Archive and install leaves previous system in generic condition

I just did an archive and install preserving settings from 10.3.9 to 10.4.8
(10.3.9 > 10.4 > 10.4.8)
no problems on the surface so far
then I had an issue with "Preview" where multiple images opened in separate windows instead of in the drawer of one window so I went looking for a previous preview pref file thinking it was glitch and I could replace the file.
Previous system>users> revealed nothing -no user info whatsoever
I have a cloned backup which I've frozen for the time being.
I was under the impression that an arch and install w/preserve settings kept the previous system intact and just copied needed files.
It appears that the files were- moved- including all apps so my previous system looks generic
what am I missing?
G5 1.8 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Here we go, Lance
Many settings that are used very frequently are also stored in cache files. The associated preference file is only consulted when the cache file is deleted. During the Archive&Install all caches are cleaned. There might have been a different setting in the preferences than in the cache.
Open Preview, open "Preferences" from the Preview-menu, click the tab "Pictures" and "Open pictures in same window" (or something the like - I use a german system).
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Performed Archive and Install now Previous System User File is Empty

Performed Archive and install yesterday -selected the save users and networks option. When it was complete - the machine worked - but when I went into the previous system folders the user folder is empty. I have almost no space left on my drive - so i think my stuff is still out there somewhere - is it?
Help!
I do have backups of most things - but there is no room on my hard drive to restore from my backup.

How much space DO you have?
If you can boot from another fdrive for now, that;d be good.
How much free space is on the HD, where has all the space gone?
OmniDiskSweeper is now free, and likely the best/easiest...
http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnidisksweeper/
Perhaps they are there but invisible!?
If you want to try to recover them, you should quit using the computer asap. Possibility exists of losing everything. Backup if at all possible.
Unfortunately DU can't fix all that much, your best bet is DiskWarrior, you need the CD though.
http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/
If DW can't fix it, you might try Data Rescue II...
http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php
(Has a Free Demo to see if it could or not, but you'll need another drive to recover to).
Or FileSalvage...
http://www.subrosasoft.com/OSXSoftware/index.php?%20mainpage=product_info&productsid=1
to recover what you can.

FCP won't launch after Archive and Install

After the fiasco of the 1.1 update for the Alu-iMac's I had to do an archive and install on my system to return it to 1.0.
Everything is now working fine but FCP6 won't launch. It bounces in the dock once and then nothing. LiveType and DVD Studio 4 will open but Color, Motion and FCP won't.
I have trashed preferences and repaired permissions with no luck.
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There are files that are not brought along with Archive and Install.
Some are invisible and not accessible without enabling "root" access and even then you have to know exactly which files have to be moved from the 'previous System' folder.
Archive and Install never works with Apple's Pro apps.
If Niel's suggestion doesn't work you'll have to erase your hard drive and reinstall everything making sure you first backup important data to another hard drive.
(don't forget to save your mail and addresses)

Archive and install - permissions problem?

I've just installed Leopard using archive and install (I previously had 10.4.11) - I did this as I wanted to keep all my old info - bookmarks, itunes library etc.
however - after restarting - I followed the on screen instructions etc and am now on my desktop with Leopard working ok - but none of my stuff is there - no itunes library, no documents, no bookmarks etc - they do exist in the "previous systems" folder - but I thought they would be added automatically - am I missing something - is it to do with the "repair permissions" on disk utility - do I have to run this to get my files etc put onto Leopard - or has something gone wrong and I'm going to have to copy them all over one by one?
thanks for any help and apologies if the question is stupid - its the first time I've updated a system on a mac!

In order for the transfer to occur you must have selected the option to preserve users and network settings. Apparently you did not check that option and will need to move your files manually from the Previous System Folder. This article will help: How to get files from a previous home directory after Archive and Install.

"Archive and Install" - Where did the folder go??

