These can be used either if you are logged in in Single User mode (after holding Command-S at startup to drop you to a root terminal prompt instead of loading the OS X interface), or if you are logged in remotely through an SSH connection. There are also alternatives to the Disk Utility program built in to OS X.
If for some reason the routine seems stuck (which is rare but may happen), since it is just a checking routine, you can force-quit Disk Utility to halt the check and return your system to a usable state. However, even if the system seems paused for a long time, the routine should resume sooner or later. With both of these selected, click the Verify Disk button and the system will check the partition tables and formatting of the drive.ĭo note that checking the hard drive will pause writing to it, and since the system is continuously writing and updating data on the drive, this may result in the system hanging for a few seconds while the checking routines run, so do not be alarmed if you see the spinning color wheel cursor and cannot perform other tasks while this routine is going on. Simply select your boot volume in the device list (this will be the name of your boot drive), and then hold the Option, Command, or Shift key and select the drive device itself, which will have the size and manufacturer in its name. This is the standard and recommended method for checking the system's hard drive, since the graphical interface is quick and intuitive to use. The first is to use Apple's Disk Utility program, which is available in the Applications > Utilities folder.
If you select both the drive and a volume on it in the sidebar, Disk Utility will sequentially run the partition table and volume verification routines (click for larger view).
However, there are several alternative, manual ways to check for and fix hard-drive errors. One way to do this is to simply reboot your system into Safe mode periodically, which among some other built-in maintenance tasks will run the "fsck" command-line tool to check the hard drive for errors and repair them if found. Unfortunately, formatting errors can happen even if you've just been using your computer in a normal way, so even though your system may be running fine at the moment, it can only benefit from a regular drive check. If your Mac's hard drive is experiencing formatting errors, then the system may show slowdowns, failures to properly save or read data, and even file corruption, and eventually it may not even boot.
While periodic maintenance of your Mac is usually not necessary to keep it running in top shape, one exception is periodically checking your hard drive for errors.
This is especially true if you use an outdated version of these software packages that may have a bug or two in it. While such routines can be beneficial if a system is experiencing slowdowns, and should not adversely affect the system if implemented correctly, there is potential for something to go awry. You may have even seen advertisements for programs that automate these tasks.
If you are concerned about your Mac starting to run slow or become unstable, you may have looked into regularly running maintenance routines to clear caches, log files, and other temporary items from your system.