Archive and Install - will I lose my photos?

Hi
I need to reinstall OS X as I am having some problems with the blue screen and the fact that my iBook will not boot up. Before I go ahead and reinstall can anyone confirm that I will not lose my photos (and music). I really do not want to lose years worth of photos. (I know, I should have made a bcak up!)
Thank you

Hi JTatro
An Arhive and Install will keep your documents, photos, files, etc, in a folder called previous system, so no, you won't lose them.
But to be safer still, it would be even better to backup these precious files to another location, like to DVD or another drive.
If this answered your question, please consider awarding stars.
regards roam

Similar Messages

After Archive and Install, will I lose all my contacts and apps?

I recently had to do an Archive and Install of OS-X 10.4 and I'm in the process of getting everything up to date.
I need to know if after this process when I try to sync my iPhone if I will lose all my contacts, music, and/or apps?
Can anyone help?
Thank you,
Matt

Hi JTatro
An Arhive and Install will keep your documents, photos, files, etc, in a folder called previous system, so no, you won't lose them.
But to be safer still, it would be even better to backup these precious files to another location, like to DVD or another drive.
If this answered your question, please consider awarding stars.
regards roam

Failed 'Archive and Install' - will CLI ditto or rsync save me?

I've done an 'Archive and Install' that ran properly, executed the restart, and then presented a message saying the installation can not be completed because of insufficient space on the target volume. To be clear, the computer restarts in the 'Installer' and displays the error message. I click 'OK' and it does a little loop and reappears. I can't properly quit the installer, force-quit, restart, anything. So I eventually power down.
More info :
I can boot from the install disk and in the system profiler I see 9.5 gigs free on the HD. The SMART status is verified. In fact the 'Hardware' section and 'Network' section seems okay, the 'Software' sections reveal the faults. Here I see no mounted applications, no extensions, no frameworks, etc. It's as if I can see where the install gave up. I have run disk utility and repaired the disk, the permissions, and it returns no errors and a nice green message. I ran DiskWarrior and it found nothing to repair. I was able to see my files in the preview, including my sparse image, but decided not to go ahead with a re-build, because I don't think that's going to save my system folder that's split in two. (From the failed A&I)
I am using FileVault and I am aware that these forums advise that I should have disabled it before trying the installation. Alas, the drive-space overhead was not to be found. I did, however, have room enough for the install, I thought. (And I do have my most critical data backed up, but not the whole system.) When I ran the install from the OS X DVD it indicated 15.6 gigs necessary for installation. I had in excess of 18. I know, I know, too close for comfort, and the FileVault image probably needed more overhead, and...
Chalk it up to knowledge and change.
So now I've got that external FW drive I should have had in the first place and I want to clone my whole HD over so I can start anew with an 'Erase and Install'. (Unless somebody thinks of something better. Bless the previous system?)
I'm not an idiot, but new to the command line (at least since the GUI has existed). I'm wanting to try this :
ditto source target
or
rsync -xrlptgoEv --progress --delete / /Volumes/target
Do I need to be in 'single user mode' (root - which I can access), or should I execute from the terminal via the install disk?
I just want to be sure I get this right, I'm confident that my data is there I just need to finesse it out.
Advance thanks to Kappy, your posts have saved me before...

Doesn't really sound like archive and install would be of much benefit to you, with as fubarred as everything sounds. However, you would at least have what you had before, just in case there's some unixy or other obscure thing that you did in the past that you need to reinstall because of the reversion to an OEM state. After 10.4.0 is reinstalled from DVD, then apply the OS 10.4.11 combo ppc update to get you up to the latest and greatest in one fell swoop. I believe that QT7.4 came out later than 10.4.11 release so that should be okay. Don't know about QT7.3, though.

How do I use archive and install to restore my CD drive?

I have a 2.66 GHz MacPro with current leopard software. My extended warranty just ran out. Before it ran out I began having problems with my CD drive in that some CD's or DVD's will be recognized while others' will not open. After talking extensively to Apple, they told me to do an archive and install with the original installation discs. I've been putting this off (even allowing the warranty to expire) because I'm paranoid that I'm going to lose precious data even though I have a current Time Machine backup.
So my question is do I just do the archive and install and hope for the best? Will I then have to upgrade back to the current version? I remember doing an archive and install a couple of times before to upgrade OS's and a few things didn't work until they were tweaked - lost code numbers, some Adobe products, etc.
Or is there a CD/DVD drive 'package' on the OSX install CD? Could I just reload this? If so can anyone tell me where to look? I would love to do this because everything else is working perfectly and I don't want to mess things up.
Note: I'm sure it's a software thing and not hardware related after consulting with Apple.
Thanks for the help,
Lou

