Backing up before and erase and install of 10.5, viable strategy?

I have been having some stability/start-up problems lately on my powerbook G4 (wouldn't boot after downloading and installing latest update to OS10.5, took it to apple store they ran some tests, said it didn't appear to be a hardware issue and they did an archive and install and it allowed me to boot the machine again but have experienced kernel panic when restarting since then) and was considering an erase and install of OS 10.5 (currently running 10.5 but bought the machine with 10.3, updated to 10.4 a few years back, and updated to 10.5 this past holiday season so I figure it could use a fresh start).
Up until this point I haven't had a backup strategy in place but the threat of losing by music / picture collection and other important documents has inspired me to get an external drive to back up my data. I was planning on using this drive to make a bootable copy of my current internal drive using superduper and using that with migration assistant to restore my apps, preferences, settings, and files after I have done an erase and install on the internal HD and had a few questions:
1. Will this work?
2. Is it a good idea given the problems i have described?
3. Can migration assistant copy over non-OSX apps such as my iLife programs, MS Office, MATLAB?
4. Would using Time Machine be a better option?
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Tim

Thanks all, sounds like this might should work, just want to make sure I don't have to manually reinstall MS office as I no longer have the disk or keys. As there some piece of info that I should write down that would allow me to reinstall MS office without purchasing a new license?
MS Office should work after an import from Migration Assistant. Of course, if it doesn't you could always:
1) Talk with Microsoft. If you registered your purchase, they can reissue the keys, or
2) Use OpenOffice or NeoOffice (free office suites that are quite compatible and functional), or
3) Use iWork (the Apple office suite that is great for presentations and documents and "ok" for spreadsheets).
Cheers,
Rodney

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.Mac Sync and Erase and Install

I have .Mac set to sync my keychain items, calendars, contacts, bookmarks, mail accounts and rules, and Yojimbo notes. If I perform an Erase and Install of Leopard, and add my .Mac account information and sync the same items, will those items be restored on my computer, or wiped out on .Mac since they would all be empty after an Erase and Install?

Hey there,
As long as you have authorized your computer and erased and synced with your new library, then you should be ok. Just be 100% sure that all your original music and files that were on your iPod are in your new iTunes library. Then, go ahead and "Erase and Sync." Hope this helps.
B-rock

IMac still broken after 10.5.7 problems and Erase and Install

I had written the following at the end of a "solved" post when it was suggested that I start a new post instead. So here is what I had...
Ok. I think my iMac was turned into a giant paper weight by 10.5.7.
Here's what happened with the Archive and Install. The screen said "Calculating Time Remaining" and stayed there for over an hour. I searched the boards and found that I should try to create a partition with Disk Utility and then try again.
So, I hard reset the computer and reboot off the Leopard DVD. I tried to make the partition but couldn't figure out how. Turns out I needed to click on the actual hard drive icon, not the existing Volume icon (which I discovered later). So, I checked the drive for repairs and it still checked out ok. I decided to erase the drive and go from there.
While tinkering in the Utilities I noticed the Restore from Backup option. So, I plugged in my Firewire Time Machine drive and began a restore from the last time my System was using 10.5.6. The restore completed successfully and I was hopeful that things would be ok.
I restarted the machine and it immediately went in to Open Firmware and the fans start spinning at full. So, I shake my head and decide to reset NVRAM. It tries to reboot and I have to hard restart it 3 or 4 times (as usual lately) and was able to reboot again off the Leopard install DVD.
That's it, I thought. I'm going to erase and install OS X.
I go back to Disk Utility and figure out how to partition the drive. I create a single partition and begin the process of Install OS X. It says starts fine and in about 40 minutes it is complete.
Restart with fingers crossed! New OS, wiped drive... it HAS to work, right?
Nope.
Same problems... freezing on boot, fans loud, etc. I reset PRAM and SMU(SMC).
Luckily I don't have any pressing work on my computer - someone who did would be quite angry with Apple that this was happening.
For my part... I now have a wiped hard drive... all iTunes content, iPhoto content, all my apps, games, docs... GONE. I do have the Time Machine backup... but did it really have to come to this? I suppose my hard drive could be failing... but wouldn't the multiple disk checks have shown something?
If there are any suggestions I'm all ears. I have reached the limits of my troubleshooting knowledge.
Thanks,
Jon
Follow-up:
After the computer had been off for several hours over night I decided to start it up again to see what would happen. At first it looked encouraging... got the startup chime, the Apple logo, the progress wheel.... then kernel panic.
Several hard restarts later (to get the Leopard DVD out of the drive) and the iMac now sits, packed in it's original box, ready to go to the Apple Store.
My question is this... does anyone think this might be a power supply issue?
The reason I ask is that I exhausted ALL troubleshooting procedures that I can think of. These include:
Replacing RAM, both DIMMs
Reset PRAM and NVRAM and SMC
Check hard drive using install DVD - OK
Restore 10.5.6 from Time Machine drive - did not resolve issues
Erase and Install OS X - did not resolve issue
Plug iMac in to wall outlet versus power strip
Removed all peripherals
etc, etc
I just can't believe that upgrading to 10.5.7 would hose my hardware. The iMac was working fine until 10.5.7 except the occasional crash of Halo on the larger maps.
Totally stumped.
Thanks,
Jon

