Booting from disc vs erase and install from disc

I need to erase and install.
I need the cleanest installation. I was thing about "erase and install" from the disc.
I know some people like to boot from the disc.
What is best?
Thanks.

To do an erase & install, you'll have to boot from the disc.
 Cheers, Tom

Similar Messages

How can I reformat my hard drive if erase and partition don't work in disk utility and I get an error when I try to erase and install from the Leopard install disk? I have had several kernel panics, but the volume shows up in startup disk.

I have had several kernel panics on my iBook G4; the panic message shows up just after the desktop appears. Although the startup volume shows up in Startup Disk, the installation disk reports an error when I attempt an erase and install. Disk utility is unable either to erase or partition the hard drive. The hard drive shows up in disk utility, but the startup volume doesn’t HELP!!!

Do you have the original system discs that came with the iBook when it was new?
Which exact iBook model is it?
You can choose from this list:
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/ibook/index-ibook.html
Erasing the disc and installing Mac OS X 10.5 will result in loss of the other applications (such as the iLife applications) which came pre-installed on the iBook.

Erase and install - Can I select what I want to put back on from Time Machine.

I've been suffering from the super slow Yosemite problem. I have had two long sessions with the very nice people on Apple support and have we have made some progress - thank you Marie and Cheryl. They have suggested an 'erase and install' to resolve the problem.
I regularly back up my laptop to 'Time Machine' but I don't want to just reload everything as that may just bring the problem back again. So, the question is can I select which files and applications I want to recover from Time Machine?

Here's what you should do:
Install or Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion from Scratch
Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Erase the hard drive:
1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
2. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the
      left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on
        the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass. Click on
      the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Install button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible
            because it is three times faster than wireless.
Once you know it's running properly you can begin re-installing your third-party software from the original media. Finally, restore your data from your Time Machine backup. This assures that all but your data files are freshly installed.

Restore files from last Time Machine backup after HD erase and install

I just had to do an "erase and install" ... trying to restore files from my last Time Machine backup but after completing the Airport Utility setup / configure steps, it says "waiting to restart" for a few minutes and then says it cannot find TIme Capsule after restart (though TC never restarted). I'm pretty desperate to get my files back as it's Sunday night and my business needs to be up and running by morning. Any help would be greatly appreciated ... even if it's saying I need to take TC into a Mac store to have them retrieve my files.

While in Time Machine, press the key combination shift-command-C. The front window will show all mounted volumes. All snapshots should now be accessible. Select the one you want and navigate to the files you want to restore.

Erase and Install upgrade from 10.4.11 to 10.5.6- Novice User!!

I am planning on upgrading from Tiger to Leopard soon and had some concerns. I plan to use Carbon Copy Cloner to backup all data to an external drive. My concerns at this time are:
1. Will my old saved email messages in Apple Mail carry over to Leopard?
2. What about my Office for Mac which I just installed on my MBP, will I have to install it again?
3. How would I keep my Safari bookmarks?
I know these might be really simple things for most users out there, but I am not a very technical person despite having used a mac for a couple of years!
Any replies (or suggestions for upgrading) would be greatly appreciated!!

Hi Niel:
You seem to be very knowledgeable on Mac: I´ve been using it fro quite a few years but upgrading to Leopard has been a nightmare: first install and archive did not work because it had problems creating a "unknown user",etc. I decided to Erase and Install and now _I´m getting a message that the Install disk is damaged_ (which is not really , because in the first installation it gave me the same message, and worked OK after repeating the operation). Would appreciate if you know something about this problem, and any other friend on the forum giving me some advise.
Thanks
Victor Manuel

Erasing and installing plug ins from the internet

erasing and installing plug ins from the internet?

