Space for Archive and Install

Hello All,
I am having the same login problems everyone else seems to be having with a new twist, when i go to archive and install and hopefully fix this mess, i realize that i now only have 6gigs left on my hd, and i need 11 to install. I am assuming this is because leopard has already been installed once. Here is the kicker, it wouldnt be a big deal to make space on the hd, but i have no idea how to get to my files since i cannot login and cannot access finder! Any help would be greatly greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Ryan

Look at the root directory for your disk and check if there is a "Previous Systems" folder. If so, open it, and if there are multiple versions there, you may be able to safely delete one or more of them. Check the contents to be sure you're keeping the most recent copy. Hopefully, you have an external backup to restore from in case you have to 'erase and install' Leopard.

Similar Messages

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.

Error at the end of Archive and Install; Need Quicktime reinstall quickly!

I got all the way through an Archive and Install and at the very end it said there was an error in the process. Everytime I do it, same thing.
I'm trying to reinstall Quicktime 6 because I've read Final Cut Pro 4 doesn't work well with QT 7—I downloaded it recently. FPC performance has been horrible ever since!
I followed the easy step by step process Apple provides for Archive and Install but it doesn't work in the end. I'm trying to reinstall Quicktime 6. Currently working with 10.3.9. My original disks are 10.3.
I'm running off the original disks; don't know why it won't do it.
Need Quicktime reinstall quickly!

I already had, the problem is not covered on that page.
I'd had no response within a few hours so I had to force the Powerbook to shut down. On rebooting, it only got as far as the Apple logo and the progress wheel. I left it for half an hour and it got no further. I reset the PRAM again (I'd already done it before the actions detailed in the original post). Nothing. I tried again to Safe Boot. Nothing - not even the login screen.
I then tried to re-install OS X 10.5 - this time the option to 'update' was available which I did. It automatically restarted but still would not proceed beyond the Apple logo and progress wheel.
That's how things stand now. I have given up for the day but I can't think of any other course of action apart from a complete erase and install but that would be far to drastic because unfortunately, despite my insistence last time there were problems, nothing has been backed up.
Incidentally, I tried to boot in target mode to recover their account folder - the disk mounted on my MacBook Pro but when I tried to open it, my Finder crashed.

Archive and Install problem (not enough disc space for another install)

Alright, so I've got the blue screen. I tried getting rid of the APE stuff, and they were all successfully deleted, but it's still the blue screen. So I'm going to do the Archive/Install thing. My problem is that if I try to do an Archive and Install, I won't have enough space to do it. I have around 3.5 GB right now, but that's probably not enough to do another install.
My only option I think is to go into single-user mode and manually remove my larger files. I have a back-up drive, and I tried removing all the stuff that's on the back-up drive from my computer, but all of them are listed as read-only.
So is there a way to override permissions in the UNIX thing? Or is there another option for me with?
Also I don't know if this matters, but I'm installing it from an external DVD drive and I'm doing it from PANTHER and not Tiger.
Message was edited by: JollyWaffle

...anyone? I left the blue screen on overnight but it didn't do anything.

After Archive and Install 10Gb of disk space has disappeared!

I was having various minor problems which I have mentioned elsewhere and out of shear frustration I decided to stop wasting any more time and do an Archive and Install - preserving accounts etc.
After the subsequent Software Updates I was horrified to see that my main disk was 10Gb down on what it had been just prior to doing the installation. It was moreso because unlike the original installation I had not installed all the Languages, Fonts and Printers which I would not be using, so I hoped to gain some space - not lose it.
Anybody any ideas where this drive space has gone?
And please nobody suggest the Previous Systems folder - I dealt with that.

Alf Megson wrote:
Do you really want me to answer that question?
yes. I had to ask. I don't know you and I've seen way too many posts by people with similar problems who don't know that one has to empty trash to actually reclaim the missing space.
Boot from the leopard install DVd and repair the startup drive (not permissions). reboot and see if that makes a differences. if not try to find out what's taking all the space. see this post for tools for that.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8188595&#8188595
10GB should not be hard to find.

