Check question number 6 about startup disks; most people need these because of hard disk problems. Apple provides an "erase disk" option on their main menu which will re-initialize some but not all hard drives. Apple also has a "disk test" utility to test formatted disks. There is also a popular control panel add on for "SCSI probe" which is helpful, check various Mac shareware sites for it.

Formatting your hard drive is a method of cleaning the system of all the old files and bugs that may be active. Furthermore it is a requirement prior to installingto a new hard drive. It was thought previously that formatting hard drives could be damaging to the hardware and it would affect its performance so much that it could lead to the loss of data. Formatting a hard drive can help eliminate file corruption, correct slow running systems and get rid of error messages that keep popping up.

The Disk Management window appears. Your disks and volumes appear in a graphical view and list view. To customize how you view your disks and volumes in the upper and lower panes of the window, point to Top or Bottom on the View menu, and then click the view that you want to use.

Connect the drive to your computer as explained in the user guide. The hard drive icon will appear on the desktop. From the list that appears clear the check box next to the File Exchange control panel. Click Restart. After restart, a message appears asking you to initialize the drive. Enter a name for the drive and select MAC OS Extended * from the drop-down list and click Initialize. Note: OS 9 cannot recognize a volume larger than about 200GB.

Right-click on My Computer and select Manage. Click Disk Management in the left menu under Storage. The new drive will appear as Unallocated in the display window on the right. Right-click the Unallocated drive and select 'New Partition' to start the New Partition Wizard. If the drive is already formatted, you will first need to click on 'Delete Parition.

You can use ShredIt for Mac OS 7 as a hard drive cleaner to erase the contents of a hard drive. We recommend that you do this to clean the drive before you dispose of a computer. For step-by-step instructions, refer to the ShredIt for Mac OS 7 Read me in the documentation folder that comes with ShredIt or download the ShredIt 7 Read me (pdf) now

Windows: By default, the preferences are stored in HKCU/Software/BitWise Chat/BitWise. Optionally, you may store the preferences in BitWise.ini in your home folder by pressing "Setup" prior to logging in and specifying you wish to store your preferences in that file rather than the registry. Detached mode allows you to use basic client features even when your computer cannot maintain communication with the BitWise server.

Both Netscape and Microsoft have measures in place that limit the number of cookies that will be saved on your hard drive at one time. Both Internet Explorer and Netscape conform to the RFC 2109 limitations on your total cookie count to 300 (this includes a limit of 20 cookies per individual domain). If you exceed this, the browser will discard your least-used cookies to make room for the new ones.

After a cookie is transmitted through an HTTP header, it is stored in the memory of your browser. This way the information is quickly and readily available without re-transmission. As we have seen, however, it is possible for the lifetime of a cookie to greatly exceed the amount of time the browser will be open. In such cases, the browser must have a way of saving the cookie when you are not browsing, or when your computer is shut off.

Each person who has logged into the computer will have his or her files and settings stored in a folder named with his or her user name. Only the person who is logged in (or an Administrator) can access his or her personal folder. To find these user folders: The My Documents folder is located within this user folder (Note: The My Documents icon on your desktop is a shortcut to this folder). Files that were saved to the desktop are located in the Desktop folder.

Yes, iPod can be loaded with system software and used to start up your Mac or to install system software on your Mac. Using iPod to start up your Mac with system software is an unsupported feature.

The RDX USB drive will work on Mac OSX systems without any additional driver installation. Simply plug the media storage drive USB into an available USB port. The RDX USB should be able to be accessed through the "Disk Utility" application after plugging in and powering up. (Under the "Finder" application, select Applications->Utilities->Disk Utility.) If using a default (NTFS) formatted cartridge, you will need to reformat for MAC OS Extended (HFS+.

If you intend to share files between a Windows and MAC computer, the easiest option is to format the drive as MS-DOS using the MAC computer. This will create a FAT32 partition, which is compatible with both Windows and MAC. The best option may be to use a 3rd party software product that allows hard drives formatted in the Macintosh file system (Mac OS Extended, HFS+) to be used on Windows computers. The following are two programs that allow this capability:

In the left panel, click the external FireWIre drive and select "Partition" in menu on the right. Choose "Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and name the drive. Click "Options" at the bottom of the window. If you have an Intel Mac, select "GUID" as the partition scheme. If you have a Power PC Mac, select "Apple Partition Map." Click "Partition." It will ask to confirm, click "Partition" again and the partitioning process will begin.

You can use ShredIt for Mac OS 7 as a hard drive cleaner to erase the contents of an external hard drive. We recommend that you do this to clean the drive before you dispose of a hard drive. For step-by-step instructions, refer to the ShredIt for Mac OS 7 Read me in the documentation folder that comes with ShredIt or download the ShredIt 7 Read me (pdf) now

Disclaimer: A LLF will destroy all information on a hard drive and effectively render it in the same condition that it arrived from the manufacturer... blank with nothing on it. If you are not familiar with DOS and drive channels seek professional assistance from your local computer technician. Use these procedures and software at your own risk. Boot the computer into DOS mode or use a 98 boot disk. Use your favorite Low-Level Format utility to erase the first few sectors of the hard drive.