Clean erase install, backup question

It is good and time to do a complete erase reinstall of OS 10.4 (plus classic, which is why I use 10.4....I still need classic).
I wish to save and transfer the following
My Documents
All my mails
All my itunes tunes
All my photos and movies
You get the idea.
I have an extra large HD.
Can I just do something simple like drag and drop my USER (house) icon then drop that back in somehowe?
Needless to see, don't want to mess this up.
I dont' min reinstalling all the software I use

It is good and time to do a complete erase reinstall of OS 10.4
Why? That is such a 'Windows thing' to do!
Instead why not simply perform an archive and install, which will preserve all your files and settings but on a fresh system.
How to Archive & Install:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107120
and this also:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2196?viewlocale=en_US

Similar Messages

  • Erase/install - backup first question

    On my 2yr old macbook I want to do a clean erase/install bc i hear thats better. I've never backed up my computer before. I'm going tonight to buy an external HD to do so. All I want to move to my new OS is photos, music and docs, as well as MS office, all my keychain passwords, and my safari bookmarks. Will I be able to move these files, programs and settings over after the clean erase/install, and how? Also, am I forgetting anything obvious that I should want to move over?

    David's advice is solid. However I would like to suggest one other possibility. First, partition the external into two partitions and clone your current system to +both partitions+. Then, upgrade the system on one of the the external's partitions, leaving the other as a backup and your currently stable system intact. You can run from the upgraded external partition to verify that everything is working to your satisfaction. If so, you can simply clone the upgraded system on the external drive back onto your MacBook's internal drive, leaving the second duplicate intact "just in case". But, if you have any issues or find that you prefer the previous version, you have only to reboot your internal drive. This "method" will cover any possible situation you could encounter. After you have verified that everything is "good", you can return the external to whatever use you like. But I would leave it partitioned so that you have one partition dedicated to a backup "clone" of your OS. This should be updated prior to making any future changes to your system.

  • I need to clean erase/install before selling

    I have a flat-panel iMac that I'm selling to neighbors for their daughter's use. First, tell me is $200.00 too low an asking price? The specs are shown in my profile. Nothing is wrong except the mysterious sound issue, which I told them about and advised them to get external speakers. I was hoping to get closer to $400.00 as I saw many going for on Ebay with less capability than mine. (This machine has been a dream!) Do you recommend my getting the original, round Harmon Kardon speakers to accompany the computer for sale?
    Secondly, I went to the Apple Store yesterday and the associate knew very little to provide me with assistance. In attempting to do a erase and install of the OS from Disk Utility, my computer is now stuck on a grey screen with apple logo in the middle; it looks like in classic OS9.
    It was asking for the install disk and I had 5 disks given to me from the guy that sold it to me off Ebay. I didn't know which one to insert so I chose "OS9" first. That's what put it in its current state.
    After trying to backup or save items that I wanted to keep (iTunes library, documents, movies) I gave up and decided to sacrifice them all because the blank DVDs that I was using kept giving me error messages.
    I have read here to: "Put your install disk in your Mac and Restart while holding down the C key." What should be on the screen when you put the install disk in?
    "Click on Disk Utility and choose the hard drive you want your OS on." How do I know which HD to choose?"
    Do I need to take this computer back to Apple or can I restore this myself?

    The original Harmon Kardon speakers are hard to find and not compatible with many newer Macs but they do have good quality. If you got them, it would prove once and for all if the problem is with the sound chip on your computer, or just the speaker that is built-in, or some setting. My FAQ* explains how to prepare a Mac for selling:
    http://www.macmaps.com/selling.html
    Apple may have the correct install disks, if you misplaced yours. Give their AppleCare office a call.
    - * Links to my pages may give me compensation.

  • Clean Erase Install

    I initially installed Leopard over tiger I am assuming that this added an additional 9 gbs on my hard-drive so I deceided to get an external HD and use time machine with migration so it wouldn't be an exact copy, then a clean install to get that space back. After everything was said and done I got an extra gb. So I am wondering if time machine copied tiger off of my hard-drive? Is there a better way to do this?

    When you run the Leopard installer, you can click the Options button and select the Archive and Install option. This preserves your user data and setting, but gives you a fresh Leopard System instead update the existing system. The old system is put into a folder called Previous Systems. After ensure you do not need anything from the old system, you can delete this folder.
    As with any major upgrade, you should back up your valuable user data.
    Archive and Install is not a "clean install." The only way to do that is to erase the drive, and then install Leopard.