I have had many problems with applications crashing since my upgrade to Leopard and Apple recommended that I do a Archive and Install of the system.
I started it last night and went to bed.
When I woke up it was done...
Now I can not find the folder with my old system copy. Where is it and what is it called?
Looking at the space on the hard drive, I expected a big chunk to be used for this folder but I can not see that much of the hard drive have been used.

Hi,
Open a finder window, click on your hard drive, and you should see a folder named "Previous System Folder"
Follow Apple's advice on how to delete it - http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25461
Regards

Cannot run java program after archive and install

Hi,
I am new to this forum and appreciate the help and advice given here.
Yesterday, I did an archive and install on my system which install 10.4.3. Afterwards, I installed X11 and did the software updates which brought my system back to 10.4.8. It also installed Java 1.3.1, 1.4.2, and 1.5 (J2SE5).
Prior to the archive and install, I had no problems executing a java program either in the command line in an X11 window or using Eclipse. However, when I try now I get the exception message "Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError:". I checked my CLASSPATH and it's not the problem. I am able to compile, and execute the javadoc command. If I type java -version I get
java version "1.5.0_06"
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.5.0_06-112)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.5.0_06-64, mixed mode, sharing)
Under Eclipse, I am able to see the Java versions under Preferences - Java - Installed JREs but if I go to the Run -> Run As menu, I see (none applicable).
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James
Dual 867MHz G4 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

I resolved the issue. I reinstalled XCode and had an issue with one of the files I was testing.

Third party AU audio units disappear after archive and install

hey everybody.
so after an forced unfortunate archive and install, my third party AU have disappeared from DP and Logic. they run fine in standalone. how can i get them back into logic?

Move them back from your old archive, or reinstall.
When you do an archive and install, your old system gets removed and a new fresh system put in place. If you had plugins in the system components directories, obviously they aren't gonna be there on a new fresh system.

Stop archive and install 2nd DVD

I had my MacBook Pro upgraded to a 200GB disk, and am having problems. I restored the disk with CarbonCopy, but started to have problems with Carbin apps - crashes, Carbinlib access etc. The second restore created the same problem. The system runs fine from the mirrored disk.
I finally decided on an archive and install, but the system hangs with an error in postflight after installing iWeb. This is not critical, but everytime I reboot it forces the system back in to the installer.
How can I reset the new OS to boot normally. I tried PRAM reset etc.
Very frustrating....

Hi admesko, and a warm welcome to the forums!
You hace little choice to but power it down & start over.
First...
"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."
Then, Second install disk won't work or is missing...
A workaround is to reduce the number of Languages, Printer, Drivers, Fonts, and
APPs until it no longer needs Disk 2 for the install.
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.

Can I trash "Previous Systems" after Archive and Install?

For details leading up to this question, please see my previous post entitled "Not recognizing password after OS install". Basically I want to know if I can throw out the "Previous Systems" folder that was created when I did an "Archive and Install" re-install of my OS.
Thanks.

For more information about the previous system folder and what is saved, you can check out Mac OS X: About the Archive and Install feature. Probably the most important piece of information is that the Previous System Folder contains a copy of the /Users folder. If you thought that something was missing from your home folder in the new system after the upgrade, you could copy it from the /Users folder. But, if you selected the option "Preserve User and Network Settings" when you did the Archive and Install, this should not be necessary.
Personally, what I would do is to leave the Previous System Folder be for a couple of weeks. If you don't find anything missing, then it should be okay to delete it.
EMAC G4 1.0 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.8)

After archive and install--I have a previous system folder

Hello, I had a corrupted system file and I had to do an archive and install, which used the system discs I got with my laptop to reinstall OS X.
Now I have a previous system file on my hard drive. Is this still needed? Can i just delete it? What can I do?
Thanks

This is simply an archive of your previous system.
Although system was corrupt, you may be able to look through the folder and retrieve any data which you would like to keep.
But the answer is no, you definately don't need it.
Dave

How do I do back to previous system folder after archive and install?

Did an archive and install (retaining my existing user account), only to discover it was unnecessary. (Turns out the problem was hardware-related.)
How do I go back to using my previous system folder?

