Question: I have heard it is important to check and repair my "file permissions" in Mac OS X, but I am not sure how to do it.
The IT Guy says:
Starting with the release of Jaguar (Macintosh OS 10.2), the system install CD includes a disk utility that can be selected after starting up to the CD to repair file permissions. Boot to the CD by holding down the "C" key on the keyboard at startup, and choose the disk utility from the install menu in the upper left corner of the screen. Select the drive partition and choose to repair the permissions. A basic disk first aid option is also available.
The newest Macintosh operating system, Panther (OS 10.3), includes a disk utility program (named "Disk Utility," located in Applications / Utilities) that can repair the disk permissions of your startup disk. This means you do not have to boot using a system installer CD to repair permissions. It is a good idea to periodically repair your disk permissions, since forced restarts, power failures, etc. can cause file corruption that can sometimes be fixed with this permission utility. Disk first aid must still be performed from a system CD or other startup volume, however, you cannot perform disk first aid with the disk utility program on the active startup disk.
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