HARD DRIVE MAINTENANCE
As with any piece of sophisticated electronic equipment, your hard drive requires a bit of maintenance from time to time in order to perform at its best. When you shut down the VS recorder, make sure you use the proper shut down procedure, instead of just switching it off. This will extend the life of your hard drive.
FRAGMENTATION:
What is it?
When a VS recorder stores new files, it squeezes them into any bits of space it can find. As a result, the data winds up scattered all over the hard drive. When the data is stored in such little bits and pieces, the hard drive is said to be "fragmented".
When the recorder plays back a file from a fragmented hard drive, it has to grab a little piece from here, another piece from there and so on. This is much harder than playing one continuous chunk of data from a single hard drive location, and it takes more time. This can slow things down unacceptably and lead to errors during playback, recording or backup.
Fragmentation is a naturally occurring process for a hard drive used with any computer or recording device. Hard drives that record audio are especially prone to fragmentation due to the start-and-stop nature of recording.
How can I prevent fragmentation?
We strongly recommend you perform the following three-step procedure, in order, every 3-4 months* to eliminate any fragmentation on your hard drive before it starts causing problems:
1. Back up all the projects stored on the hard drive
2. Perform a Format Drive with Physical Format turned on.
3. Recover your projects to the hard drive.
* Depending on usage. If the product is used everyday, you may want to do a physical format more often.
Is my hard drive fragmented?
Your hard drive may be fragmented if:
- you experience Drive Busy! messages
- you hear pops and clicks when you play back a project
- the transport controls begin to feel sluggish