Missing HD Space even after Erase and Install

Ok, so I own a 2.4GHz MBP, 200GB HD 7,200RPM, 4GB of memory... Penryn model that my brother purchased for the each of us back in about August of last year (2008). So recently my brother upgraded to the Unibody and gave me his MBP so that I can give it to my wife. So now, I have 2 of the same exact MBP's.
So the problem that I'm having is that when I did a Erase and Install on the MBP that was given to me, it didn't have the same amount of HD space as the one I originally had. I only know this, because I recently did an Erase and Install on my original MBP and because I wanted a fresh MBP. When I did the Erase and Install on my original MBP, I noticed that it had about 174GB of HD space left.
Now with the MBP that I just received, I did the same exact Erase and Install to my new MBP and it only has 171.71GB of HD space.
Also, I notice after doing the Erase and Install again on the new MBP. I noticed that when I did the Customize portion it stated that I am going to be need 9.2GB of available space and that I have 185GB of available space. So after I did the Erase and Install, shouldn't it have about 174GB of space like my original MBP. And that's why I know my new MBP is missing HD space.
So my question is that, why am I missing HD space on my new MBP after Erase and Install and what can I do to get it right. Why wouldn't have the two computers have the same specs after Erase and Install has been done exactly the same way? (The only reason I did the Erase and Install on the new MBP is so that I can configure it for my wife with her login and info.)
Sorry for the long read... but here are the cliff notes.
1. I have 2 MBP that are exactly the same.
2. I did an Erase and Install on both MBP.
3. After Erase and Install, one of them has about 3GB less HD space.
If anyone can help me, please let me know. I will post replies here as well.
Otherwise, I will be taking it back to Apple since it's still under warranty.
Thanks

But my problem is right after the same exact Erase and Install on both, they have different free space.
How could you possibly know this without using the drives? IOW, how & when are you checking the drives' capacity & the used & available space of each?
Again, I've noticed that the HD space specifies that it has 185.99GB of available space after the OS, but once you add certain things, it specifies that it will be using 9.2GB of the available 185.99GB.
What do you mean by "185.99GB of available space after the OS"? What are the "certain things" & what is the "it" that specifies 9.2GB will be used?
If you really mean each drive is showing a *total capacity* of 185.99 GB (before or after installing anything), this is right for a "200 GB" drive. That is because the drive capacity specification is given in decimal based gigabytes but the computer reports capacity in binary based ones. (See paragraph 3 in my post at http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=9389432&#9389432 or search this forum for the word "gibibyte" for more about that.) This number should not change when something is installed -- it is the total capacity of the drive.
If the "certain thing" that says 9.2 GB (or whatever) is the installer application, be advised that it is telling you +the free space needed for the installation+, which is not that same thing as +the space used by the installed files+ once the process is complete. This is because the installer requires temporary file space to assemble the files it will install, hold the results of pre- & post- installation checks, & so on. This temporary space is eventually freed up once the files are in place. In part because of this, the reported space needed is only an estimate, & is always more than the space used by the installed files. (IOW, if it says 9.2 GB are needed for the installation, you should always see less than this used by the sum of all the files installed.)
Thus, as I have already explained as best as I know how, you need to look not just at the free space of each drive but at the total capacity, the number of files & folders used on each volume, & the partition map if you want to make a meaningful comparison of the two drives. I have already explained how to do this using Disk Utility. If you are not willing to do that but instead rely on what appear to be flawed inferences from other things, I can't help you any more than I already have.

Similar Messages

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.

IMac Won't Boot - Won't Repair - Even after Erase and Install

One day my iMac acts weird. Apps bounce but don't open. I restart. I get greyscreen and spinning gear for 1.5 hours. Uh-oh.
Disk Utility run from OS X disk: cannot repair - "Invalid Node Structure" and "Invalid Key Length" - multiple instances.
So I erase volume and install. All goes fine. Install Tiger. Use upgrade to Leopard disk. Leopard boots and apps work (I try Safari and web connects) so I do software update thinking it's fixed.
Huge software update to 10.5.7 plus sundry others. After update reports "Could not install updates" - then it lists a load of updates (keynote, iwork etc) that it cant install.
Say's it'll restart. You guessed it: grey screen and spinning gear for 1.5 hours. Won't boot after forced restart either.
Run disk utility from OS X disk again: same errors, "node"; "key length" etc.
What now? Is 10.5.7 the problem? I have apple care so no major sweat but I need to get this thing operating baby.
PS - my boot camp partition that I have had for months and months still boots. So the HD isn't totally dead. At least can rule that out.