What plug-in what browser??
FireFox>Tools>Add-ons>Plug-ins, etc
Safari>Preferences>Extentions
Safari>Help>Installed Plug-ins

Can't erase and install SNow Leopard on old MacBook Pro

I am trying to erase and install Snow Leopard on a MacBook Pro3,1. I boot up with the installation disc, get to pick a language but then a window pops up that says "Mac OS X can't be installed on this computer" and gives me the options to Restore from Backup or Restart.
I had upgraded to a 500GB hard drive on this machine which I used for months, but it is currently running off the hard drive of a new MacBook Pro that got fried. The installation disk I am using is the one I got with that unfortunate machine. Could this be the problem?
Any other suggestions?
Other info: Mac OS X 10.6.1 (108504)
Other History: The machine I am trying to erase and install on recently had its logic board replaced under warranty because of the NVIDIA graphics card issue. I have not found the service centre in South Africa to be very trustworthy, in fact the first time they claimed to have replaced the logic board, the computer (which had been intermittently failing to boot up) immediately started displaying the same problems. Another mac shop said to me that the "new" logic board looked so dusty that it seemed extremely unlikely that it had been replaced a week prior. Anyway, it has ostensibly been replaced again, along with a faulty superdrive.
When it went back to the service centre, they put in the hard drive of another, new, MacBook Pro of mine that got fried in an unrelated incident
Please help! I want to give this machine to an employee but
a) want to make sure it's stable and functioning properly, and
b) want to give it a clean slate with my personal data and settings erased.

You need a retail Snow Leopard installation disk. Available for $29 USD. http://store.apple.com/us/product/MACOS_XSNGL
Once you install it onto the old machine, you can use the setup assistant to migrate your stuff and apps from the other machine.

Erase and install?? a few problems...

Hello. This is going to be a long one, so you might as well get a fresh cup.
A little history. I started with a G4 Powerbook (10.4.11) some number of years ago. In November of last year I got a 24" iMac. Turned it on, set it up with a new user named "swank" (the same as on on powerbook.) After this, I realized I wanted to bring my old user over from the lappy. Using migration assistant, I tried to do this. I can't remember exactly, but I'm pretty sure that because there was already a user named "swank", I had to change the one I was bring in. So, I changed it to "swanks." I also made a user for my girlfriend.
So, for a long time I used m$ office 2004 on the lappy. Then I upgraded to 2008. Everything worked fine and dandy. Then I moved over to the iMac. Not so fine and dandy anymore. Word works just fine, but PP and Excel have issues with saving documents. If I email a doc to myself from school, I can open it and view it just fine.
(on edit: actually, this is not true. I'm going over the details below and realized that I can access a file from a thumb drive, etc, but not email)
BUT, if I save it afterwards or save it from the email BEFORE opening it, it disappears somewhere into the ether. I eventually found out where this "ether" place is, but that will come later. I tried to reinstall office a couple times, to no avail. So I went to the local Mac store (non-corporate) the other day and talked with one of the techs about it. He told me about some files that needed to get deleted along with the uninstall. I did that a couple times, did a repair disk from the install disk (per the techs request as well), restarted between doing everything, etc, etc. Once convinced all was clear, I reinstalled office 2008. AAAAHHHHHH. SAME THING!!!! I don't get it. I don't want to talk with m$. I tried that once. It failed.
Now I am wondering about starting ALL over from scratch. I'm not sure how to proceed from this point though. I have a time machine backup (250 gb of stuff from myself and my gf) and I have a bootcamp partion (that time machine has NOT been backing up.) So I guess my questionS are:
1. can I do an erase and install on JUST the mac partition?
2. once reinstalled, will I be able to pick and choose stuff off the time machine disk? Or do I have to simply restore completely from it (which at this point I would rather not)?
3. is step #2 a good idea (bringing in individual files, if possible)? Or will this possibly bring in the corrupted-ness that I am currently experiencing?
4. is there a way to do this without a clean install?
Details of office problem:
1. I open a document (new)
2. Type anything
3. Save
4. Right click on file name at top of window
(this is what I was referring to as the "ether." *WHY IN GOD'S NAME WOULD SOMETHING GET SAVED HERE?* Even though I specified that it get saved in "Documents"?????
5. Bang head against wall
1. I ATTEMPT to open a document saved when office worked
2. 1 of 2 things will happen:
OR
(No matter WHAT file I try to open, only the last document I made will open, AND it will be called "juan")
2. Bang head against wall
Anyway, if you've made it this far, your are brave. Maybe you have advice. Thanks for listening.
Dave
Also, now, after erasing the m$ stuff, when I open a finder window in the user "swanks", the one I mainly use, the window for "swank" shows up. You know, with all the little red circle with white line through it things on the bottom right corner of a folder?? What the heck?