Any way to free up HD space ahead of Archive and Install?

My macbook pro recently stalled login at the blue screen. i tried the usual tricks including safe boot and repairing permissions and disk. when i try to login with safeboot it thinks for a minute and returns me back to the login screen. multiple repairs of permissions and disk yield no errors. i went to my local apple store and they suggested doing an archive and install. unfortunately when i tried to do it, i was 200mb short of the 2.4gb of HD space needed to do the most bare bones install that included no software, fonts, or drivers. is there any way to access any of my HD files and delete something? it would break my heart to have to do a full erase and reinstall because of just 200mb of space. please recall that there is no way for me to enter the computer through either normal boot or safeboot. thanks in advance for your help.

Good catch, I didn't notice that.
You can use a pre-Intel Mac, though. It just needs to be running Mac OS 10.4 Tiger. I've booted my MBP from a PB G4 running Tiger with no trouble.
Thanks for the star, and good luck!
Ps. This highlights the need to have a +frequently updated+ bootable backup for your computer. Personally, I use SuperDuper to keep an up-to-date bootable clone on an external firewire drive. If I ever need to, I can boot my MBP from that.

Upgrade, or Archive and Install? Disk space?

I'm thinking of upgrading to Tiger soon because I want those shadows I make in Pages to show up on PDFs. But before I do give up my money for the disc, I've got a few questions, just to make sure every thing goes as planned:
- Upgrade or Archive and Install? I seem to remember back in the old days when there was mayhem with Upgrade when that option was first introduced (in Jaguar?). Is Upgrade reliable now?
- If I do Upgrade, how much additional disk space do I need (I have Panther on my PowerBook right now)? I know Apple says 3GB on its website, but that's only for a clean install, right?
- If I do Archive and Install, how much disk space will I need (including the Previous System folder)?
PowerBook G4 (Gigabit Ethernet, 667MHz) Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Hi Kim!
Here is some additional information.
Tiger is available for purchase at The Apple Store (U.S.).
If you know what to look for, a Full Retail Version, of the Tiger Install DVD, can also be purchased rather inexpensively, at some online Apple retailers, Amazon, eBay, AppleRescue, FastMac, etc.
As Gulliver posted, be sure not to purchase grey, upgrade or machine specific CDs or DVDs.
The discs should look like the images in the above links.
Additional info in these links.
Using OS X Install CDs/DVDs On Multiple Macs
What's A Computer Specific Mac OS X Release
Software Update, Upgrade: What's The Difference?
Tiger System Requirements
Additionally, "Tiger ships on a DVD, but if your Mac doesn’t have a built-in DVD-ROM player, you’ll need CD media. When you buy Mac OS X Tiger, you qualify to purchase Tiger CDs for only $9.95."
Download the Media Exchange Program Order From Here.
Orders must be mailed by March 19, 2007.
AppleRescue, also sells a Tiger installation set on CD
Shop Carefully, Examine All Documentation, And Good Luck!
ali b

Want to run an archive and install, but can't empty trash to free space

I don't know where to begin... at some point recently something caused problems with several applications, so after trying to repair permissions and repair disk with no luck, I decided to archive & install. Now I want the old problems back: Word/Excel/Photoshop will not open because of some library error (Carbonlib?), and my network settings keep going screwy such that if my computer goes to sleep, I couldn't pick up my wireless signal anymore without restarting (and then ta-da, there it was like there was never any problem).
So in trying to archive and install I keep stalling at the very beginning... I'll leave it for hours hoping it would proceed but it wouldn't. I've repaired disk several times, with the same errors ultimately coming up. So without being able to archive and install I figured I'd better back everything up and do an erase & install. Started backing things up in prep for moving them onto a server, but when I plugged the server in, my computer said it couldn't get on. Same exact server wire had just come out of my work computer which connects just fine. So now I've got duplicates of all my files on the desktop, so I try to trash them and when I select 'empty trash' or 'secure empty trash', I get the box that says "preparing to empty trash" and then everything except my wallpaper goes away, and eventually comes back as if I've restarted. Now I definitely can't archive and install because with duplicate copies of all my files I have only 1.7gb available and need 1.9 to install just the required files.
I'm at a total loss! Incidentally, my ipod won't mount if I try to plug it in.
Are there other options in disk utility that I can try? I don't know enough to feel comfortable just trying something, and I don't know what the "Restore" option does.
Oh goodness, I hope somebody knows something that can help me out of this.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3366422
Odd, the link works for me.
-mj
[email protected]