  • Pre-Install Backup Question

    Gang,
    I attempted to duplicate my system using Retrospect Express. When I returned it was complete but there was a window opened which said execution errors?
    Might anyone one know what this is or it I should be worried?
    TIA,
    James

    Whenever I've used RE to clone it always threw out a few inconsequential errors.
    In addtion, it has probably made visible your etc, tmp and var folders, not to worry about that either.
    -mj
    [email protected]

  • 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.

  • Clean install, backup, recover individual files and applications.

    I'm sure this has already been discussed and explained but I'm not quite sure what to look for exactly. If someone can give me a link to the correct thread, that would be fine.
    I've had my MacBook for about three weeks now and I never did a clean/fresh install (didn't know that would save a lot of space on the HD). I want to do one now, but how do I go about this?
    Sure, first I'll need a backup program (SuperDuper has been reccommended a lot). But what I don't know is whether or not I can choose which files and applications I'd like to put back on the MacBook after the clean installation. I mean, I don't want to recover the entire backup because that would defeat the purpose of a clean installation right?
    Also, can I just recover the systems settings separately too?
    Yeah, so I hope this makes sense. If not, I'd be glad to elaborate.
    Billy
    Ps: and what about merely recovering iTunes' library, playlists and such?

    One final question: I'm now using my iPod (5G, 60GB) as a bootable HD. Will this corrupt the iPod or harm it in any way? There isn't a real consensus from what I've gathered by swiftly browsing the Internet just now.
    Maybe I should've asked this question before starting the SuperDuper procedure
    Billy.

  • Erase & Install Question

    I'm doing an "Erase & Install" with Panther on my G4 so I can sell it but it's insisting that I complete registration information before completing the installation. Is there a way to bypass this so the new owner can use his info?
    Thanks

    Provide the information, and then either follow the instructions in this FAQ or perform another Erase & Install, and upon restart press the Command and S keys followed by entering 'shutdown -h now' into the prompt without the quote marks.
    (40363)

  • Can I Erase/Install In Target Disk Mode?

    I need to reinstall my Mac OS on my 13" MacBook Pro (Early 2011) but I'm having some issues. This began after a restart and I got the grey Apple Hardware Test Screen. The tests ran, and my hardware "appears to be OK". I haven't been able to start successfully in any of the ways that I normally would.
    When I try to start from my hard drive, I get the Apple Logo and a progress bar. The progress bar goes about a third of the way and then my machine turns itself off. Doesn't matter if I hold down the shift key to start in safe mode.
    When I try to start from my Mac OS X Snow Leopard CD I get the Apple Logo screen then a black box stating "You need to restart your computer" etc.
    When I boot the hard drive in Target Disk Mode, I'm told Disk Utilities can't repair my disk, and I'll have to format my Hard Drive. (Hardly a surprise given the above)
    I have the original disks that came with my computer and Mac OS Snow Leopard. I was going to install the OS using the original disks then update to Mac OS Snow Leopard. This leads me to three questions:
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    Because I can still access all of the contents of my hard drive in Target Disk Mode, should I just drag and drop everything into the external hard drive I just bought or is there some sort of disk image-y something or other I should be creating. If so, how do I create the Disk Image?
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    Easy solution is this: Computers that can be upgraded to use OS X Internet Recovery. Update your firmware if needed. Then:
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    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 Internet Recovery HD:
    Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND-OPTION- R keys until a globe appears on the screen. Wait patiently - 15-20 minutes - until the Recovery main menu appears.
    Partition and Format the hard drive:
    Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
    After DU loads select your newly installed 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.
    Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed. Quit DU and return to the main menu.
    Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Install button. Be sure to select the correct drive to use if you have more than one.
    Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.
    To answer the question about Target Disk Mode, the answer is if you can connect two Macs that both have Firewire ports, then you can treat your MBP to TDM so its drive will mount on the other Mac's Desktop. If you can boot the other drive from your Leopard disc, then you can do a clean install of Leopard on your MBP from the other computer.