How to Perform an Archive and Install
An Archive and Install will NOT erase your hard drive, but you must have sufficient free space for a second OS X installation which could be from 3-9 GBs depending upon the version of OS X and selected installation options. The free space requirement is over and above normal free space requirements which should be at least 6-10 GBs. Read all the linked references carefully before proceeding.
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported, then quit DU and return to the installer.
2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

Archive and Install back to Tiger

Hello all!
After about a month of frustration, I think I am ready to take my PowerBook back to Tiger. I see that I can do an Archive and Install from my Tiger Retail. The only problem I see is that the "Preserve Users" setting is grayed out.
So, if I go through this Archive and Install, will I still have access to my old apps (iLife '08, and some third party stuff like Finale), photos, documents, and music?
Thanks for all of your help!
Josh

Here is the latest update:
I am happy (albeit slightly puzzled) to report that I have been running KERNEL PANIC FREE for most of yesterday and today. Here is why I am puzzled: I booted up yesterday and the system seemed to hang. I noticed that the keyboard worked, but not the trackpad. I went and got an old Apple USB mouse. When I plugged it in, it responded. I was able to work all of yesterday afternoon and this morning without incident.
Just for giggles, I unplugged the mouse this morning. I got a KP after about 30 seconds. Here is the report from that KP:
Mon Sep 1 07:30:31 2008
Unresolved kernel trap(cpu 0): 0x300 - Data access DAR=0x0000000000000578 PC=0x000000000055A6A0
Latest crash info for cpu 0:
Exception state (sv=0x46143280)
PC=0x0055A6A0; MSR=0x00009030; DAR=0x00000578; DSISR=0x40000000; LR=0x00D2F7C0; R1=0x2A2C3BA0; XCP=0x0000000C (0x300 - Data access)
Backtrace:
0x00D74924 0x00D2F7C0 0x00D40E54 0x00D424D8 0x00D429B8 0x00D9F4AC
0x00D35CE4 0x0035A994 0x0003F94C 0x000B05D4
Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.driver.AirPortBrcm43xx(314.46.9)@0xd2e000->0xe5afff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IO80211Family(211.1)@0xd0a000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.4.1)@0x552000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily(1.6.0)@0xc8e000
com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.4.1)@0x552000->0x565fff
Proceeding back via exception chain:
Exception state (sv=0x46143280)
previously dumped as "Latest" state. skipping...
Exception state (sv=0x34f51500)
PC=0x00000000; MSR=0x0000D030; DAR=0x00000000; DSISR=0x00000000; LR=0x00000000; R1=0x00000000; XCP=0x00000000 (Unknown)
BSD process name corresponding to current thread: kernel_task
Mac OS version:
9E17
Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 9.4.0: Mon Jun 9 19:36:17 PDT 2008; root:xnu-1228.5.20~1/RELEASE_PPC
System model name: PowerBook6,2
panic(cpu 0 caller 0xFFFF0003): 0x300 - Data access
Latest stack backtrace for cpu 0:
Backtrace:
0x0009B498 0x0009BE3C 0x00029DD8 0x000AF210 0x000B2A78
Proceeding back via exception chain:
Exception state (sv=0x46143280)
PC=0x0055A6A0; MSR=0x00009030; DAR=0x00000578; DSISR=0x40000000; LR=0x00D2F7C0; R1=0x2A2C3BA0; XCP=0x0000000C (0x300 - Data access)
Backtrace:
0x00D74924 0x00D2F7C0 0x00D40E54 0x00D424D8 0x00D429B8 0x00D9F4AC
0x00D35CE4 0x0035A994 0x0003F94C 0x000B05D4
Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.driver.AirPortBrcm43xx(314.46.9)@0xd2e000->0xe5afff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IO80211Family(211.1)@0xd0a000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.4.1)@0x552000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily(1.6.0)@0xc8e000
com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.4.1)@0x552000->0x565fff
Exception state (sv=0x34f51500) P
Not sure why it is working, but I am not complaining either.
Thanks again for your help and insight!
Josh

Archive and Install Time? Clarification?

I have several symptoms going on simultaneously that lead me to think that I need to try an Archive and Install.
1. Mail loses all settings and data on a daily basis.
2. Trying to install Quicken via CD that is known to be good gives bad disk error message.
3. Trying to transfer files from CD-R burned on another PB running same OS gives file error message and won't allow transfer of some files.
4. Found an iPhoto file that was consuming almost 80 gigs of disk space. How and why?
5. During start-up, when the gray Apple start-up screen appears, there is an irregular gray line about 3 inches long that appears above the Apple. It isn't present when I start up from the Install Disk, and disappears when the desktop appears.
Repaired permissions, repaired disk using disk utility, performed long hardware test. Am I missing something?
If I try an Archive and Install, will that preserve my data and files? System settings, yes, but what about my stuff. I suppose that means I need to reinstall any third party software?

