Clean Reinstall/Must restore from original disks or can I use 10.4

Question

Have pored thru the forums looking for my specific questions but haven't found them - so please bear with more clean reinstall questions ---
1) Yes - I have to do a clean reinstall - much other discussion on other forums has said this is what needs to happen for my particular sick Mac situation - so I already know this....
2) Have already used carbon copy cloner to back up entire hard drive, files et al to an external hard drive...
3) Have iMac G4 - came with OS 10.2.3 - I do not need OS 9 anymore - haven't used it for 2 years, I have the newest Tiger disks and just got iLife 2006 - can I just use those to put my system back on? Or do I need to start from my original iMac Software Install and Restore DVD - and then add on the next versions from their disks till I get to Tiger? (I have all of them - Panther, Puma, Bobcat, Lynx - you name it... Steve Jobs is getting his money's worth out of me)....
4) Someone told me I should erase my hard drive completely with disk utility first - and then do the clean install on a totally virgin hard drive - is this true? I want to do the absolute premium, totally best thing....
5) Should I write down all the info in "About This Computer" first - like serial number etc - does the above option erase all of that?
6) When I do a clean reinstall - should I name my computer and put in my user name and password etc exactly the way it was?
Thanks so much - I really have searched these forums and couldn't find the above -
madmags
iMac superdrive   Mac OS X (10.4.4)   Lacie external HD 150 GB

Answer 1

1) Yes - I have to do a clean reinstall - much other discussion on other forums has said this is what needs to happen for my particular sick Mac situation - so I already know this....
First off, there is no such thing as a "clean" reinstall. Maybe an erase and install as the rest of your post suggests:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=607614
Secondly, a sick machine rarely needs an erase and install. I use it only to discover right away if there is a hardware issue with the computer as opposed to software.
2) Have already used carbon copy cloner to back up entire hard drive, files et al to an external hard drive...
Have you tested to make sure the clone is bootable?
3) Have iMac G4 - came with OS 10.2.3 - I do not need OS 9 anymore - haven't used it for 2 years, I have the newest Tiger disks and just got iLife 2006 - can I just use those to put my system back on? Or do I need to start from my original iMac Software Install and Restore DVD - and then add on the next versions from their disks till I get to Tiger? (I have all of them - Panther, Puma, Bobcat, Lynx - you name it... Steve Jobs is getting his money's worth out of me)....
You can use the Tiger disks, though I would troubleshoot your problem first before even attempting to install Tiger.
4) Someone told me I should erase my hard drive completely with disk utility first - and then do the clean install on a totally virgin hard drive - is this true? I want to do the absolute premium, totally best thing....
Not necessarily. Once your 10.2 system is healthy, frequently all that is necessary is an Archive and Install:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301270
I've seen some cases where this doesn't work, while others where it does. So the first thing is to make sure your system is healthy, then back it up, and then upgrade.
5) Should I write down all the info in "About This Computer" first - like serial number etc - does the above option erase all of that?
The only serial numbers you need are for third party applications, and any Apple pro applications. The operating system has no serial number. This would be in case, you can't restore from your clone when you are finished, and Archive and Install doesn't work.
6) When I do a clean reinstall - should I name my computer and put in my user name and password etc exactly the way it was?
We'll cross that road once we get there. I'd rather make sure you aren't just installing an unhealthy system on an unhealthy system.
Tell me more about your sick system, and maybe we can solve the issue so all that you need to do is make sure your backup is bootable and an Archive and Install.