  • HELP!  Stuck in a Loop after Erase & Install Tiger 10.4

    Here's what happened:
    My old G4 PPC PowerMac suddenly started running everything (including on startup) very slowly. A weird sound was coming from the HD? (not sure) but it sounded like it was constantly doing something. The sound was a regular: chik, chik, chik...glikglik.
    *Did a Verify for Disk Permissions & HD Volume, found a load of problems & tried to fix from my Tiger CD/DVD Install disc on startup.
    *No luck...as there was an "Incorrect number of thread records" & Volume could not be fixed.
    *Backedup everything onto external HD
    *Did Erase & Install Tiger 10.4
    *Everything seemed fine (the weird sound stopped) so I started installing all standard Updates- Java etc & my iTunes music.
    *Weird sound returned but not as constant, so I did a Verify & fixed Disk Permissions and HD Volume from my Tiger CD/DVD Install disc on startup again. Successful this time. Volume was fine.
    *Used Onyx to do verify Volume. Volume fine.
    [Bare with me;)]
    *Started to import all my backup files. The weird sound returned with a vengence! Argh! Everything slowed down even worst than before.
    *Decided to Erase & Install again. Done, but now I'm stuck in the Welcome to Tiger loop: Welcome Tiger animation which crashes halfway through, then takes me to settings for language, location, Mac sign in...loops back again to Welcome.
    I am a complete dummy when it comes to computers, so have tried to follow instructions/advice to the T. I don't have a clue what is going on. Please anyone out there, help!

    Best to ask about hardware questions on the appropriate hardware forum. That said...
    Unless for some reason you want to keep hold of an old computer for specific features not present in a newer computer it is almost always cheaper to buy a newer used computer rather than upgrade hardware in an old one. Since you're talking upgrading multiple features that is almost certain.
    A consideration: Snow Leopard is now out. This is pushing pre-Intel Macs towards into obsolescence. I already see a number of software vendors who say they do not support Tiger any more. Some may soon start saying they no longer support pre-Intel Macs. Although I find my G4 and Tiger to still be perfectly usable, if my G4 were to die today and I was interested in a used computer I might seriously look at a used Intel Mac. There's a bit of a jump at the PPC + Tiger to Intel + Leopard-plus boundary and it will become more noticeable soon. If you can afford it I would suggest not being more than one big generation behind in terms of software and hardware, and in this case maybe not even one major generation in terms of hardware. To summarize, if it were me I would be looking for a used early Intel Mac running Leopard currently so I could ensure there still being support for the next few years.
    Message was edited by: Limnos

  • Mid-2010 27" iMac very slow, even after clean OS install - HELP!

    Good afternoon guys, I'm hoping someone can offer me some advice.
    I bought my Mid-2010 27" iMac in May-ish 2011. Everything was brilliant, I couldn't believe the ease of use, and especially the start up speed, coming from a world of PCs. My iMac was used almost every day, for web browsing, photo editing, etc.
    Maybe about April / May this year it started becoming very slow, slow to boot, slow to respond to mouse clicks, slow to do anything. Since I'd used about 750GB of my HDD (mainly photos), I decided I would archive some and hope that would ease the congestion. As my photos were stored in Aperture, it took about 3 days to export them all to my external HDD, 3 days of the iMac only getting so far, switching itself off, then me finally getting it to come back on (I was getting messages about Kernals, etc. now and again through boot too) - it finally backed up my photos I have from my daughters first year.
    Great news, but I still had probably 400GB / 500GB of photos from her second year and any other photos I'd taken. I found the root of my Aperture directory, and managed to pull these images off, so everything is now backed up.
    I decided I should try and clean install, and managed to get the HDD to boot and choose the option to re-install from Apple's Servers. All installed OK, and we're good to go! Fired up the iMac, and although it's fractionally quicker to respond, and a lot more stable, it's not quite right. And I've lost all my iLife Apps which originally came with the iMac.
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    I am quite confident of working with PCs, so would manage to replace the HDD I think, looking at some videos, etc. online. I did upgrade the RAM to 16GB, and that was simple enough. My question is, when you replace the HDD, how does it know where to look to the Apple Servers for the clean OS install? Or do I have to do something to let it know where to look first? I have to point out I don't have any Time Machine backup, etc. as the iMac was just not stable enough to get this in place - and up until that point, again probably stupid now looking back, I had never bothered to set up.
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    Thanks in advance,
    Col

    Just suggesting things right off the bat here-
    To me it sounds as though the HDD is failing, if your iMac shipped with a Seagate drive try entering your serial number to see if Apple will replace it:http://www.apple.com/au/support/imac-harddrive/
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    As for the iLife apps they should've come on one of the install discs that shipped with your mac.
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    See here:Computers that can be upgraded to use OS X Internet Recovery
    Good Luck!

