Archive & install problem

My beloved Mac was acting sort of funky so I decided to do the old "archive & install"; everything is peachy except I'm having no luck whatsoever restoring both my address book and my mail with all the contacts and mailboxes intact; what am I missing?

Did you select the option to preserve user settings?

Similar Messages

Leopard archive & install problem (10.5.8 - 10.5.2)

hello all,
part of the problem is stated in the subject header - i was initially running 10.5.8, but after a failed startup this morning, i had the apple store take a look at it. they archived/installed... leaving me with 10.5.2 instead. i believe this is ill-advised(?)
the main issues im having now are:
1) 20gb of space i want to reclaim - 14.5 is sitting in the 'Previous Systems' folder. the rest of it is a mystery. i notice that i now have garageband, iMovie & iPhoto - which i previously trashed. i'd like to remove those again (along with their baggage wherever it may dwell).
2) iTunes no longer operates because the library was "created by a newer version"
3) general concern over system version conflict.
so the main questions are:
1) what can i safely delete?
2) what can i safely swap from the 'Previous System' folder? and when should i do - before or after re-upgrading to 10.5.8?
3) how bad is it really?(archive/installing to a earlier build) are there other issues possibly lurking??
I appreciate everyone's help in this matter, these forums are great. the apple store genius(no sarcasm) who gave me 10.5.2... coulda done better. but hey, at least i'm back up & running, so he still gets props.
thankx again and happy holiday:)
-af-

See the following: How to get files from a previous home directory after Archive and Install. This article will help you move things from the Previous System Folder into the new system. However, before you do that you want to upgrade to the system your were previously running by opening Software Update and installing the needed updates. Do this before you start moving files/folders from the PSF.

Any problems to PS CS4 if I do an archive/install of Leopard?

Hi!
I have PS CS4 installed on my Mac running Leopard. The CS4 version is itself an upgrade from CS3. I need to do an archive & install of Leopard as I am having some problems with my system. Will this affect my PS installation? Will I have to reinstall? If so, will I need to start with CS3 and then install the CS4 upgrade? What about the licence?
Thanks.
Stephen

It will have no impact whatsoever on CS4 or any other application.
All Adobe Upgrades are full installers. No need to install a previous version that you won't use. When the Upgrade installer does not find a serial number, it will simply ask you for the old serial number as well as the new one.

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.

How to restore preferences on iTunes after an archive & install

Hi,
My main HD had some critical problems that needed to be fixed and overcome using Disk Warrior. After that my OS was non-functional, so I proceeded to do an archive & install. Now upon using iTunes, I've always had my iTunes library on a separate HD because of the many thousands of mp3s I have. Now the problem is that with the archive and install I have lost all my star ratings for ALL my tracks plus I've also lost the many, many playlists I created in the past. I made everything according to my preferences over a good number of years and CANNOT face going through it again!
Is there a .plist file I can salvage from my old system folder that will update my new copy of iTunes?
Please help I'm pretty desperate here :-P

I actually found it out going along on my own actually. What I did was make iTunes load with the library from my previous system iTunes folder which for some reason wasn't present on my master HDD. Everything was back to normal like it should be with ratings, settings and all intact \o/
I actually never bothered looking, but now I realized that iTunes ALWAYS has to make its folders under /Users/xyz user/Music regardless of where the mp3s are stored. I actually didn't realize that the library settings were stored on the master HDD separate to where the mp3s were stored, which was on the slave HDD. Does anyone know why iTunes doesn't just keep all the information together, or migrate that information according to where you want the source of the iTunes library to be?
Thanks to all who replied to my message, I'm so relieved that it has all been rectified and the unnecessary hassle been thrown out the window!

Issues, iphoto won't open after archive install.

