenextloca4on.Thetestwouldbeginbyreadingfromtheverylasttestloca4ononthetarget.Thenextreadwouldoccurattheverybeginningofthetarget.Thefollowingreadwouldoccurabout10MBfromthelastloca4on.Thenextreadwouldwouldoccuratthebeginningofthetargetplusabout10MB,andsoonun4lthetestfinishesinthemiddleofthestorageareaofthetarget.
Atargettestsizeof4KBwaschosenbecauseitrepresentsthemostcommonlyusedblocksizeemployedbyMacOSX.Sodrivesthatperformwellonthistestrela4vetootherdrivesshoulddowellwithlargenumbersofsmallreadsandwritestonon‐sequen4alareasofthedisk.Adatabaseprogramwouldbeanexcellentexampleofthiskindofdataaccess.
Notethattherewillbemul4plefactorsaffec4ngdriveperformance.Forreads,thedominantfactorwilllikelyberota4onalspeed.Thefasteradriverotatesitsmedia,thefasteritshouldperform.Forwrites,thesizeandefficiencyofthediskcachewillplayadominantroleinthetest.Rota4ngmagne4crecordingstoragedevicessuchasharddiskdrivesgenerallyperformmuchfasteratrandomwri4ngthanreading.Conversely,solidstatedrivessuchamemorycarddevicesforcamerasgenerallyperformfasterreadingthanwri4ng.ReadonlydevicessuchasDVD'scanonlyperformrandomreadtes4ng,naturally.
SavingZoneBenchTestResults
A+eranybenchmarkingrun,the"File‐>SaveResultsAs..."menuitemwillbecomeac4ve.Allavailabletestresultsdatawillberecordedinthetestresultsfile.Twofileformatoutputop4onsareavailable:spreadsheetfriendlyandwordprocessorfriendly.Thespreadsheetfriendlyfileisspecificallydesignedtofacilitatethecrea4onofquickandeasygraphicalcharts.
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SpeedToolsURliResMenuOpRons
TheSpeedToolsU4li4esmenuop4onsincludethefollowingchoices:
SpeedToolsURliRes(mainapplicaRonmenu)
• AboutSpeedToolsURliRes–Viewinforma4onabouttheso+ware,includingversionnumberandcopyrightinforma4on.
• Preferences–ChangepreferenceserngsforSpeedToolsU4li4es.(seePreferencesinthisguide)
• HideSpeedToolsURliRes–Hidestheapplica4onwindow.• HideOthers–Hidesotheropenapplica4onsandwindows,leavingSpeedToolsU4li4esopen.• QuitSpeedToolsURliRes–Closestheapplica4on.Anyscheduledtaskswillremainac4vebasedonscheduledserngs.
File
• ShowTask–Openstheselectedtaskinthemainapplica4onwindow.•MountSelectedVolume–MounttheselectedvolumetotheDesktopifthevolumeiscurrentlyunmounted.
• UnmountSelectedVolume–UnmounttheselectedvolumefromtheDesktopifthevolumeiscurrentlymounted.Youcannotunmountyourboot(startup)volume.
• EjectSelectedVolume–EjectsaselectedvolumefromtheDesktopifthevolumeiscurrentlymounted.Youcannotejectyourboot(startup)volume.UseEjectforCD/DVDsandforotherejectablestylemedia.
• OpenDiskImage–OpensabrowsertolocateadiskimageyouwouldliketoopenandmountonyourDesktop.
• OpenRecentDiskImage–ShowsalistofdiskimagesyourecentlyopenedusingSpeedToolsU4li4essoyoucanquicklyopenthemagainatalater4me.Thisremainsemptyun4lyouusetheOpenDiskImagemenuop4on.
Advanced
• RunSelectedTaskOnAllVolumes–AllowsyoutoquicklychooseatasktorunonallvolumeslistedintheSelectedVolumepane.
• StopAllCancelableTasksNow–Anytasksthatarerunningonyourvolumesthatcanbecanceledwillbestopped.TasksthatcannotbecanceledincludeVerifyandRepairVolume,andsomeinstancesofBackupVolume(ablocklevelcopy).Sometasksmaytakeabitof4metocancel,sopleasebepa4ent.
