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When using disk utility to verify/repair permissions (or verify/repair the disk itself), I've never been clear whether I should perform operations on the disk ("WDC WD1200BEVE-00WZT0" in my case) or on the volume nested beneath it ("MacintoshHD"), or both. I usually do both, but is this necessary?

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It can't hurt to repair permissions on your actual disk, but it is quite unnecessary, because "Macintosh HD" contains the actual operating system, so the stuff that you want to repair.

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Would repairing permissions on the actual disk also cover everything on "MachintoshHD", or would I want to also run a repair on that specifically? I imagine a repair on the disk would include the volume in its scope, but I don't know if that's actually how it works. – ivan Oct 9 '12 at 19:14
No, your "Macintosh HD" volume won't be repaired if you click repair on the actual disk. In the Unix world, people usually have a lot of volumes, so everything is always quite specific in matters like this one. – rien333 Oct 9 '12 at 19:18
Good to know. Thanks. – ivan Oct 10 '12 at 3:27

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