Hi there, got issues here. Previously I had accidently deleted a very important file in private/var/ and had to do a archive install. The shop swapped out my original 500 GB and put in a 2 TB. Great, turned it on, everything looks good. However, couple things not going so well. My pro apps aren't working but thats in another thread and now, I went to open iphoto and it won't open, says:
iphoto cannot be opened because of a problem
log shows this
Process: iPhoto [2352]
Path: /Applications/iPhoto.app/Contents/MacOS/iPhoto
Identifier: com.apple.iPhoto
Version: ??? (???)
Build Info: iPhotoProject-5270000~1
Code Type: X86 (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [88]
Date/Time: 2011-02-08 10:08:13.107 -0600
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.6.6 (10J567)
Report Version: 6
Interval Since Last Report: 53970 sec
Crashes Since Last Report: 15
Per-App Crashes Since Last Report: 2
Anonymous UUID: CA4F49CB-7A97-494E-9653-81EDA451C528
Exception Type: EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP)
Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000002, 0x0000000000000000
Crashed Thread: 0
Dyld Error Message:
Library not loaded: /Library/Frameworks/iLifeFaceRecognition.framework/Versions/A/iLifeFaceRecognit ion
Referenced from: /Applications/iPhoto.app/Contents/MacOS/iPhoto
Reason: image not found
Binary Images:
0x8fe00000 - 0x8fe4162b dyld 132.1 (???) <749D24EE-54BD-D74B-D305-C13F5E6C95D8> /usr/lib/dyld
Model: iMac7,1, BootROM IM71.007A.B03, 2 processors, Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.4 GHz, 4 GB, SMC 1.21f4
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro, ATI,RadeonHD2600, PCIe, 256 MB
Memory Module: global_name
AirPort: spairportwireless_card_type_airportextreme (0x14E4, 0x88), Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.10.131.36.1)
Bluetooth: Version 2.3.8f7, 2 service, 19 devices, 1 incoming serial ports
Network Service: Ethernet, Ethernet, en0
Network Service: AirPort, AirPort, en1
Serial ATA Device: ST32000542AS, 1.82 TB
from what I can see in this is image not found, no cue what that means. Hope someone can help me out with this. Thanks

No I do have a back up Its kinda long to explain but last a little over a week ago, i delete a important file in my private/var folder and screwed up my computer. Worst part was I didn't run time machine for almost a month that way all my pics that I did bring on weren't backup up. i know this sounds careless but normally does happen like this. Anyway I had to take my imac into to get it fixed and the only way to do it without losing all my data was to do an archive and install and of course my drive was full so they had to swap it out and they put in a 2 TB and ya, so now I am where I am at. Everything is here but got pro app and iphoto issues. I guess worst case scenario if something does go wrong on the install I kinda do have a back up as the old drive can be put into a enclosure and used as a HD but I guess it is a bootable drive so I don't know if it would mount properly. Thanks for you help though/ Really Appreciate it.
Nat

ITunes can't read iPod contents after Archive & Install

Hi,
I recently had to replace the hard drive in my Mac Mini, and now that it is back up and running again iTunes will no longer sync with my iPod. When I start iTunes, I get the following error message:
iTunes cannot read the contents of the iPod "Timothy
Macinta's iPod". Go to the Summary tab in iPod
preferences and click Restore to restore this iPod to
factory settings.
I would prefer to avoid restoring the iPod so that I can retain the play counts, ratings, etc. which I have changed on my iPod over the course of the last week when my computer was under the knife. It won't be a disaster if I can't do this and end up needing to restore the iPod, but I thought I would ask in case anybody had any tips.
For what it's worth, /Applications/iTunes.app is identical to what it was before the Archive & Install. So is ~/Music/iTunes/ . Are there other files or directories where iTunes keeps track of what iPods it knows about and which I could try restoring from my backup?
Thanks,
- Tim

I figured out how to fix the problem and I figured I would post a follow up in case anybody runs into the same problem. Since I originally posted, I discovered that iTunes had additional problems. Specifically, when I tried to play songs which had been downloaded from the iTunes Store, it asked me for my iTunes account and password and entering them produced an error that was something like: "A required iTunes component is not installed. (-42401)" I downloaded the latest iTunes directly from Apple:
http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/
and then reinstalled it. Now I can play songs from the Store again and my iPod happily syncs. I don't know why it wasn't working before given that I had updated everything on the system, including iTunes, to the latest version with Software Update.
- Tim

Error in Archive & Install and PB not booting now.