Suggest you do the following:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. 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 or Leopard.)
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.
4. Select the OS X volume (sub-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.
See if this fixes the problem. If it doesn't then there is some corruption in the directory block that reformatting or zeroing is just not able to fix. In such a case the resolution would be to repartition the drive from scratch. However, this will result in the loss of the Boot Camp partition as well.
Unless your Leopard disc is an upgrade-only disc, then you can install Leopard directly - no need to install Tiger first.

Kernal panic occurs, even AFTER erase and install

Help! Just erased hard drive on my iBook G4 and I'm still getting a kernal panic!
I used the OS 10.4.3 install disk that came with the computer. After restarting I went to Software Update and got the "gray screen of death."
I don't think this is a hardware issue since the kernal panics started on one of my other Macs (an old eMac) at about the same time. Too much of a coincidence for it to be hardware-related.

Can you post some of your crash logs? Might be a clue. See Mac OS X: How to log a kernel panic http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2546
Kernel panics are usually caused by a hardware problem – frequently RAM, a USB device or a Firewire device. What external devices do you have connected? When trying to troubleshoot problems, disconnect all external devices. Do you experience the same problems?
To eliminate RAM being the problem, Look at this link: *Testing RAM* @ http://guides.macrumors.com/Testing_RAM Then download & use Memtest & Ramber.
May be a solution on one of these links.
Mac OS X Kernel Panic FAQ
Mac OS X Kernel Panic FAQ
Resolving Kernel Panics
Avoiding and eliminating Kernel panics
12-Step Program to Isolate Freezes and/or Kernel Panics
 Cheers, Tom

My 2006 iMac running Snow Leopard won't boot even after erasing and re-installing Snow Leopard (via my MacBookPro), either from the HD or DVD drive. Can't get it to run Hardware Test. Disk Utility says disk OK - files are there. What can I do?

My 2006 iMac running Snow Leopard won't boot even after erasing and re-installing Snow Leopard. I erased and re-installed by putting the iMac in Target Disk mode and usin my MacBookPro as the host. But after numerous attempts I still can't get it to boot either from the HD or DVD drive. I just get the white screen after the wheel stops spinning. I can't get it to run Hardware Test - just get the white screen. If I use Disk Utility via my MBP it says the disk appears OK. All the Snow Leopad files appear to have been installed. What can I do?

Hi-NRG Bwoy wrote:
I erased and re-installed by putting the iMac in Target Disk mode and using my MacBookPro as the host.
Reet the SMC and the PRAM
 Cheat sheet to help diagnose and fix your Mac
Perhaps you installed the wrong version OS X onto the iMac, you can't use the disk from another Mac.
clean the disk.
If it's not working then use this method to create a bootable 10.6 USB from the iMac machine specific 10.6 disk or the 10.6.3 retail disk on your other Mac, use it to boot the iMac with.
http://www.maciverse.com/install-os-x-snow-leopard-from-usb-flash-drive.html
How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6

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.

Leopard 10.5.7 refuses to launch applications after "erase and install"

I have an older iMac G5 (1.6Mhz PPC, 2 Gb RAM) born with Panther OS. I wanted to update some applications so I could have a secure browser and other apps. I upgraded the RAM to 2 Gb as a first step. The additional RAM really perked up the old iMac so the next step was to update the OS to 10.5.6 using a DVD that was printed in Jan '09 and sold as part of a bundle pack with the new iLife 09 and iWork 09.
I thought I could get away with an overwrite installation and I knew there were risks in doing that. The result was a really bugey computer with frequent terminal views, kernel panics and even hard shut downs. Apple issued the 10.5.7 update and that helped stabilize the system somewhat.
I still had problems with instablility of the OS and with Safari 3.2.3, Firefox 3 and other applications. I decided to reinstall Leopard using the archive and install procedure. The 2nd install stabilized the OS but I still had problems with browsers and Open Office refusing to launch.
I did lots of troubleshooting using Onyx, MemTest OSX, repair permissions in the Disk Utility, etc. I created a new user account and the problems persisted. I decided to try a third install of the OS using the Erase and Install procedure.
The system now has Safari 4.0.1 but after a few page views Safari crashed and now it crashes as soon as you launch it. A freshly downloaded Camino browser does the same thing. iTunes, System Profiler and a fresh download of Onyx also refuse to launch. All of them crash while launching.
I can launch an ancient version of IE and Firefox 3 from the desktop.
After the last OS X install, I noticed the system did not accept the first attempts at downloading the Leopard updates and the Safari update. A second attempt was successful for both. I am reluctanct to proceed with installing anymore applications until I can fix what I believe is a problem with the OS. The OS worked well after the archive and install procedure and I am thinking it should be able to work at least as well after the erase and install.
I live in a rural area and the nearest Apple "genius" counter is about a 5 hour round trip. Is there anyone out there that has encountered this problem?