  • System file corruption-alternatives to erase&install?

    To make a long story short(er) I restored from (SuperDuper) backup after the HD failed and Apple gave me a new one. Then problems occurred with the system being slow (hesitating a lot) and having trouble connecting via wireless and finally not connecting at all, and then the machine ended up in "limbo" (according to the Mac Genius.) Now I've been told to erase and install, but I'm reluctant... There's a years worth of tweaks, updates, and installs on my MacBook! (After all, that's why I was so fervent about backing up...) And Boot Camp too.*)
    Evidently "some" corrupt system files made their way into my backup before the old drive failed. (There was no warning; one day it was just gone.)
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    I suggest that you start with an Archive and Install (checking the box to preserve settings). The last time I did this was in an upgrade from 10.2 to 10.3 on our little iMac G3, and after it finished, everything was just exactly the same as it had been under 10.2, except for one thing: those little pictures were gone by the users' names on the login screen (it was trivial to reconnect those pictures with the names). So I would try that, and see if your issues are fixed. If they are not, then there is another step you can take, which is to delete your preference files that are associated with the problem (i.e. wireless, airport). and if these things are not effective, then I would proceed with the full erase and install. I haven't done the Archive and Install with Tiger but I don't think it gives you a lot of options about what setting to save ... I think it's either all or none.
    By the way, before doing any of these things, you should make at least one complete backup or clone of your entire disk.
    Also, before doing Archive & Install or Erase & Install, create a new user and login as that user to see if the problem goes away. If it does, then there is not much point in doing a new system installation because the problem would have been pinpointed to your local user files/preferences, not the system-wide software.
    I am not surprised that the Apple Genius suggested Erase/Install versus Archive/Install. The Erase/Install is guaranteed to fix any software issue, so the Genius won't need to deal with you in a follow up anymore. They have people lined up and want to just get you on your way, even though it might cause you a lot of work to recover all your settings and installed software (that's your time, not his). The Archive/Install is also highly likely to fix almost all software problems, but if it's something corrupted in your user settings, then it might not, in which case you'll be back and he'll have to deal with you. So he's suggesting killing a fly on a window with a sledgehammer, when maybe a flyswatter would work just as well (and cause less collateral damage to your house). I understand the motivations of a busy Apple Genius, but from your point of view, it would be better to try the other things before finally going to the erase and install.
    Remember to do that backup before trying any of these things.
    In general Macs do not need to have system software reinstalled. In fact I have never had to do it as a repair/diagnostic step on any of my machines using Mac OS X (except that one Archive and Install I did, but that was on a healthy system to go from 10.2 to 10.3).

  • ThinkVantage 4.0 fail after clean Win7 install

    Downloaded Thinkvantage 4.0 system update after clean Win7 install on my T500 2081 CTO. Programme did not attach to my ThinkVantage Blue Button and did not even work when I started it from the start menu where it was placed. All I got was the logo. Did an erase and new install with the same result.
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    Is this a question of first installing the Hotkey Features Integration? What about the Hot Key Driver, is that included in the Features Integration?

  • Backing up Users folder for Erase Install

    Hi,
    I need to do an Erase Install because of a disk error that Disk Utility cannot fix. I've backed up my iTunes Library and some other files, including Mac OS X combo update, to DVDs. My question is about the advice at this site:
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    Regards

    Or could I drag and drop the User folder without going into root user, and then after reinstallation restore the User folder the same way?
    Ahem, that +may work+ as I've done it, but then I've always had Root User enabled first thing after disabling Spotlight & Widgits!
    So, I wouldn't count on it.
    I'd get an external drive and DiskWarrior, which handles most of these problems with a breeze... asap!

  • How do I Erase & Install from the Install CD?

    It's a long story but I need to do an Erase & Install on my new Intel iMac. I originally used Migration Assistant and my system is running super slow. People have suggested that perhaps I shouldn't have used Migration Assistant. So now I just want to clean the HD and start from scratch. Everyone tells me to just use the Install CD and go to Disk Utility. My question is how to I get to disk utility. When I boot from the Install CD it seems to think I only want to upgrade my system when in fact I want to erase the disk and start over. How to I get to Disk Unility?
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    Extended Hard Drive Preparation
    1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disk. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. Then select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger.)
    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. Otherwise, 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, if supported.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.
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    5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled, if supported.) 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 is completed quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed to install OS X.
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