Daniel is almost right. What an Archive and Install does is to move your entire existing system into a Previous System Folder at the root directory of the hard drive. It then installs a fresh copy of OS X. All your files are preserved. If you use the option to preserve user and preference settings they will be moved into the new system. All your installed applications that are in the Applications folder will be moved into the new system. However, some applications will store information in the /Library/Applications Support/ folder. These files will remain in the Previous System Folder and will have to be moved to the new system manually.
If you do an archive and install be sure you first repair the hard drive. Do not attempt an archive and install unless the hard drive has been verified as OK.

Archive and Install/ original settings

I keep having various problems with my G5. I want to archive and install again. I want the original settings/default settings for everything. While I have tried to "fix" all my computer issues, I have tinkered with my computer so much that I just want to start fresh. Will archive and install do this or do I have to erase everything and start all over? I can't seem to find the answer anywhere else. Thanks
G5 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

An Archive and Install will install a fresh System (folder) but preserve your User's folder, which many or some of the preferences are kept, so your app after launch, its look, settings etc will still be the same.
This may be good or bad, depending if it is the preference files that maybe corrupted or damaged that has been giving you problems. But one thing for sure is this install will not "bring over" any 3rd party "hacks" that you have installed (they appear in your System Preference Pane, e.g. Norton, Wacom, etc)
Do the A&I Install first, then slowly move, re-install and re-configure any (creditable) 3rd party software you have, try and stay away from too many "hacks" and enhancers for the time being, especially if you have use them in the past, 'cause it may be one of those, or between 2 or more that causes conflict and problems for your mac originally
The worst-case would be a complete reformat and re-install of everything, but I don't think you need to go to that extreme
Cheers

Archive and Install from external DVDROM?

My Dvd-rom is broken so I bought an external optical drive. Lately, my software (such as Word and Powerpoint), have not been opening correctly. Apple Support suggested that I do an Archive and Install.
Will I be able to do this from an external optical drive?
Thanks,
Danielle

Yes, as long as the external drive is bootable. Insert the installer DVD into the external drive then restart the computer. After the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the icon for the external DVD then click on the downward pointing arrow button. The computer should boot from the DVD. Follow these instructions for the Archive and Install:
How to Perform an Archive and Install
An Archive and Install will NOT erase your hard drive, but you must have sufficient free space for a second OS X installation which could be from 3-9 GBs depending upon the version of OS X and selected installation options. The free space requirement is over and above normal free space requirements which should be at least 6-10 GBs. Read all the linked references carefully before proceeding.
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported, then quit DU and return to the installer.
2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

Failed Archive and Install - Have I lost all my user files?

In another thread I have reported printing problems while running OS 10.4.11 on a Cube http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1401894&tstart=0. Tonight I decided to do an Archive and Install to try to fix the problems. I got a message saying that the installation had failed and that I should try to reinstall. When I did so I was given the option to Archive and Install but the check box for Save Users and Network Settings could not be checked. Rather than trying to reinstall I quit the installer and specified an OS 9 system folder for booting. After booting into OS 9 I examined the Users folder and found no folders corresponding to my two user accounts, only a shared folder. The OS X Applications folder appears to contain all my applications.
It seems that the failed installation erased my user accounts. Is that correct? If so, how can I recover them?
Of course I did a backup of my user files before installing, right? NO!!!! My last backup was eight days ago.
John Link

Yes, an Archive and Install will not erase the disk or your files. If you use the option to preserve user accounts and preferences those will be transferred into the newly created system. However, your existing system is a failed installation so if you do another Archive and Install it cannot transfer your user account because it is not in the existing system. Plus you will need sufficient free space on the hard drive for yet another system - about 6-8 GBs.
Once you backup your personal data and your Home folder, I would suggest you just erase the hard drive, reinstall OS X from scratch, then copy your Home folder backup to the newly installed system. These articles, How to get files from a previous home directory after Archive and Install and Mac OS X- How to recover a home folder (directory), explain the process. Although written for an Archive and Install scenario it is essentially the same procedure you would have to follow.
How to Clone Using Restore Option of Disk Utility
1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
2. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (journaled, if available) and click on the Erase button. This step can be skipped if the destination has already been freshly erased.
4. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
5. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Select the startup or source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.

I had to do an archive and install...

and I realize that I have to get rid of the previous systems folder but I was just wondering what I should keep from that folder before getting rid of it. Like, if I delete it will all of my music and documents and all that stuff go with it or...
Sorry if this is too vague, let me know if I need to be more specific.

How to Perform an Archive and Install
An Archive and Install will NOT erase your hard drive, but you must have sufficient free space for a second OS X installation which could be from 3-9 GBs depending upon the version of OS X and selected installation options. The free space requirement is over and above normal free space requirements which should be at least 6-10 GBs. Read all the linked references carefully before proceeding.
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.0 for Tiger) and/or TechTool Pro (4.5.2 for Tiger) to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

HT1710 If I click archive and install and it says moves existing system files to a folder named previous system , will this save my photos tol

I have to restore my Mac mini and i want to click on archive and install and it says it will move existing files to a folder but I need to know wether my photos will be moved too because I have 5 years worth of photos on there. If my photos will not be moved could I take it too a store and they could put them onto a USB stick for me.

