It's always something. First Microsoft informs me they're no longer supporting Windows ME, so I gotta upgrade to Windows XP. Okay, I bite the bullet, get the software and upgrade. Great big headache upgrading ...considering I did a full upgrade, not a piggy-back onto my ME. That meant backing up all the data ...which is not a bad idea in any event ...and then re-installing all the software when the upgrade is done. Not to mention the hassle in dealing with all the software that didn't survive the transition.
Then today, as I was transferring some more of the 2000 song files from my Mac's iTunes to Windows' iTunes ...the iTunes software is identical and so I can use each computer as a backup for the other with regard to the music. Anyway, during this process, using my Zip drives, I got the dreaded "Click of Death". It really fucked up my whole morning, but after scouring the internet, and researching possible avenues in addressing this problem, I stumbled across my own unique solution. It seems that the damage ...usually attributed to the hardware, was fixable. The discs could be reinitialized (using the Mac to zero-erase the disc, and then format it on the PC, and then using the PC to repair damaged sectors. Hey, it works. But since I have experienced the COD, having heard so much about it, I'll only continue to use the Zip drive ...I have one in each of my computers ...for transferring data, but never for backup. Because if you rely on it as a back up and when you put the disc in, you hear the "clicks", then the data is lost. I've never use this medium for back up anyway ...well, not alot.
The problem seems to be when using the Mac to write to a disc that's been formatted for the PC, sometimes the data gets corrupted. I'm pretty sure this is not a hardware problem, since using the procedure outlined above, I was able to repair and re-use the disc(s) ...and that wouldn't be possible were it a hardware failure.
Then today, as I was transferring some more of the 2000 song files from my Mac's iTunes to Windows' iTunes ...the iTunes software is identical and so I can use each computer as a backup for the other with regard to the music. Anyway, during this process, using my Zip drives, I got the dreaded "Click of Death". It really fucked up my whole morning, but after scouring the internet, and researching possible avenues in addressing this problem, I stumbled across my own unique solution. It seems that the damage ...usually attributed to the hardware, was fixable. The discs could be reinitialized (using the Mac to zero-erase the disc, and then format it on the PC, and then using the PC to repair damaged sectors. Hey, it works. But since I have experienced the COD, having heard so much about it, I'll only continue to use the Zip drive ...I have one in each of my computers ...for transferring data, but never for backup. Because if you rely on it as a back up and when you put the disc in, you hear the "clicks", then the data is lost. I've never use this medium for back up anyway ...well, not alot.
The problem seems to be when using the Mac to write to a disc that's been formatted for the PC, sometimes the data gets corrupted. I'm pretty sure this is not a hardware problem, since using the procedure outlined above, I was able to repair and re-use the disc(s) ...and that wouldn't be possible were it a hardware failure.
posted at 3:01 PM
