Advice Needed - Should I just do a Clean Install?

I've got an older 17" iMac FP that I handed down to the kids (6 and 9). The mainly use Garageband and Pages. Since this was my original machine (before getting my new 20" iMac G5) I decided to leave my account on there, just for a backup. Lately they've been getting lots of "Program quit unexpectedly" on lots of apps, including Garageband, iTunes, TextEdit, and Marble Blast Gold. Things have gotten worse since the 10.4.7 upgrade. I just ran a "fix permissions" and "Verify Disk" all looked good. The machine is in good shape, lots of RAM and about 15G of disc space available.
So, what's my question... I've been thinking of just starting over; doing a clean install. This machine was originally upgraded from 10.2.8 directly to 10.4.x. I just think that maybe starting from a clean disk would help things out.
Some questions. What is the best way to backup the kids accounts? I have a FW drive connected to it, so I can back up stuff to it. I really don't want a "clone" just a decent backup. Also, is it a good idea to delete my and my wife's user accounts (I hear a disk image of each account is created). I could copy those over to the FW just as insurance. I've been moved over to the new G5 for about 3 months now, so I'm pretty sure I got everything over. But you know what happens, as soon as I wipe the old system I will discover I am missing something form the old machine.
What do you all suggest I do? I realize that even after wiping the drive I will probably end up with 10.4.7 after all is said and done. I just think that a clean system may be a good start.
Thanks,
Alfredo

Hi, Alfredo.
1. You wrote: " Lately they've been getting lots of "Program quit unexpectedly" on lots of apps..."See my "Multiple applications quit unexpectedly or fail to launch" FAQ for advice on troubleshooting this issue.
2. I trust you've enabled Parental Controls, Simple Finder, etc. to keep the children from discarding system-related files? I presume they do not know the Admin password on that computer and their accounts are not set up as Admin, yes?
3. You wrote: "What is the best way to backup the kids accounts? I have a FW drive connected to it, so I can back up stuff to it. I really don't want a "clone" just a decent backup."The advantage of duplicating (cloning) is that if you decide to reinstall Tiger from scratch, you can restore their accounts simply using the Migration Assistant from the clone on the FireWire drive after you've set up the an Admin account for yourself to manage their Mac. It's a little-known fact that you can use the Migration Assistant to migrate from an a duplicate of the startup disk of an "old" Mac on a FireWire drive vs. Target Disk mode.
That would also settle the question of saving a backup of your account and your wife's account on that computer for the time being. At some point you could startup from that clone, then use the instructions in "Mac OS X 10.4 Help: Deleting a user account" to delete those accounts from the clone and move the disk images for such to another drive on your new Mac. Note that if one of the accounts you are deleting from such is the only Admin account, you may want to first create another Admin account on the clone and use it to delete-and-preserve your account and that of your wife as you need to use an Admin account to remove accounts.
For advice on the backup and recovery solution I employ, see my "Backup and Recovery" FAQ.
4. If you're going to perform a full, fresh reinstall of Tiger on your children's computer, I also recommend — after cloning the drive and assuring you have good, bootable clone — to first "zero" the drive to remove any bad sectors that may have developed. See "Disk Utility 10.5 Help: Securely erasing disks." Select at least the "Zero Out Data" security option.
5. FYI: If your children access the Internet, see my "Internet Safety for Children" FAQ for my advice on protecting your children on the Internet. This FAQ lists some Mac-based solutions, tips I have suggested in prior posts, and a list of links for additional information.
Note that some of the information above is from the "Moving to a New Mac" and "Zeroing Volumes" chapters of my book, Troubleshooting Mac® OS X, Tiger Edition.
Good luck!
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

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