"Archive and install" is an option in early versions of OS X installers. It moves some parts of the previous system to a folder called "Previous System" and installs the new OS.
There is also an option to presever user data and settings. See this document. http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1710
If you have 5 years' worth of photos and you do not want to lose them, then you NEED to have a backup. Hard drives can fail. Suddenly. Particularly on aging hardware. Computers can get stolen, set on fire or have drinks spilt over them.
If you do not have a backup, you should EXPECT to lose your files.
You should not need a store to make a copy of your files. Get an external drive, or use DVDs and move the files in the Finder. If you're using Leopard already, then you have Time Machine.

After Archive and Install, music and photos lost

Hello, I installed Leopard yesterday on my Imac desktop and it went fine, but then somehow it locked me out of the hard drive, and then...the blue screen. I put the orginal Tiger disk back in and re-installed the previous software, opting for 'archive and install'. It worked but my question is this;
Within the previous system folder, my music and photos are still missing. All I see is the iphoto icon which opens to a completely empty program. (Yet the info on this Icon says it is a 1 gb in there). Are my photos lost, really? And if not, how may I retrieve them? Thanks in advance.

You may find it in the Previous System Folder created during an Archive and Install that contains your old system. Assuming you have no need for its contents you can delete the PSF and recover the disk space.
Of course if the hard drive is corrupted then you may have performed an Archive and Install on a corrupted drive which will result in a corrupted installation. Consider doing the following:
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now shutdown the computer for a couple of minutes and then restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.0 for Tiger) and/or TechTool Pro (4.5.2 for Tiger) to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.

TS5376 I'm having problems with install version 11.1.4. If I uninstall and reinstall will I lose all my downloaded music?

I'm having problems with install version 11.1.4. If I uninstall and reinstall will I lose all my downloaded music?

Hi, so did I. It seems to be a huge problem with everyone. I opened a folder on desktop and called it target. I copied all my songs into that folder.
I uninstalled Itunes completely. Rebooted. Then I installed a fresh install.
I then dragged all the songs back to Itunes and it worked. I hope that helps.
I read an article the other day and apple is suppose to come out with some genius fix for this problem, it really seems to be global.
Good luck,

I want to upgrade to snow leopard from 10.5.8. Im hesitant to proceed because I'm running iPhoto 7 and word 2004. I want to be sure these programs will still run and I won't lose my photos or the events I have ordered them by. Should i makea clone o

I want to upgrade to snow leopard from 10.5.8. Im hesitant to proceed because I'm running iPhoto 7 and word 2004. I want to be sure these programs will still run and I won't lose my photos or the events I have ordered them by. Should i make a partition on my new Iomega external and clone it just in case? I'm running time machine and backing up all the time onto an old LaCie, and right now I have a copy of my iPhoto library on new Iomega, which I recopy every couple of weeks. I got the computer new several years ago and it came with iLife and 10.4 OS I think.

Word 2004 is almost 10 years old, you will not be able to upgrade beyond Snow Leopard with it. IMHO you have gotten your money's worth out of the application and need to upgrade to Office for Mac 2011, this will work just fine and read your old files just fine too. What will not run beyond SL are all PowerPC (PPC) apps such as Word 2004. You will need to update, upgrade or replace any PPC based apps you want to use. I would recommend taking a little time and check for updates to each of your apps. Then open System Profiler (Applications - Utilities - System Profiler) click the Applications link on the left and then look for any PPC based apps, those are the ones that will not run. You can upgrade to SL just fine with the apps you currently have however if you want to go beyond SL (it's already 2 generations behind) you will need to update or upgrade your apps. You can take your time doing it but eventually you're going to have to begin

Will I lose my photos in iPhoto if upgrade to a latest version? I have upgraded my system to Mavericks and now my iPhoto doesn't work. Can anyone help, please?

Will I lose my photos in iPhoto if upgrade to a latest version? I have upgraded my system to Mavericks and now my iPhoto doesn't work. Can anyone help, please?

Most Simple Back Up:
Drag the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to another Disk. This will make a copy on that disk.
Slightly more complex: Use an app that will do incremental back ups. This is a very good way to work. The first time you run the back up the app will make a complete copy of the Library. Thereafter it will update the back up with the changes you have made. That makes subsequent back ups much faster. Many of these apps also have scheduling capabilities: So set it up and it will do the back up automatically.
Example of such apps: Chronosync - but there are many others. Search on MacUpdate or the App Store

Archive and Install - will I lose my photos?

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