System Testing and Optimization




1. To open the Disk Utility, open the Finder, click on applications, and click on Utilities.
2. &nbspouble click the Disk Utility icon to launch the application.
3. Follow your instructor’s direction to select a volume. Record the information that appears when you select the volume.
4. Click on the First Aid tab. Read the text that appears in the window. What must you do first to repair the hard drive?
5. Click on the Verify Disk Permissions.
6. After the verification is complete, summarize what you see in the report.





1. &nbspouble click on the My Computer icon on the desktop.
2. Find the Local Disk (C icon in the My Computer window. This is the icon for your hard drive (it should appear under the heading Hard Disk Drives.
3. Right click the C: drive icon. Describe what appears.
4. Click on the Tools tab. Use the information that appears in this tab to compare and contrast each of these options:

• Error-checking:
• Defragmentation:
• Backup:

Why is Defragmentation important for windows PCs and not for Macs?

PCs: As files are saved, they are recorded back to back on the hard drive in a spiral pattern (like songs on an LP record). As files are deleted, gaps are made in the hard drive. When new files are saved, they can be written into the gaps. If a new file is larger than a gap, it may be split into pieces to fit the available spaces. The computer must remember the location of the file parts in order to put them back together when a file is needed. This can cause the computer to run slowly. Defragmentation puts file parts back together and moves the gaps to the end of the spiral.


Macs: Because of features unique to the Mac OS X system, you don’t need to defrag the hard drive. Since Macs don’t come with a built in defrag tool, you would need to use a commercial utilities program if you wanted to defrag.





Hope it helps! ~Lindsey