Before erasing the volume and reinstalling, there are a few things you might want to try first, which are less disruptive:
1. Force Office to generate new preference files. Go to /Users/swanks/Library/Preferences. Create a folder called "Microsoft_old". Drag the folder /Users/swanks/Library/Preferences/Microsoft into the new Microsoft_old folder. Drag all files in your preferences folder which begin with "com.microsoft" in there as well. Relaunch PowerPoint and test it out. You may find it was just a wonky prefs file causing the behavior. If you aren't seeing it in any other application, this is pretty likely.
2. Test the opening/saving behavior of powerpoint in the new user account. If it is fine, then you can just move your files over from one user to the other. There are a few ways of doing this, but the simplest is probably to put everything you want into the /Users/Shared folder and change ownership to your new user account via the Get Info window or the Terminal, if you are comfortable in the command line (using chown -R is usually faster and more reliable than using the Sharing & Permissions section of the Info window, in my experience). Also, you can use your girlfriend's account to test this - does PowerPoint work as expected when she is logged in?
If a new user account behaves the same way, then you probably have deeper issues than just preference problems. At that point you may want to consider rebuilding the OS.
To answer your questions directly:
1. can I do an erase and install on JUST the mac partition?
Yes. You do not have to touch the Boot Camp partition when reinstalling Mac OS X. When booted from the install disc, you will have
2. once reinstalled, will I be able to pick and choose stuff off the time machine disk? Or do I have to simply restore completely from it (which at this point I would rather not)?
Yes. When you browse your Time Machine Backup (with the fancy space-warp background), you can select individual files/folders to restore. It will prompt you to select a location where you want to restore the files.
3. is step #2 a good idea (bringing in individual files, if possible)? Or will this possibly bring in the corrupted-ness that I am currently experiencing?
I don't think you are dealing with actual file corruption, more likely broken preferences or damaged defaults. I wouldn't be worried about bringing over any non-OS files.
4. is there a way to do this without a clean install?
See above. Those are the things I would try first, before you do a clean install.
I hope this helps. If you have any questions, post and I'll try to answer.
Message was edited by: Duncan Wright

I'm trying (unsuccessfully) to erase and install 10.4 on my iMac G5

After running into various bad experiences (apps quiting and app installers refusing to complete the task) I tried the usual fixits. I began with the Disc Utility and it repeatedly told me "1 HFS volume checked - Volume needs repair". After a little digging online, I opted to make the $100 purchase and got DiscWarrior. DiscWarrior said the volume and the hardware are fine now All is repaired. Soon after the problems reoccured. discWarrior again. All is fine. Problems soon follow. After a little more digging, I went to the last resort. I backed everything up and attempted an erase and install from the os disc that came with the computer. Now I'm getting a message telling me the installation was unsuccessful and to restart. I've gone throgh this hoop several times. Any thoughts?
I was running the 10.4.5 downloadable upgrade previous.

Although not definitive open Disk Utility, select the hard drive entry (the one with the mfgr.'s ID and drive size), then click on the First Aid tab in the DU main window. In the DU status bar note the reported SMART status. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing and needs replacing. If it does say "Verified" then it's highly unlikely that the drive is bad. However, the drive may have developed a bad sector. If you're willing to continue the journey then try the following:
1. Boot from your Tiger DVD. After the installer loads select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.
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 will take 30 minutes to an hour or more depending upon the drive size.
After the formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Now proceed with the OS X installation. After selecting the destination device click on the Customize button. Deselect items you don't require such as additional language localizations, Asian fonts. Only select the printer driver families you require for your printers.