I have a PB G4 with OSX Tiger 10.4.11.
After doing an auto-update of QT, there was a "shared library error" that prevented me from opening word, excel....I decided to perform Archive & Install.
The installation process was going well until a message appeared saying "Please try installing again".
I restarted my computer and got to "Select a destination volume to install the Mac OS X software" screen only to find that there was no destination listed to select. Earlier there was "Macintosh HD" but now there was nothing.
On opening Disk Utility I got to a window that had four discs listed in the left-hand column of the window. These were:
a)74.5 GB TOSHIBA MK8026GAX
b)Macintosh HD (in light grey colour which shows that it is inactive)
c)4.0 GB MATSHITA DVD-R Uj-845E Media
d)Mac OS X Install Disc 1
Under the "First Aid" tab in the main column I selected 74.5 GB TOSHIBA MK8026GAX and clicked "verify". It gave an error message: "Invalid node structure. The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired. The underlying task reported failure on exit. 1 HFS Checked Volume needs repair."
Then I selected Macintosh HD & selected "repair" & got the following error message:
Invaild node structure. Rebuilding Catalogue B-tree. The volume Macintosh HD could not be repaired. Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit. 1 HFS volume checked. 1 volume could not be repaired because of an error. Repair attempted on 1 volume. 1 volume could not be repaired.
The other two tabs, "Verify disk permissios" & "Repair disk permissions" were inactive all the time.
I even clicked on "Mount" when the "Macintosh HD" was selected. That gave the following message: "The disk Macintosh HD could not be mounted. Try running First Aid on the disk and then retry mounting."
Now when I switch on my PB:
a)If I DON'T have the installation disc1 inside the mac…it just gets to the grey screen with apple in the centre and after 2-3 minutes it switches off automatically.
b)If I HAVE the installation disc1 inside the mac then it gets to the basic installation screen telling me to select language and continue which further leads to the select destination screen with no destination to select.
Does anyone have any idea what’s going on with my mac? All I did was an auto-update of QT 7.2 to 7.3.1.
Please help.

unmo:
Let's begin with HDD space. A too full HDD is an invitation to disaster. As I noted previously, you should have a mimimum of 5 GB free space for virtual memory, swap files and whatever you are working on for OS X to function efficiently. A too full HDD can lead to directory issues, as you learned, data loss and an eventual HDD crash. Dr. Smoke's FAQ Problems from insufficient RAM and free hard disk space gives more info on this. Dr. Smoke's FAQ Freeing space on your Mac OS X startup disk has excellent suggestions to clear some of the clutter. In addition, you may be well advised to consider a larger internal HDD, and, if you do not already have one, to initiate a backup strategy. Dr. Smoke's FAQ Backup and Recovery offers helpful suggestions. If you have questions about any of these please do post back.
Mac OS X 10.3/10.4: System maintenance and Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance are excellent resources of OS maintenance. Look them over and post back with any questions that arise.
Good luck.
cornelius
PS: Thank you for leaving feedback in Apple Discussions by marking "helpful" and "solved" posts.
Message was edited by: cornelius

Archive & Install, Where did my printer settings go?

I just upgraded to Leopard from Jaguar on my PowerPC G4, by way of Archive & Installing. On top of my printer settings being reset to defaults, my RIP software (FastRip Pro) doesn't work with Leopard yet. Did I lose all of my previous RIP/printer settings? If not, where would they be in the previous systems folder?
I'm thinking about going back to Jaguar until the new RIP software is released..
If I do downgrade, will I lose my previous system folder?
Any advice appreciated...
Thanks

Glad to help.
I suspect your settings are in the folder named "Previous System" but Leopard simply did not migrate it. That's why I think a clone would be perfect. Unfortunately you did not clone Panther, so your only hope os that the settings are in that folder I mentioned.
Download a copy of CarbonCopy Cloner - it's free:
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
Then get an external Firewire drive like a LaCie. I have their 500GB quadro. Then using DU on Leopard, partition it so that your MBP files will fit in the smaller partition when you clone it.
The other partition is perfect for TimeMachine - that's the way I use it.
Now, using CarbonCopy, you clone your Leopard onto the smaller partition on the external drive. Takes anywhere from 1/2 hour to an hour. The LaCie has FW800 on it which makes things fly.
After you have cloned your MBP, restart it holding down the Option button and the external clone should show up as a bootable system. Select it and boot into it just to be sure.
Once you have your Leopard preserved, then you can erase your internal drive using the disk utility on the Leopard DVD (boot into the DVD by holding down the "C" key when starting up.
Erase your internal drive including the free space and then shutdown. Startup with your original Panther CD and install it. You should be asked to migrate, but I don't know if Panther will see the Leopard archive. No problem yet.
After you get Panther running again, use Finder to look into the archived folder on the Leopard clone and see if you can find your old stuff.
Seriously, by the time you do all this, it might be that your new software will be available. But still, it's a great learning experience and as long as you have that clone, you have not lost anything except what was not installed when you installed Leopard.