• ShowLogInfoforMissingVolumes–Displaylogentries(inaseparatewindow)forvolumesthatarenotcurrentlymountedorconnectedtoyourcomputer.
• ClearLogInfoforAllVolumes–Willremovealllogentriesforallvolumes,notjustaselectedvolume.
• ClearAllLowFreeSpaceAlertSefngs–WillremoveallFreeSpaceAlertserngsforallvolumes,notjustaselectedvolume.
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PRO
• ForceUnmountSelectedVolume–Canforcefullyunmountaselectedvolumeifthenormalunmountop4onisnotworking.Thiscannotbeusedonyourboot(startup)volume.
• UninstallthisSodware–CompletelyremovesSpeedToolsU4li4esfromyourcomputer.
Update
• ViewRevisionHistory–Opensawindowwhichdisplaysinforma4onaboutfeaturesaddedand/orfixedinpastrevisionsofthisso+ware‐star4ngfromversion3.0.
• CheckforUpdatesNow–TellsyouifyourcurrentversionofSpeedToolsU4li4esisup‐to‐date,oropensanupdatewindowifanewerversionisavailable.
• LastUpdateCheck–Anon‐selectablemenuitemwhichdisplaysthe4meanddatethatcheckingforalaterversionofthisso+warewaslastpreformed.
• AutomaRcallyCheckforUpdates–CheckthisifyouwantSpeedToolsU4li4estocheckforanewerversionwheneveryouopentheapplica4on.
Help
• VisitIntech’sWebsite–OpensyourdefaultwebbrowsertotheIntechSpeedToolswebsite.• OnlineSupport–Opensyourdefaultwebbrowsertothesupportsec4onoftheSpeedToolswebsite.
• ViewUsersGuide–OpensaPDFversionofthismanualonyourcomputer.• CommonMacOSErrorCodeTable–Showasmallfloa4ngwindowwithcommonMacOSFileSystemrelatederrorcodesandadescrip4onforeach.
FrequentlyAskedQuesRons
Q.DoIneedtorunSpeedToolsURliResfromabootCDinordertousetheuRliResonmyboot(startup)volume?
A.OtherutilitysuitesrequireyoutoruntheirutilitiesfromtheirbootDVDorCD,oraseparatevolumeinordertoworkwiththebootvolumebecausetheyhavetofirstunmountthevolume.SpeedToolsUtilitiesdoesn’trequirethisforanyofitsutilities,unlessyouarerepairingyourbootvolume(theVerifyandRepairVolumefeature).SpeedToolscanalsodefragment99.99%ofyourbootvolumeon‐the‐fly.
Q.CanyouuseSpeedToolsURliResonanetworkvolume?
A.No.SpeedToolsU4li4esrequiresdiskdrivestobephysicallyaJachedtothecomputeryouareusingtheso+wareon.
Q.WhattypesofvolumescanSpeedToolsURliResworkwith?
A.SometaskslikeDefragmentFiles,BackupandVerify/RepairworkwithHFSandHFS+volumesexclusively.Othertasks,suchasScanforBadSectors,TestDataTransferIntegrity,AnalyzeCapacityUsage,FindandRepairAliasFiles,SMARTDiagnos4cscanworkwithvirtuallyanyfilesystemtype.
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Q.CanIscheduleanyoftheuRliRestorunwhenIamawayfrommycomputer?
A.SpeedToolsU4li4esallowsyoutoschedulewhentodefragmentfiles,repairbadsectorsorbackupafolderorvolume…aso+enasyouwant.Thismeansthatyoucanruntheseu4li4eseverynightwhenyouarenotworkingonyourMacsothatyoursystemwillbeop4mizedandsafe eachmorningwhenyoureturn.
Q.CanIrunSpeedToolsURliResonmorethanonevolumeataRme?
A.Absolutely.RunSpeedToolsU4li4esonasmanyvolumesasyouwantsimultaneously.Thiswillsaveyou4mefromhavingtoruntestsorrepairmul4plevolumesoneata4me.
