[Leica] Disc size question

[red735i at verizon.net (Frank Filippone)]

First, let me state I am a Windows person, not a MAC person..... but this
should not change my comments....

Quickie definitions....  Boot:  Initial startup of your computer from a cold
( power off) or warm (restart) condition.  Basically it is the intelligence
that tells all the IC's what to do and how to do it, and where to find it.
( your brain stem and central nervous system)
Applications: programs like Excel, PS, LR, etc. ( your consciousness)
Data:  Stuff that has been processed by an application and needs to live
somewhere....Images, spreadsheets (memories)

Your issue seems to be that over time, your computer boot up time has gotten
longer.  This implies that you have a lot of stuff going on in the boot
process.  More than you started with.  I consider all of these non-original
programs to be "dirt".  Some dirt is good and you want it, others is bad and
just junks up your system.

The "fix" for most slow start issues is not usually a bigger HDD, nor a
faster processor ( but this could be an issue), but a "dirty" OS....  Dirt
includes those programs bits and pieces that are installed on your computer
to allow applications to work, ditto but you tried to remove those programs
and they left some dirt behind, little add-ons that you think are cute, and
other necessary and un necessary stuff.... 

There are 2 ways to bring up a new boot HDD into your system... starting
fresh with everything, and cloning the old drive.

If you were to buy a new HDD (regardless of size), then re-install a clean
copy of your OS, then install all your applications, then bring over your
data files, this might be the real solution.  Of course, you will spend
about a week doing all of this.....  and a week may not be an exaggeration.

If you decide to just buy a new, big HDD, and clone it from your old HDD,
you will carry forth the "dirt".....  but it may help....  ( warning... this
is probably what most computer techs (Geek Squad) will do with a new HDD
installation..... as it is quick ( overnight/unattended))

The other possibility is that you have a lot of files and somehow you have
enabled a program that immediately indexes all your files on each boot for
quick access from your keyboard.  Someone who is MAC savvy must help you
with this.... It may be something you want, but it is costing you in boot
time.....  Faster ( not larger) drives will help if this is a feature you
want to keep.

In either case, bigger drives are not more or less reliable, they are simply
bigger..... and will fail like all other sizes of HDD.
Some drives are faster than others.... the specs include words like.....
transfer rates, RPM, etc.  Bigger numbers are faster, if your computer is up
to the challenge and interface.

4 drives, 3 drives, 2 drives are all not an issue in boot.  You boot from
only a single HDD, then the application SW gets booted from wherever it is
saved and the data for those applications is accessed from wherever that is
stored.

Frank Filippone
Red735i at verizon.net

 Here is a question for the computer savvy. B&H photo is offering external 4
gb Western Digital discs for $149. I currently use four 1 gb WD discs on my
iMac to store and edit photos. But the iMac has become slow to boot up as
the discs fill up. I attribute this to having to load the content files of
each disc on the screen. If I dump all the files on a single 4 gb disc will
the computer boot up any faster?. Are 4 gb discs are reliable as 1 gb discs?
I'm of the school that says that you can't have too much disc space so is
the B&H offer a good deal.
Larry Z