The Apple Backup application creates a backup recovery partition that allows the Performa to boot even when the System Software on the main hard drive has been corrupted. The partition is invisible to the user.
When a system problem (one that prevents the Performa from booting) is detected, a dialog is displayed that informs the user of a system problem. The user can choose to fix the problem manually or to reinstall software from the backup partition's Mini System Folder. If the user chooses to install software from the Mini System Folder, the cursor becomes a watch, the hard disk spins for a brief time, the Mini System Folder is copied to the main volume and the system restarts booting from the main volume. The backup is then reset to invisible. The user can then copy the System, Finder and System Enabler to the main System Folder.
There is no built-in limit to the number of times the backup partition can be used. However, the partition will be lost if the hard drive is re-formatted. At this time the backup partition is used only on the Performa 550.
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