Q.WhatwillhappenifthepowergoesoutonmyMacwhilerunninganimportantprocessinSpeedToolsURliRes?
A.OneofthefeaturesthatmakeSpeedToolsU4li4esstandoutfromtherestishowithandlesanimportantprocess,likedefragmen4ngyourfilesforexample.Fragmentedfilesarecopiedtoatemporaryloca4ontobeputbacktogetheragain;oncethisisdone,thefileismovedbackwholeoncemore.Ifapoweroutageoccurswhilethisishappening,youroriginalfragmentedfilewillmostlikelyremainsafesincethedefragmentprocesshadnotyetcompleted.Inaddi4on,sincetherestofthefilesonyoursystemarenotbeingworkedonatthesame4meandsincethelow‐levelCatalogFileisnotbeingdirectlymanipulatedbySpeedToolswhiledefragmen4ngfiles,youwon’tneedtoworryaboutyouren4resystemgerngwipedoutshouldaninterrup4oninpoweroccurunlikewithsomeotherfiledefragmentandop4mizingu4li4es.
Q.DoesSpeedToolsURliRessupportMacOSX10.3.9?
A.Yes.Currently,SpeedToolsU4li4essupportsMacOSX10.3.9andlater.
Q.HowcanIuninstallSpeedToolsURliRes?
A.SpeedToolsU4li4esprovidesaneasybuilt‐inuninstaller.TouninstallSpeedToolsU4li4es,choosethe“UninstallthisSo+ware…”op4onfromtheAdvancedmenu.Thenjustfollowtheinstruc4ons.
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SpeedToolsURliResKeyboardCommandsKeyboardcommandshelpyouquicklyaccesscertainop4onsorfeaturesinSpeedToolsU4li4es.
GeneralKeyboardMenuCommands
Keystroke DescripRon
Command‐, OpenPreferences
Command‐H HideSpeedToolsU4li4es
Op4on‐Command‐H HideOthers
Command‐Q QuitSpeedToolsU4li4es
Shi+‐Command‐U UnmountSelectedVolume
Shi+‐Command‐M MountSelectedVolume
Command‐E EjectSelectedVolume
Op4on‐Command‐O OpenDiskImage
Command‐Z StopAllCancelableTasksNow
DownArrow SelecttheNextVolumeintheList
UpArrow SelectthePreviousVolumeintheList
Le+Arrow(whileshowingmaintaskicons) MoveTaskScrollbarPosi4onLe+
RightArrow(whileshowingmaintaskicons) MoveTaskScrollbarPosi4onRight
Command‐/(whileshowingmaintaskicons) ToggleTaskIconView
Shi+‐H ViewRevisionHistory
Shi+‐C CheckForUpdatesNow
Shi+‐W VisittheIntechWebsite
Shi+‐A ShowCommonMacOSErrorCodeTable
Shi+‐? OpenUser’sGuide
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ShowTaskKeyboardCommands
Keystroke DescripRon
Command‐M MainTaskMenu
Command‐1 ScanandRepairBadSectors
Command‐2 DefragmentFiles
Command‐3 TestDataTransferIntegrity
Command‐4 VerifyandRepairVolume
Command‐5 S.M.A.R.T.Diagnos4cs
Command‐6 AnalyzeCapacityUsage
Command‐7 Backup/RestoreVolume
Command‐8 VolumeOp4onsandSerngs
Command‐9 PreferenceFileInspector
Command‐0 FindandRepairBrokenAliases
Command‐I Device/VolumeInforma4on
Command‐L RepairandMaintenanceLog
ShowVolumeHeadingInformaRonCommands
Keystroke DescripRon
Shi+‐1 ShowVolumeFormat
Shi+‐2 ShowDeviceSerial/Revision(firmware)
Shi+‐3 ShowDeviceConnec4onType
Shi+‐4 ShowDevicePar44onScheme
Shi+‐5 ShowCapacityInforma4on
Shi+‐6 ShowCapacityInforma4on(aspercent)
Shi+‐7 ShowFile/FolderCounts
Shi+‐8 ShowVolumeCrea4onDate
Shi+‐9 ShowLastVolumeModifiedDate
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