Hello Joanne:
A suggestion - reset the SMU:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1767
If that does not help, let me try to answer your questions.
Wondering if I should roll back to 10.5.4 which is what I had, and, if so, how to do it?
If you have Time Machine, use that (a copy before the problem). If you do not have TM (or a bootable clone) the way to go back is to do an archive and install:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1710
Also, I've downloaded the Safari update, which I know won't run on that, so would I even be able to get the old Safari back?
The archive and install will do that. By the by, Safari 4 should run just fine on your system. It is faster than Safari 3.
Barry

Trying to sync new music i got on my mac which is my new computer to my iPhone and erase and sync is saying it will replace the contents of my phone. Does it mean Photos also or just Music and Videos?

I got a Mac and i downloaded new music on it and im trying to sync the music on this computer to my iPhone which is hooked up to another iTunes and iTunes is saying " An iPhone can be synced with only one iTunes Library at a time. Erasing and syncing replaces the contents of this iPhone with the contents of this iPhone with the contents of this iTunes library" does this mean that it will also erase my photos or just my music and videos ?? if it does is there another way to sync with out all my contents being deleted??

You can only sync one iTunes Library from Mac to iPhone.
And just so are you aware, Apple ID accounts cannot be merged, thus merging content > Frequently asked questions about Apple ID

How do i restore my back up that i backed up before i restore and update my iphone 5

Ok so i plugged my iphone an backed up in itunes by clicking back up now then i restore and update my iphone. My ios version was 6.1.2 when i backed up now it is on 6.1.3 with fully restore. Now i clicked restore from back up and i click ok it says not free space enough why and it started syncing automatically now help me restore my back up. And other thing is that when it was syncing it backed up again because i have it as back up to computer so please help me restore my iphone back up that i made when i was in 6.1.2 please

That depends on how you backed it up?
AS I ask - How did you backup?
there are no error messages, just an empty iphoto library.
Where/ On your main drive? On your external drive?
LN

Trying to transfer bookmarks from one hard drive to another. Did not have time to back up before swap-in, and cannot run old hard drive as master (new computer is a Dell). What can I do?

Don't have anymore to add. Unsure of steps necessary. Computer does, however see and access old drive when set up as a slave, with the newer HD as the master.

Firefox stores user data in the profile folder. You can copy the data files from the old profile to your current profile. For details on what to copy see https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Recovering+important+data+from+an+old+profile
Another link that gives more details about the profile folder is http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox

Selling Macbook and erasing and restoring to Lion. Am I on the right track?