Re-install Problem

Problems with the Finder (no desktop or toolbar) inspired me to re-install 10.4. At the logon screen, I was stuck because it wouldn't take my name and gave no further options. I reinstalled, this time adding a new password to the System Administrator. Installation Setup did not recognize that I had a previous installation, so I've lost all preferences, my desktop, photos, printer drivers and probably lots more if I looked around.
How do I get it to recognize the previous installation and bring across all of my stuff?
iMac G4 Mac OS X (10.4.4)

I have a recent backup, but only of the files I use/create.Well, that's a good thing. So at least you have your data.
The rest you'll need to restore, unless they exist in "Previous System" (the older one) and they haven't changed much. any advice for finding such things as my iPhoto picturesThey are in ~/Pictures/iPhoto Library (unfortunately) but may be elsewhere in your Home also. Do a search for a known photo and see what comes up. where the heck are the files that were on my Desktop?Again, you can do a search for a "Desktop" folder but it seems that an archive & install would have overwritten all of these files and folders. Why the archive & install did not preserve your data in the "Previous System" folder is a puzzlement.
-mj
[email protected]

Can't find older mail from archived install

I recently upgraded the OS on my iBook G4 to Tiger - and performed an archived install just to be safe. After installation was successful, most of my preferences transferred with the upgrade seamlessly (Calendar, Address Book items, bookmarks etc.)
But, when I opened Mail, although my mail server preferences transferred okay, I discovered that most of my earlier mail from the the last year or so is missing. And for most of the messages that are actually apearring in my inbox, Mail is saying "X Message has not been downloaded from the server. You need to take this account online in order to download it." But, I am online and I can retrieve and send mail just fine.
Anyone have any idea how imight be able to recover my older mail? (I checked in the "Previous System" archived folder and sadly, there is no Library/Mail folder in there.) If worse comes to worse, I did back up all of my files on another drive before I upgraded, but I'm curious if maybe I'm just doing something wrong and my old Mail is currently buried somewhere on my laptop. Any help would be apprecaited. Thanks.

The conversion from Mail 1.x to Mail 2.x is broken. Take a look at the following thread to better understand the problem:
Help! "You need to take this account online in order to download it."
More specifically, if this is a POP account, the following procedure should allow you to fix the Inbox problem. A similar procedure should allow you to fix other mailboxes that might also be affected:
1. Quit Mail if it’s running.
2. Make a backup copy of the ~/Library/Mail folder, just in case something goes wrong while trying to fix the problem. You can do this in the Finder by dragging the folder to the Desktop while holding the Option (Alt) key down, for example. This is where all your mail is stored.
3. Create a new folder on the Desktop and name it however you wish (e.g. Inbox Old). It doesn’t need to have an .mbox extension.
4. In the Finder, go to ~/Library/Mail/POP-username@mailserver/INBOX.mbox/.
5. Move the files mbox and Incoming_Mail out of INBOX.mbox, into the Inbox Old folder just created on the Desktop. These files contain all the messages that were in the mailbox before the upgrade to Tiger, and maybe even some messages that had been deleted. mbox is the most important. Incoming_Mail may or may not be present.
6. Move any strangely-named Messages-T0x... folders to the Desktop (not into the Inbox Old folder). These folders are to be deleted after fixing the problem. They are temporary folders created during an import or an indexing process, and Mail should have deleted them when done. Their presence is a clear indication that something didn’t work as expected. If you’ve been using Mail after the conversion and have already tried to fix the problem by rebuilding the mailbox or something like that, they might contain messages that are neither in Messages proper nor in the mbox file, so keep them around until the problem is fixed.
7. Move everything else within INBOX.mbox, except the Messages folder, to the Trash.
The result of the above should be that INBOX.mbox contains the proper Messages folder only, and the Inbox Old folder on the Desktop contains the mbox and Incoming_Mail (if it exists) files only. Now, proceed as follows:
8. Open Mail.
9. The account’s Inbox should properly display in Mail as many messages as *.emlx files are in ~/Library/Mail/POP-username@mailserver/INBOX.mbox/Messages/. If that’s not the case, select the mailbox in Mail and do Mailbox > Rebuild.
10. In Mail, do File > Import Mailboxes, choose Other as the data format, and follow the instructions to import the Inbox Old folder that’s on the Desktop.
As a result of doing the above, some messages may be duplicated now. Andreas Amann’s Mail Scripts has a Remove Duplicates script that you may find useful.
Do with the imported mail whatever you wish. You may move the messages anywhere you want and get rid of the imported mailboxes afterwards.
If all is well and you don’t miss anything, the files on the Desktop can be deleted, although you may want to keep them for a while, just in case.
Take a look at the following article (also referenced in the thread I mentioned at the beginning of this post) to learn what you might have done before upgrading to minimize the risk of this happening, and what you may do after fixing the problem to avoid similar issues from happening in the future. DON’T do now what the article suggests, though, as that would make things worse in the current situation:
Overstuffed mailbox is unexpectedly empty
Ask for any clarifications or if you need further assistance.
Note: For those not familiarized with the ~/ notation, it refers to the user’s home folder. That is, ~/Library is the Library folder within the user’s home folder, i.e. /Users/username/Library.