Failed Erase and Install of OS X Tiger on a 15" MacBook Pro (older model)

Hello,
I just recently attempted to erase and install Tiger on my MacBook Pro using the two installation CDs that came with my computer when I originally purchased it (August 2006). The error I am having trouble with is that about three quarters of the way through the installation using disc 2, the installation stops and says that it was unsuccesful due to errors that occured in the installation process. The installer suggest that I attempt the installation again and asks for disc 2, at which point the process starts again and I recieve the exact same error message.
I tried to solve the problem myself by looking at the support pages, but nothing specifically addressed my problem. The support site said that sometimes a lack of RAM can be to blame but clearly my computer's 2 GB is more than the reccomended 512 MB or 256 MB or whatever it said it was.
I suppose the culprit is either the install disc or my hard drive. All I really need is to know how to get out of the installing process and try and install off of a different OS X Tiger DVD disc that I have in addition to the two CDs that came with the computer. This obviously will tell me if my computer or the disc is at fault. I hope it's the disc.
Thank you very much for your help,
-Travis
15" MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.10) 2 GB RAM 120 GB Hard Drive

travishaby:
+There isn't any way to access the utlilities menu,+
I suspect that there may errors in the directory that is causing your difficulties. I suggest that you start over.
Formatting, Partitioning Zeroing a Hard Disk Drive
Warning! This procedure will destroy all data on your Hard Disk Drive. Be sure you have an up-to-date, tested backup of at least your Users folder and any third party applications you do not want to re-install before attempting this procedure.
Boot from the install CD holding down the "C" key.
Select language
Go to the Utilities menu (Tiger) Installer menu (Panther & earlier) and launch Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in left side bar.
Select Partition tab in main panel. (You are about to create a single partition volume.)
Select number of partition in pull-down menu above Volume diagram.
(Note: 1 partition is normally better for an internal HDD. External HDDs usually have more than one)
Type in name in Name field (usually Macintosh HD)
Select Volume Format as Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Click Partition button at bottom of panel.
Select Erase tab
Select the sub-volume under Manufacturer ID (usually Macintosh HD).
Check to be sure your Volume Name and Volume Format are correct.
Select on Security Options button (Tiger) Options button (Panther & earlier).
Select Zero all data. (This process will map out bad blocks on your HDD. However, it could take several hours. If you want a quicker method, don't go to Security Options and just click the Erase button.)
Click OK.
Click Erase button
Quit Disk Utility.
Open installer and begin installation process.
(Note: There is some question about the usefulness of zeroing the HDD, but because of the difficulties you are having I think it is advisable)
Please post back with further questions or comments.
Good luck.
cornelius
Message was edited by: cornelius

Clean Erase and Install?

I am about to install Final Cut on my Mac Book Pro, but noticed a piece of advice in a book I was reading. Since I upgraded my OS from 10.4 to 10.5, the book says that to make sure Final Cut works well, I should have done a clean erase and install of 10.5. I did NOT do that, but instead did an archive and install. My 10.5 seems to work pretty well, save for a few little things... occasional random shut downs and frozen screens, prolonged beach balls... but only rarely does this stuff happen. But I'm guessing that things are not really optimized.
So, if I were to do a clean erase, what do I do? I have time machine up and running. I did a copy of my drive with Super Duper! Now what do I do? I don't want to make a big mess. I have my Leopard install disc that I bought (back when if first came out.) If anybody would be so kind as to suggest a list of steps that I would/should take, I would really appreciate it. I'm a little afraid to erase my whole drive... even with all the backups I have.
Thanks!

An Archive and Install is similar except without erasing the drive, so you should be OK. However, it would be wise to make a cloned backup of your boot volume for security in case you later have any problems and must erase the drive.

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.

How do I erase and install iMac to factory settings using Install disk?