Hi All,
I'm planning to sell a Macbook from 2008 that originally came with Snow Leopard. I have since upgraded it to Lion.
I've read the discussions and I think I'm on the right track. So far, I restarted and held the command and R keys. That brought me to Disk Utility. I chose "Macintosh HD" from the left hand bar and the format of "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)", selected to erase it, and chose the 7 pass security option.
In addition to being able to choose "Macintosh HD" there was "Mac OS X Base System". However, I don't think I was able to perform an erase function on that. Perhaps I can just leave that alone.
Anyway, I successfully erased Macintosh HD with 7 pass. I assume my next step would be to reinstall Lion. When I try to I'm told to connect to my wi fi network and re-install Lion from the Apple site. I had previously upgraded to Lion using a thumb drive which I no longer have. I guess I have no choice but to reinstall from the Apple site. That's fine for me as long as I get it to work.
Before doing so though I'd like to know whether I missed any steps. Was there anything else I should have done before I go ahead and reinstall Lion?
Also, will the person buying the Macbook be able to operate it since the Lion OS would be tied to my Apple ID?
Thank you.

Follow these instructions step by step to prepare a Mac for sale:
Step One - Back up your data:
       A. If you have any Virtual PCs shut them down. They cannot be in their "fast saved" state. They must be shut down from inside Windows.
       B. Clone to an external drive using using Carbon Copy Cloner.
          1. Open Carbon Copy Cloner.
          2. Select the Source volume from the Select a source drop down menu on the left side.
          3. Select the Destination volume from the Select a destination drop down menu on the right
              side.
          4. Click on the Clone button. If you are prompted about creating a clone of the Recovery HD be
              sure to opt for that.
               Destination means a freshly erased external backup drive. Source means the internal
               startup drive.
Step Two - Prepare the machine for the new buyer:
          1. De-authorize the computer in iTunes! De-authorize both iTunes and Audible accounts.
          2, Remove any Open Firmware passwords or Firmware passwords.
          3. Turn the brightness full up and volume nearly so.
          4. Turn off File Vault, if enabled.
          5. Disable iCloud, if enabled: See.What to do with iCloud before selling your computer
Step Three - Install a fresh OS:
     A. Snow Leopard and earlier versions of OS X
          1. Insert the original OS X install CD/DVD that came with your computer.
          2. Restart the computer while holding down the C key to boot from the CD/DVD.
          3. Select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu; repartition and reformat the internal hard drive.
              Optionally, click on the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass.
          4. Install OS X.
          5. Upon completion DO NOT restart the computer.
          6. Shutdown the computer.
     B. Lion and Mountain Lion (if pre-installed on the computer at purchase*)
         Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because
                   it is three times faster than wireless.
          1. Restart the computer while holding down the COMMAND and R keys until the Mac OS X
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          2. Select Disk Utility from the Mac OS X Utilities window and click on the Continue button.
          3. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the left side list. Click
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          4. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on the Security button
              and set the Zero Data option to one-pass.
          5. Click on the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
          6. Quit DU and return to the Mac OS X Utilities window.
          7. Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Install button.
          8. Upon completion shutdown the computer.
*If your computer came with Lion or Mountain Lion pre-installed then you are entitled to transfer your license once. If you purchased Lion or Mountain Lion from the App Store then you cannot transfer your license to another party. In the case of the latter you should install the original version of OS X that came with your computer. You need to repartition the hard drive as well as reformat it; this will assure that the Recovery HD partition is removed. See Step Three above. You may verify these requirements by reviewing your OS X Software License.

