Archive and Install Leopard - questions about "previous system" folder

now that i have done an archive and install for leopard I have a "Previous system" folder. In it is "Applications", "Library", "Private", "Users", and "System" folders.
Which can I delete and which must I save??

Hi DrAndy;
It is my understanding that after testing the installation done with an Archive & Install once you are certain that everything is working correctly the "Previous System" folder can be deleted in it's entirety.
Allan

Similar Messages

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

Archive and install - what to with previous system content?

hello
i updated to osx 10.5.1, i did the archive and install
when i went to open my apps foilder, only apple apps were there. all other apps were in the previous syst folder. so, i dragged those apps over to the 'new' apps folder. there were some duplicate apple apps, so i did not drag them over.
my question is, can i dump those 'old' apps?
there are also other annoying files/folders (library, mach.sym, private, system, users). they are silly, can i dump them? machine seems to be running fine withouth them
thanks
wayne

alex
very kind of you to respond
it gets a bit more confusing in the non app folders as to what i need and or do not need.
how can i determine what to keep / throw away.
thanks again
wayne

Archive and reinstall - can't find previous system and want to delete

Hey everyone,
I just did an archive and reinstall with OS 10.5 and now am running out of disk space. I've been trying to find the "previous system" folder but can't locate it with finder. Any ideas?
Is it in the system folder? What can I delete without killing my computer?
Noob here, thanks a bunch!

Current system is OS 10.5
previous was the latest update - 10.5.6?
I have about 10 GB less space now that I need to recover!
I'm running this: MacBook Pro 2.4Ghz, 2GB 15", 160GB
Thanks.

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.

Archive and install cannot acess admin

I did and upgrade from 10.3.9 to Tiger 10.4 using the "archive and install" which creates a previous System folder 1. I cannot acsses anything asking for admin and password, if i go to the accounts in the system prefs pane.
It has me listed as "standard user" so i can't even change me to Admin because it wants my admin and password to unlock.
I have already used the install disk to change password, the only change was to my login name and password.
I did an archive and install so that i could if possible use any of the files from the previous system from 10.3.9 in any of the Tiger's system.
I done a lot of searching here, some i knew few i didn't.
Suggestions anyone?
Steve

That is very strange -- the OS is supposed to make sure there is always at least one admin user account. Niel's helpful link should get you going again, but you might want to consider calling AppleCare about this anyway. They should know if something in the installer or migration assistant is buggy enough to let this happen.

Cannot Archive and Install--help.

I recently upgraded from Tiger to Leopard and am having a number of problems since the upgrade. Would like to Archive and Install to get a clean System folder, but that option is now blanked out and only "Erase and Install" is available. Permissions are repaired and Disc verifies fine. What can I do to restore the ability to Archive and Install?

From the yellowed banner item at http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=235 click the linked article and find http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306877
Alternatively, reinstall Leopard via E&I and migrate from the bootable backup/clone of your previous Tiger installation—assuming you followed normal practices and made one.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106941
http://www.macmaps.com/upgradefaq.html
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/installswupdates.html
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/backuprecovery.html

How do I restore previous settings after archive and install?

I had to do an archive and install (with the box unchecked about users) on Friday after I had a kernel panic issue, but now I don't know if there is a way to restore my previous settings and access my previous files. I found the "previous system" folders, but it restricts my access to almost all of the folders, and I can't even find all of my music (iTunes) files or my stickies. I also can't find all of my bookmarks and internet settings. I'm totally panicked...there is a lot of information for my business that I really can't afford to lose. Please help me!

See the following:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107297.
The following can also apply to locating and moving data from a Previous System Folder. The "Home" folder will be /Users/shortname/ where "shortname" is the user account name you created.
Because you did not transfer the users accounts when you did the Archive and Install you may have created a new user account and password that is not the same as the one you previously used. This means the PSF has different permissions associated with it.
<font "size=+1">Folders You Can Move to Your new Mac
From the Home folder copy the contents of Documents, Movies, Music, Pictures, and Sites.
In your /Home/Library/ folder:
/Home/Library/Application Support/AddressBook (copy the whole folder)
/Home/Library/Application Support/iCal (copy the whole folder)
Also in /Home/Library/Application Support (copy whatever else you need including folders for any third-party applications)
/Home/Library/Keychains (copy the whole folder)
/Home/Library/Mail (copy the whole folder)
/Home/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist (* This is a very important file which contains all email account settings and general mail preferences.)
/Home/Library/Preferences/ copy any preferences needed for third-party applications
/Home /Library/iTunes (copy the whole folder)
/Home /Library/Safari (copy the whole folder)
If you want cookies:
/Home/Library/Cookies/Cookies.plist
/Home/Library/Application Support/WebFoundation/HTTPCookies.plist
For Entourage users:
Entourage is in /Home/Documents/Microsoft User Data
Also in /Home/Library/Preferences/Microsoft
Credit goes to another forum user for this information.
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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.