Once in a while I like to do an erase and install to boost performance and get rid of extra unused files/applications on my computer that are inevitably slowing things down. I have already tried disk repair and that isn't helping.
The problem is now that Lion/Mountain Lion no longer support PowerPC applications, I can't figure out how to use the Install Disk that came with my computer. My computer came with 10.4 (Tiger). I have been unable to erase and restore my computer to it's original factory settings.
I have read a bunch of threads that say to hold down the "C" key, but nothing happens when I do this. The computer just starts up like normal.
The reason I want to do this is because my computer is going slower and slower all the time. I have the "Free Memory" app and I can see my memory decreasing slowly day by day. It goes from about 3GB to less than 1GB in a few days. If I restart, I'm back up to 3GB again.

You had to use Snow Leopard to install Lion or Mountain Lion, so you can downgrade to Snow Leopard:
Downgrade Lion/Mountain Lion to Snow Leopard
1. Boot from your Snow Leopard 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 Utilities menu.
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 then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the installer. Install Snow Leopard.
This will erase the whole drive so be sure to backup your files if you don't have a backup already. If you have performed a TM backup using Lion be aware that you cannot restore from that backup in Snow Leopard (see below.) I suggest you make a separate backup using Carbon Copy Cloner 3.4.1.
If you have Snow Leopard Time Machine backups, do a full system restore per #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions. If you have subsequent backups from Lion, you can restore newer items selectively, via the "Star Wars" display, per #15 there, but be careful; some Snow Leopard apps may not work with the Lion files.
Booting From An OS X Installer Disc
1. Insert OS X Installer Disc into the optical drive.
2. Restart the computer.
3. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key.
4. Release the key when the spinning gear below the dark gray Apple logo appears.
5. Wait for installer to finish loading.

HD not an option to erase and install on

I have been working through a problem with my 1.5 year old Powerbook over the past few weeks. I was first told I had to archive and install but when I tried that an error message told me that the disk was too damaged. I got my hands on a copy of the disk warrior boot disk and was able to retrieve all the files I wanted to save, but the program was unable to rebuild the disk.
Now I am prepared to erase and install, but when it comes time to select a volume to install to, nothing shows up. (this is the third step of the install process, before I actually choose erase and install vs. archive/install). does erasing through disk utility make it possible to install OSX again without taking up all my space? are there any other options to look into before taking my computer to a store or something and getting the hard drive replaced?

Can you start/boot the computer from your hard drive boot volume?
If so, after the startup process is complete, go to Application > Utilities > Disk Utility.
Launch Disk Utility and select the hard drive at the very top of the drives and volumes window.
Under the First Aid tab, what does the S.M.A.R.T. status indicate at the bottom of the window?
If anything other than Verified, your hard drive is failing or has failed and needs to be replaced.
If the S.M.A.R.T. status for the hard drive is shown as Verified, quit Disk Utility and boot the compute from your Tiger install disc.
Select your language and at the Installer screen/prompt, navigate to Disk Utility via the Installer menu bar.
If you are unable to boot the computer from your hard drive boot volume, select the hard drive at the very top of the drives and volumes window and under the First Aid tab, check the S.M.A.R.T. status. If shown as Verified, you need to erase the hard drive using Disk Utility. Be sure HFS+ (or extended) is selected as the format with Journaling enabled.
When completed, quit Disk Utility and the focus will return to the Installer.
Try performing an Erase & Install again.

Please help with erase and install

I have been having major problems lately with my Leopard upgrade which I did once Leopard first came out.... Ran good for a while but now it locks up all the time and force quit does nothing... At first I did an Upgrade from Tiger but now I want to do an erase and install...
Can someone run me through using Time Machine to backup my existing drive for my Applications I have like CS3 and Quark etc...
My main question is... after running TM and having a copy of my existing hard drive.. once I erase and install Leopard can I just tell TM to put certain files back on but leave the NEW Leopard install clean?
Thank you in advance,
Marc

If you are going to go to the extreme of doing an Erase and Install, then do it right and also re-install all your third-party software. This will assure that you won't have problems caused by damaged components or files belonging to your third-party applications. Just backup your personal data files, pictures, music, etc. which you can do by copying them to your backup drive.
If this isn't feasible then rather than an Erase and Install do an Archive and Install:
How to Perform an Archive and Install
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
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, then quit DU and return to the installer.
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.
2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

Booting from disc vs erase and install from disc

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