Anyone know where I can get an "Archive and Install" article for Tiger?

I need to do an archive and install on my Macbook (OS 10.4.11), which runs at the speed of molasses. I've never done it before and am very nervous. Can anyone point me to an article on the website that will tell me how to do it? Thanks!!

Tony: Thanks very much! I looked at the article, which warned me that I should attempt simpler solutions first.
The computer, which we got in 2006, has been slow from the beginning and has gotten worse and worse (despite the installation of a new motherboard). I had it looked at for precisely this problem while it was sitll under AppleCare, but the Apple Store I took it to claimed there was nothing wrong with it.The reason I've been assuming I need to do an A&I is that an Apple tech thought that would speed up the computer, which has been getting slower and slower on all counts--rarely crashes, but (for example), now it's so slow to recognize a perfectly good wireless signal that it sometimes takes a full minute before the "You are not connected to the Internet" disappears and Safari (or Firefox) connects.
Do you think the tech who advised me most recently was right, or do you think I should look for another cause before attempting an A&I? I've looked at the Apple article about isolating problems before trying an A&I, <http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1388>, but that article only addresses solving specific issues (e.g., balky startups, kernel panics, etc.), rather than the global problem of slowness this computer has had almost from the day it arrived.
Thanks again for the first article link, and for any suggestions you may have--much appreciated.

Tiger Archive and Install Using External Disk for Archive?

Any way to do an archive and install by moving the saved stuff to an external usb drive? My 10.4.3 install disk is offering me only erase and install, I was updated to 10.4.8 and quite invested with software, etc., would really like to at least try archive and install, but of course the main drive is too full for that.
As an alternative, is there any way to use single user mode command line to locate and move files before doing the erase and install?
Finally, I gather I cannot boot os 9 with my mini. Is there any workaround for that?
Thanks for any help.
Jud

> One of the unexplained mysteries to me is what users are supposed to do about iTunes libraries?
Create and maintain a backup saved to an external drive or media (used for backup purposes only) as should be done with all other data that is important to you - for this very reason and for other important reasons. It isn't a matter of if but when your hard drive has a partial or complete failure since none last forever.
Since an iPod can be accessed/used via Disk mode as with any other external drive, many use their iPod for backup purposes which is a big mistake IMO since this isn't what an iPod is designed for. There are ways to retrieve music from an iPod but if you have your iPod preferences to automatically launch iTunes and update with iTunes and/or don't have Disk mode enabled, it makes it much more difficult if not impossible.
Do you have access to another Mac that supports being connected to another Mac via Firewire Target Disk mode? If so, you can connect your Mini to another Mac this way to retrieve your data and then you should probably consider reformatting the drive (which completely erases the drive) and then re-install Tiger and all software.

Archive and Install - not enough space?