Easy cut and erase and close gap tool

Hi
In Quantel, which I am more familiar with, the '[' and ']' keys perform an edit where they cut the clip at that point where the play head is (like the razor blade tool), but also erase the unwanted portion of the clip and close the gap, '[' to the left of the play head and ']' to the right of it. I don't know what the tool is called but it's super useful. Does final cut have this tool??
Thanks
LM

The only thing that might be of any use could be the Add Edit (ctrl-v).
These links will show you most of the keyboard shortcuts:-
http://www.flippant.net/blogimages/finalcut5shortcuts.pdf
http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/data/46/link/712/0331175FCPKYBDSHTCTQRC.pdf

How to bring in back up files/apps after erase and install? Thanks!

Don't let the first post fool you - new account, long time user; old account login details lost in a keychain somewhere...
Preparing for Leopard I had a good clean out and got to 21gb of free space on my 40gb HD.
Backed up files to Firewire AND USB external drives.
I tried an upgrade installation of Leopard.
Got the blue screen, tried the APE fixes.
Couldn't do an archive and install as the message said there wasn't enough space.
9gb plus 9gb = 21gb+ I guess....!
(Even tried a Terminal removal of some iTunes files, which I knew I had a back up of, but no luck increasing available space.)
So, did and erase and install which worked fine.
But now I am having trouble importing settings from the old files.
Mail for example wants me to start from scratch, and won't see the back ups I made.
I realize each application has library files, plists and other files associations - how to I get the virgin Leopard versions to recognize their older cousins?
Migration Assistant doesn't seem to see external drives except for Time Machine which of course has nothing I want...
How also to import 3rd party apps. with their previous associations and settings?
Hope I don't have to start from scratch...
Thanks so much in advance.
Stephen

You can't just replace the user folder with the one from before the 10.5 install. What you have to do is individually drag the items from each folder ie "Music" to their corresponding folders in the new home folder.
Put the Backup "Documents" files to New "Document" folder
Mail is located in username/Library/Mail and possibly also username/Library/Mail Downloads, drag both these to the new walts "Library".
Bookmarks is located in username/Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plst, once you find this go to the File Menu in Safari and go to "Import Bookmarks."
I would not recommend copying any settings from the backup to 10.5, this causes errors sometimes. These settings are also easily redone. If you must have them spotlight them or search for them in the preferences or Library/Application Support. Applications Mail settings can also be easily reconfigured for example.

Trouble with Time Machine (runs constantly). Erase and install?

Trouble with Time Machine (runs constantly). Tried re-installation (equivalent of archive install) of Snow Leopard. Time Machine still unable to complete a back-up. Erase and install recommended at Genius Bar. Have backed up data to external HD using Super Duper. Should be a bootable backup. Last successful backup through Time Machine was 6/1/11. Not sure if I can access this back-up if I erase and re-install.
Computer shipped with Tiger (7/2007). Have original disks. Now running Snow Leopard. So: erase HD, install Tiger, then update to Snow Leopard? Start-up from Tiger disks does not appear to work (starting up holding "C" key). Suggestions? Want very much to transfer data to new iMac, but do not want to carry bugs forward. Very nervous about erasing HD. And have the questions above about reinstalling system software.
Advice desired! Thanks.

Well if you can hold option and boot off the Superdupes clone and it works fine then you should be set to do what you need to do to the original boot drive.
Disconnect all drives and c boot off the Snow Leopard install disk, use Disk Utility to Erase > format HFS+ journaled your internal boot drive.
Quit and reinstall OS X Snow Leopard, setup (do not use Setup/Migration Assitant!) and update to 10.6.8
When you setup the new install, use the same hard drive name and user name as you did before.
Now the free iLife that came on the Tiger disks you won't get naturally, but you can pick them off the disk with the shareware program called Pacifist.
install your programs from fresh sources, this way you don't get the "crap" from the older setup.
Once your machine is up and going. Hook up the clone and transfer your user folders over manually. With iTunes just replace the whole folder. Because you kept the same user and boot drive name as before, the playlists should be fine.
Once your all peachy, take the opportunity to clone this new setup to a external drive, label and disconnect.
Make another clone for day to day, or week to week clone updates and your just a hold option boot away for recovery.
You know Superdupes and Carbon Copy Cloner both have auto-scedualing/updating ability, so you can leave them plugged in and it will perform a update so your clone stays fresh and recent.
But you should keep a clone timed back about a couple of weeks back just in case you install something bad and don't learn about it right away.