Archive & Install leaves 3rd Party Apps (some with probs)

I've been on the phone with AppleCare two times about this. Here's the bottom line:
I installed Leopard (just the default upgrade) and the 10.5.1 upgrade. All was ok for a while. All programs (including 3rd party) were working. Then I took the laptop in to the Genius bar because I thought I had a battery problem and the system seemed sluggish. They ran Disk Utility from their store server which was NOT running Leopard and repaired permissions on my laptop from there. Then they ran Disk Utility from my computer (Leopard 10.5.1) and sent me on my way since the disk verified ok. Then the problems started:
1. Desktop Wallpaper was discarded and replaced by default
2. Printers disappeared and could not produce PDFs via an Adobe PDF printer
3. A 3rd party wordprocessor (Mellel) would not open existing documents and would not open a new document (no blank page, no error, nothing)
AppleCare instructed me to re-install Leopard with "Archive & Install" but warned that I would have to reinstall (most) third party programs. Trouble is, all my programs remained. The Adobe PDF printer problem was resolved, but the Mellel problem persisted. I called AppleCare again and they were perplexed as to how an Archive & Install could still have all the apps in the regular Application folder (and of course the icons in the dock too). The "Previous Systems" folder from the Archive seemed incomplete to them, so they suggested that the install was compromised somehow and to do another "Archive & Install." The goal would be to have another "Previous System" folder from the archive, and a clean Application folder with no third party software in it.
Well, 3 hours later, I have a re-installed Leopard and I still have all my applications (and of course, Mellel still does not work).
So, any suggestions out there? Are my installation disks messed up or should I go ahead and wipe the disk and start completely from scratch? I've got my library archived and my documents backed up. Anything else I should do if the recommendation is that I wipe it clean?
Karyn

OK, here is the "resolution" of the issue.
1. The issue was finally decided to be the fact that the Genius Bar used a non-Leopard system to do the Permissions Repair on a Leopard system. Apparently, 10.4 and 10.5 handle the repairs differently. Leopard actually also takes much longer. Apple Support (phone) said that 10.4 checks things differently and can alter/repair items that can make them unable to be understood by 10.5. This was the original issue which then led to me not being able to use my third party applications and to losing network settings and printer settings. Then because Apple Support kept having me do an Archive and Install preserving User settings the corrupted information kept perpetuating itself. The solution (unfortunately) was to do an Erase and Install and lose all the user settings. I called the Genius Bar at the retail location where I went last Monday to make sure they were aware of this issue so that other people do not waste as much time as I did this week on computer issues. I am mostly upset because this was a very preventable issue and I didn't need to lose so much work time right before the holidays. The Genius folks should have known better!
2. An option when doing Erase and Install is to migrate a backup from Time Machine. Since I had nothing to lose the Apple Support folks suggested that I use that option, so I tried that. I used a Time Machine backup which was prior to the issue with the Genius Bar. Unbelievably, it seems to have worked. At least I am back to just the issues (sluggishness) that I had when I started going to the Genius Bar.
Thanks for all your ideas and help in narrowing down the issue.