I'm trying to do an Archive and Install on a MacBook 2.1 that will not start up because of Kernel Panic errors that I have not been able to resolve. When I try to do an Archive and Install I get a message that says "You cannot install Mac OS X without changing your install settings. A newer version of Mac OS X is installed." I then click Options, select Archive and Install, but eventually I get a pop-up that says "You need about 13.3 GB more free space on the destination volume. Deselect some packages or quit the Installer to make more space available..."
When I click OK I get a screen that says "Custom Install on Macintosh HD." It tells me that it requires 15.5 GB and that -13.3 GB is remaining. Even by unchecking everything except "Essential System Software" it still says Space Required 2.5 GB / Remaining -329 MB. My only option at that point is to Go Back. This brings me to the Select a Destination screen, but when I select the HD and click Continue it just loops me back to the Custom Install screen.
It seems like it's asking me to make room on a hard drive I can't access because of the Kernel Panic errors. Any ideas? Thanks.

Have you tried booting to your Install DVD and running the Apple Hardware Test (hold 'D' as startup)?
If you've backed everything up, perhaps a clean install is the better way to go.

Indexing goes on for 12 kours + after archive and install Leopard 5.8

Hi
I have because of a problem with Time Machine been suffested to run Archive and install from the installation disk. All has worked out fine, but before using Time Machine the computer need to index the contents on the HD. I only see a progres bar with "estimating time" when clicking on spotlight in the right upper corner. It has been doing this during more than 12 hours.
Any remedy abyone
Thanks in advance

can you launch activity monitor and "kill the offending app? I know that the indexing of spotlight is something quite major, but it should not take that long and cause so much difficulty.
There might be a possibility that spotlight is trying to access the old sparseimage (was it passworded?) and cannot. So could you try mounting that and see if that makes any difference? (NB that is usually a hidden file but you can make it "visible" with onyx).
Hope you'll be lucky.

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.

Performed an Archive and Install and now my Admin password doesn't work

I talked to CS this afternoon per an issue with iTunes and was instructed to perform an Archive and Install.
I just got done running both discs and the computer seems ready to go. When I click on my user name (I'm the admin) my password no longer works. We have two other users on the computer (neither have been set up with a password to access the accounts) but now the computer is asking for one.
I'm typing my password correctly.
Does the computer reset to a generic password?
Any help would be appreciated!!
Thank you!

Hi Kathleen,
Does the computer reset to a generic password?
No, it most likely means that there was a disk problem, you can generally prevent... well, let me give you my whole spiel since we're here...
Could be many things, we should start with this...
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc that came with your computer, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
6. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it finishes.
The usual reason why updates fail or mess things up, or things don't load/run, is if Permissions are not fixed before & after every update, with a reboot... you may get a partial update when the installer finds it doesn't have Permissions to change one obscure little part of the OS, leaving you with a mix of OS versions.
Some people get away without Repairing Permissions for years, some for only days.
If Permissions are wrong before applying an update, you could get mixed OS versions, if Directory is the slightest messed up, who knows!
If many Permission are repaired, or any Directory errors are found, you may need to re-apply some the latest/biggest updates again, or even do an A&I if you have enough free disk space.
At this point it's not unlikely to undo the PW problem, but will prevent fiture problems.
If it still doesn't work, go back to Step 2 above & lok for Change Password in the Menu bar.
We have more if that still doesn't do it.

Triples of applications after Archive and Install

Hi
I just tried to install Leopard on my black macbook, which made it go to a blue screen until i re-installed it using the archive and install option, and the preserve user settings and networks option. I was attempting to access some applications from my dock, and they were saying that i couldnt use the application with this version of Mac OS X. Anyways i looked in my applications folder, and I now seem to have some triples of apple applications. One copy is in the previous system folder, and two in my current applications folder, one of which does work. Do i need all of these, or will it wreck anything if i delete them from the previous system folder or the ones that don't work in the current applications folder??? Very very grateful for any help... at all!!!

Alf Megson wrote:
Do you really want me to answer that question?
yes. I had to ask. I don't know you and I've seen way too many posts by people with similar problems who don't know that one has to empty trash to actually reclaim the missing space.
Boot from the leopard install DVd and repair the startup drive (not permissions). reboot and see if that makes a differences. if not try to find out what's taking all the space. see this post for tools for that.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8188595&#8188595
10GB should not be hard to find.

Space for Archive and Install

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