Do I really need to erase and re-install OSX?

Hello all, 2 days ago when downloading an update to the OSX Operating System there was an error in the installation, bundle ended up in trash. Now I get an error message with most of my third party software like MS Word, Entorage, Firefox that there is a "conflict in the shared library". Also, it looks like when I empty trash that update bundle is still there.
I tried repair disk permissions and AppleCare tried a few things but disk could not be repaired so the suggestion was transfer all critical files and erase and re-install OS.
Is this sound advice? Any thoughts?
Much obliged in advance,
JT
PowerBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.7) Aluminum 17"

Tiger 10.4.6 is out on DVD for $114 @ Amazon if that helps.
TechTool Pro 4.5.1 is shipping now from MicroMat which is (I think) up there with Disc Warrior now with a 'few' more features, and regularly updated.
Do you not have a FW backup drive with room on it for an emergency and backup OS on it? That would be first thing I would be doing is backing up and having an emergency boot drive. Needed to find one for family member and it is either FW800 320GB $207 from OWC or slightly smaller.
No matter what, yes, transfer the files. Maybe even boot Tiger DVD, Disk Utility, Restore, and do a volume copy.
Only once have I seen Apple offer a CD with the combo updater ($25) unfortunately it was obsolete the next day due to bugs in USB support in 10.2.4/.5 and, didn't even come with a few other "goodies" like latest QuickTime and other nice or essential software updates.
I tend to run fsck before installs or updates, to run Applejack and clear out swap files and cache folders (which does seem to help, too) and maybe Disc Warrior and/or TTP4. And only then download the combined updates to another drive or partition. Not easy when it weighs in at 140MB, but delta updates seem more like "hit or miss."
I assume you can use FireWire Target Disk Mode or something.

If I have to erase and re-install......

Will I lose all of my applications during that process? My SL install failed and DU says the disk cannot be repaired, back up files, and erase and re-install the OS.
Do I lose all of my applications when I do this? Illustrator, Photoshop, etc???

Will I lose all of my applications during that process? My SL install failed and DU says the disk cannot be repaired, back up files, and erase and re-install the OS.
A quick note here: you can be sure that the install failed because the disk was damaged, not the other way around. I just want to head off yet another string of "Snow Leopard destroyed my system!" complaints before they get started.
Now, to a solution... when you say Disk Utility can't repair, was that when you were booted from the Snow Leopard disk and running Disk Utility from there? I'm assuming so, but if not, you need to try that... Disk Utility can't repair the current boot drive. If Disk Utility isn't working, you can try [DiskWarrior|http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/index.html] or [TechTool Pro|http://www.micromat.com>. Neither of these are free, unfortunately, but they're both excellent utilities. If DU, DiskWarrior and TechTool Pro can't fix the drive, it's not fixable.
If it turns out not to be fixable, you'll need to erase the hard drive and reinstall everything. If erasing doesn't work, your hard drive has failed and will need to be replaced.
Do I lose all of my applications when I do this? Illustrator, Photoshop, etc???
You will have to reinstall those apps from the original install disks. If you don't have the disks anymore (I'd have to question why not), then you should have a backup that includes those apps and all support files... this is a less-desirable option, since you may not know where all the support files are and may have trouble getting the apps working again.
Also, as was already pointed out, your documents are more important and less replaceable than your applications. Do you have a backup of your documents? If not, you're going to need to think about file recovery before erasing the hard drive. Don't expect to recover everything, though. I don't have experience with Mac file recovery utilities... you never need one if you keep good backups. Google "mac file recovery" for some options.