Apple genius did an Archive & Install on my OS. Got home-no pics in iPhoto

Hi,
My iMac wouldn't start and nothing I did was helping, so I took it into the Apple store. After trying a few things, the genius did an Archive & Install of Tiger, and everything appeared to be fine. So, I happily went home.
However, later in the day, I opened iPhoto for the first time and there were no photos showing up. No dotted outlines-- nothing. At the bottom, it says that the library contains 0 photos. When i look in the library folder in finder, I see that all my pictures are there and the folder is several GB large. However iPhoto, apparently, doesn't want to see them.
Now fortunately, I'm good about backups and I have a backup library that is usable and I'm pretty sure I won't lose anything (definitely not much). But this is weird and frustrating to me-- does anyone know how I might get my old library to show up exactly as it was (and as it is in the photo library folder)???
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
SS

SS:
Since your image files are still in the Originals folder you can start a new library and import the originals from the old library. That's about your only option as the database file, Library6.iPhoto, has been overwritten and lost all the information about the photos. Here's how to go about it:
Creating a new library while preserving the rolls from the original.
Move the existing library folder to the desktop.
Launch iPhoto and, when asked, select the option to create a new library.
Drag the Originals folder from the iPhoto Library on the desktop into the open iPhoto window.
This will create a new library with the same rolls as the original library. However dates on the rolls may be different but can be edited as you would the roll title.
Once this is completed you can delete the iPhoto library folder from the desktop. If desired, you can keep the older library folder to try other fixes on it.
In the future I recommend you make a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto file after each import and after doing a lot of editing and organizing in the library. Then if you experience a similar loss all you need to do is replace the damaged database file with the backup copy and you'll be back to the same place in the library as when you make the backup. See the tip at the end of my signature.
Do you Twango?
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've written an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.

Eudora and Archive & Install

In solving a problem with OSX 4.11, if I Archive & Install, will I lose my mail in the Eudora folders, or will they all be archived as well? I'm using Eudora 6.2 paid version. Thanks!

Hi Kane, and a warm welcome to the forums!
I uae Eudoea and Archive & Install on may OSes & Macs, it's always preserved.
The only way it could mess up is Disk Problems.

Archive & Install Failure

After installing the 10.5.7 my mac was hanging repeatedly so I decided to do an Archive & Install. This procedure also "froze" so I shut down the system before it completed and now I can no longer boot. Adding to my stupidity I do not have a backup.
Using disk utility from the install DVD I can see that my original settings (docs, apps, etc.) are stored in a Previous Folder. So, I guess my question is what should be my next step:
1. Can I restore everything back to the settings prior to the failed Archive & Install?
2. Or can I create a Disk Image of the Previous Folder, do a full installation and then restore my settings from the disk image?
Any ideas are welcome.
Thanks

Jberriz wrote:
After installing the 10.5.7 my mac was hanging repeatedly so I decided to do an Archive & Install.
(...) Adding to my stupidity I do not have a backup.
Never do any kind of install without doing some basic diagnostics (repair the hard drive and permissions with Disk Utility), especially if you're reinstalling because you're having problems, and never start those diagnostics or the install without a good backup. By doing so, you have invited the problems you are having.
1. Can I restore everything back to the settings prior to the failed Archive & Install?
As already stated, no... but that would be a dumb thing to do anyway. You don't want to restore settings from a damaged system, and you undoubtedly had a damaged system before starting the install.
2. Or can I create a Disk Image of the Previous Folder, do a full installation and then restore my settings from the disk image?
As already stated, you'd need to copy to another drive. If you don't have another drive, you can get them pretty cheap these days, and a USB flash drive would work as well if you have one with sufficient capacity. If you find yourself needing to copy the files to another drive while booted from the install disk, and if you aren't comfortable on the command line, post back here and someone can help you.

Archive & install problem

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