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.

Post Leopard Installation - Transfer data from "Previous System" folder

After the first attempt to install Leopard and got the evil blue screen, I had to reinstall my old Tiger from the original installation disks, then attempted a new installation of Leopard. This time I chose Archive and Install as one support article suggested, and chose Preserve user and network settings as instructed. This time the Leopard installation was successful, but now how do I retrieve my data (photos/itunes/mail)etc. from the "Previous System" folders?

There should be no need to sync the files. A previous system folder happens when you do an archive and install, so what's in that folder is identical to what your Mac was when you last did one. Presumably you've changed a lot of things since then and wouldn't want to go back.
Unless there are a few files you deleted and want back, then just copy them over. Then delete the entire thing, it's using up disk space.
Kevin

I'm a Pro Tools user, who just did an "Archive and Install" installation of 10.5.8 over my 10.4.11 on my 2 Ghz G5, now Pro Tools won't launch. I checked the extensions folder and sure enough, the digidesign extensions were left behind. Can I revert back

I'm a Pro Tools user, who just did an "Archive and Install" installation of 10.5.8 over my 10.4.11 on my 2 Ghz G5, now Pro Tools won't launch. I checked the extensions folder and sure enough, the digidesign extensions were left behind. Can I revert back to the "Archive" of my 10.4.11 System from the "Previous Systems" folder? If not, what's the point of creating the "archive"?

Did you select "Preserve User Settings"?
Archive and Install installation automatically moves existing system files to a folder named Previous System, then installs Mac OS X again. (See tip 3.) You cannot start up your computer using a Previous System folder, nor can you "re-bless" the Previous System folder. (See tip 1.)
You can choose to preserve your user and network settings before installing. This option automatically moves existing users, Home directories, and network settings. This also skips the Setup Assistant after installation.
Note: Because the "Preserve user and network settings" option moves, not copies, existing users, Home directories, and network settings, from the Previous Systems folder to the newly installed System, these items will not exist in the Previous Systems folder after the Archive and Install is complete.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1710
Read this:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2196
BTW, it is never recommended to do a major OS change without having a full, bootable backup.

Printer issues after archive and install

So I recently took my iMac into the Apple store and they did an archive and install.
Now I can't get either of my printers to work. I have a Samsung ML2010 and an Epson 1400. They both show up in Printers in the system prefs printer pane, with green lights saying they are idle.
When I go to print with the Samsung, it even goes to far as to sound like its starting up, it says printing when I click on the printer in the dock, then quickly switches to stopped.
From there when I press resume, it pops up an error message saying "Operation Could Not Be Completed. client-error-not-possible"
If I'm not mistaken pretty much the same thing happens when I try to print from the Epson as well.
What's wrong and how can I fix it?
I've tried deleting the printers from the printer prefs page and reinstalling the drivers to no avail.

Did you make a backup before your archive and install?
If not, you may be forced to clone everything at least twice*:
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html
Erase and install.
Test the drivers on a simply erase and installed system updated to the operating system it was at before (down to the free download)*:
http://www.macmaps.com/upgradefaq.html
And restore just the data that is known to work with that operating system from your backup. The other consideration you'll see in my FAQ is if you migrated from PowerPC to Intel, you might have mixed drivers that don't work well together.
are all Intel iMacs, and are not G5s.
are sometimes G5, sometimes Intel. If the Mac can boot, go to Apple menu -> About This Mac to tell the difference. If it won't boot, put the machine on its back, and read the under side of the foot of the stand. The EMC# on the foot of the stand will tell you the difference. EMC#s of 2104, 2105, 2110, 2114, 2118, 2111, 2133, 2134 are Intel. All others are G5.
An archive and install may fail if the system you are archive and installing from is older than what is already installed.
- * Links to my page give me compensation.

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)

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.
Why reward points?(Quoted from Discussions Terms of Use.)
The reward system helps to increase community participation. When a community member gives you (or another member) a reward for providing helpful advice or a solution to their question, your accumulated points will increase your status level within the community.
Members may reward you with 5 points if they deem that your reply is helpful and 10 points if you post a solution to their issue. Likewise, when you mark a reply as Helpful or Solved in your own created topic, you will be awarding the respondent with the same point values.

Archive and Install Leopard - questions about "previous system" folder

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