Startup problems, even after erase and install

Hi, i have a polycarbonate black macbook (I think its of the last black ones that were sold), I used to have leopard 10.5.8, and windows xp on it with refit as the boot menu, recently I removed refit, and updated to snow leopard, around that time i started having problems at boot time, either i got stuck at the grey apple screen, or got a prohibitory sign, or most commonly, a kernel panic, that leaves no log by the way. About 1 in 5 tries actually boots up, so I thought I should go the windows way and erase and install. And the problem is still there, I ran a memtest from single user mode, and all ram ended ok.
I have since reinstalled rEFIt, and the problem at least changed, when I turn on the mac, at least the rEFIt logo comes up, sometimes it does load fine, and after that if i choose mac os its exactly as before, if I choose legacy os I get the no boot disk found error (which is what i expect since the computer only has mac os x)
As an aditional note, when the computer does boot, everything works completely normal, the only problems are at boot up time.
EDIT: Just to add that I cant seem to run Apple hardware test, it just doesnt boot holding the D key from either install disk, not before having installed refit, nor after
Hope someone can find some insight in this, im really worried that this could be some logic board failing, I really cant afford such an expense. Thanks, and sorry for the long post, I wanted to detail it as much as possible
Message was edited by: carlosjoan91

If your hardware test boot device was on the hard drive rather than the installer disc, then installing rEFIt may destroy the boot loader originally used causing the loss of an ability to boot into the test. You would likely need an old version of the installer disc that had the hardware test on the disc rather than on the hard drive.
At this point the best thing for you to do is the following:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (for Intel Macs) or APM (for PPC Macs) then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
Reinstall OS X and use Boot Camp Assistant to create a Windows volume instead of using rEFIt. You'll have fewer problems.

Archive/Erase and Install fail

I hate to add my own sob story here, but I'm at a loss here.
I'd had lingering minor problems with my Tiger installation, so I figured that when I got Leopard, I'd wipe my hard drive and start fresh. So I pop in the disc and 24 hours later, I've had no success. At first, I thought my problems might be the result of a bad DVD, so I returned it to the CambridgeSide store today and obtained a replacement, which fails exactly as before.
I've tried using both "Archive and Install" and "Erase and Install", with several extras or just the base system; it always terminates with a message about how the Installer could not validate the contents of the "Essentials" package. At one point, after a botched Erase and Install I tried an Archive and Install for kicks, and it seemed to get farther along before terminating in another Install Failed, this time telling me that it could not install files to my hard drive.
I've run Verify Disk in Disk Utility on my hard drive twice, and it hasn't found anything wrong. Anyone have any idea what's going on?

Larry V. wrote:
I The Genius I worked with told me it was likely a bug (albeit a major one) in the install program.
Well there's one Genius whom I can respect.
I think this is the conclusion many of us are reaching. I wonder if it might be related to the DVD being double-layered? It might simply demand a tad too much from an older or slightly out-of-kilter optical drive.
I know for a fact that the ultra-thin optical drives in the MBPs have been a headache for Apple.
Eventually this will all be sorted out. My disks shipped today. I am already an expert in what not to do, but only the doing on my own machines will tell how well I have learned my lessons. I have two MBPs and one G5 to Leopardize. I will have a house full of backups for each before I even start

HT201441 hi just bought an iPhone 5s from a guy, did not have any battery , i got home i charged the phone and it had a code restored the phone and now the phone shows lost and erased! what should i do? I'm in ireland and the phone is verizon

hi just bought an iphone 5s from a guy at the market ! the phone was dead got home charged it and had a lock gone back the guy was gone!i restored the phone and got phone was lost and erased and no other detailes what else can i do the guy said its his phone and its on verizon now but its neverlocked! how can i get this back and working?

You can't get the phone working without the correct password, because the previous owner activated Find My iPhone and Activation Lock. In order to unlock the phone you would have to ocntact the previos owner of the phone. Unfortunately, this is the only way to get it working again.

Backing up before and erase and install of 10.5, viable strategy?

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