FloydianSlip wrote:
Huh. Hardly seems to be worth "archiving" if you can't go back to the archive.
The purpose of an *Archive & Install* is to install a fresh, known-good copy of the OS, while preserving in the archive all the files from the previous copy of the installed OS that you might potentially need for some reason. (This is why it is called an Archive & Install.)
However, since any of these archived files might have been damaged in some way since they were installed or created, or in some way conflict with a freshly installed OS, they cannot be considered "known-good" without further testing & should not be reintroduced haphazardly into the "live" system.
The value of this install method should be obvious if you consider that if the OS is sufficiently damaged it will not run the computer, either at all or well enough to recover from whatever damage is done. Without this option, you would have to erase the existing startup disk completely (with the *Erase & Install* method), losing everything created or installed besides what is contained in the OS installer.
The closest equivalents to the kind of archive that you can "go back to" are cloning the entire drive or using the 'restore from Time Machine' option from the installer DVD's Utilities menu, assuming you use Time Machine.

Can I copy newer system (10.6.8.) from previous system folder after archive and install with (10.5.4)?

Rightyho,
had trouble with extensions in 10.6.8 and had to re-install with original disks 10.5.4.
Did an archive and install.
In my (dated) Previous System Folder are Appl / Library / System / User folders.
Copied my User folder back no problem.
Can that also be done with the newer system? No info in support.
Time Machine won't migrate because of newer system and I have only a disk image of Snow Leopard and can't burn double layer DVDs.
When I tried to order SL DVD from Apple they told me it'll take 3 weeks ...

http://www.maciverse.com/install-os-x-snow-leopard-from-usb-flash-drive.html
How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6

Problem Deleting Previous System after Archive and Install

Earlier in my time with this wonderful iMac, I did an Archive and Install to try and resolve a slight problem. I read all the docs beforehand and knew it would save the previous system in its own folder and saw that I could likely delete that folder afterwards.
I have waited months since then, (almost forgotten about this folder) but have never had reason to want anything there, so today decided to delete it.
I dragged the entire previous system folder to trash and tried to empty trash. It deleted most of the stuff, but kept one package DownloadReader7.pkg complaining of locked files.
I have used Pacificist to look at the contents of this package and it says it is a receipt. It contains elements of Adobe Reader Download Manager.app
I have looked on my present working system and can not find an equivalent.
So two questions...
1. Is it safe to delete this package (if I knew how)?
2. If it is safe to delete it, HOW do I, when it appears to have locked elements when I try to empty trash?

It's safe to delete any files in the PSF.
Usually all you need do is press the OPTION key before selecting Empty Trash. If that doesn't work the next thing to try is restart the computer after you've dragged the file to the Trash. If neither works then visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on resolving Trash problems.
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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.

Previous System folder vs. system folder after archive and install

Hi there - I am very new to mac but love the products and am excited to be a part of the culture.
Because I am having battery-type problems I was told to do an archive and install to see if it was a software problem.
My question is, I followed the instructions apple gave for doing the archive and install. And it says that you can delete the previous system folder if everything is the same or you can move stuff over.
The problem is I want to delete the previous systems folder but it is very different than the new one and I don't even know what I would copy.
Briefly, the new system folder just has one folder inside called library with a bunch of folders inside of that.
The previous system folder called previous system 1 has folders entitled application, library, mach.sym, private, system, and users. Why are they different and what can I do?

The previous system, in most cases can be safely deleted. You can't revert to it anyway, so there's no fall back option to worry about. If you've saved everything in your user folder (or home folder - same thing) your data is safe. The previous system may have some preference files for apps you run, perhaps even registration data for apps that require serial #'s when you install them. If everything runs fine, and your data is where it's supposed to be, you can safely delete the previous system. I'd suggest making sure everything runs OK for a week or so, make sure all your apps work and all your data is there, then delete the previous system.
Jeff

Archive and install leaves previous system in generic condition

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