The Internet Explorer came with the iMac and I never used it. I had it on a disk so I put it on the desktop to get a download of Camino after Safari failed. It's so old that most websites can't render for it unless they have some html default page.
Here is what the Crash Reporter log had. The iTunes was on the OS X install disk. The Camino browser was downloaded from Caminobrowser.org.
Process: iTunes [275]
Path: /Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunes
Identifier: com.apple.iTunes
Version: ??? (???)
Build Info: iTunes-8202301~15
Code Type: PPC (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [67]
Date/Time: 2009-07-04 21:34:25.644 -0700
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.5.7 (9J61)
Report Version: 6
Anonymous UUID: 17FE9D2E-ED3C-44C8-BD16-23C937CA83AE
Exception Type: EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP)
Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000001, 0x000000008fe0105c
Crashed Thread: 0
Dyld Error Message:
Symbol not found: __ZN7WebCore11RenderLayer18gAlignCenterAlwaysE
Referenced from: /System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/WebKit
Expected in: /System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/WebCore.frame work/Versions/A/WebCore
Process: Safari [118]
Path: /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/MacOS/Safari
Identifier: com.apple.Safari
Version: ??? (???)
Build Info: WebBrowser-55301800~1
Code Type: PPC (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [67]
Date/Time: 2009-07-04 21:14:45.039 -0700
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.5.7 (9J61)
Report Version: 6
Anonymous UUID: 17FE9D2E-ED3C-44C8-BD16-23C937CA83AE
Exception Type: EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP)
Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000001, 0x000000008fe0105c
Crashed Thread: 0
Dyld Error Message:
Symbol not found: __ZN7WebCore11RenderLayer18gAlignCenterAlwaysE
Referenced from: /System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/WebKit
Expected in: /System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/WebCore.frame work/Versions/A/WebCore
Process: Camino [361]
Path: /Volumes/Camino/Camino.app/Contents/MacOS/Camino
Identifier: org.mozilla.camino
Version: ??? (???)
Code Type: PPC (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [67]
Date/Time: 2009-07-04 22:14:43.753 -0700
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.5.7 (9J61)
Report Version: 6
Anonymous UUID: 17FE9D2E-ED3C-44C8-BD16-23C937CA83AE
Exception Type: EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP)
Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000001, 0x000000008fe0105c
Crashed Thread: 0
Dyld Error Message:
Symbol not found: __ZN7WebCore11RenderLayer18gAlignCenterAlwaysE
Referenced from: /System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/WebKit
Expected in: /System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/WebCore.frame work/Versions/A/WebCore

Can't access Time Machine backups after erase and install

Had iMac checked by Apple Authorized Service Provider after experiencing multiple problems I couldn't fix. No hardware problem. He did an erase and install of 10.5.8. The machine accesses my Time Machine backup, but in Time Machine/ iMacHome/ Sharing & Permissions says, "You can only read." If I access a folder in Home, like Desktop or Documents, it says,"You have no access." Permissions are locked and grayed out.
I spent over two hours on the phone with tech support last evening, and he finally said he'd have to turn it over to Apple engineers, which would take a few days.
Migration assistant only allows "all or nothing" migration, and I need to select just certain folders; I do not want to restore anything that might be corrupted.
Is it possible I could have an undetected hardware problem? Has anyone else done an erase and install and been able to use Time Machine backups to pick and choose what they wanted to restore?

Thank you for your reply. The apple support tech should have known this, but he didn't. However, in the course of our two hour discussion he said "Maybe it's because the computer name is different." I hadn't reached the new-set-up stage where I had changed the name of the computer from Apple's default, so I did that. My short name home folder I had already named the same as before, iMacHome.
But changing the computer name didn't help. After reading your reply, I unlocked the preferences (which were locked and grayed out in TM) to my home folder in the finder and assigned read and write to all folders within for everyone. Back in TM, preferences were no longer grayed out, but changing privileges was. I added iMacHome to the names in addition to staff read & write and everyone read and write. But ImacHome(Me) allows read only, options gray, and even though everyone is read and write, it says "You can only read" and I still cannot access Desktop, Documents, etc...
Fortunately I have a SuperDuper user file backup that I am restoring from, so all is not lost. But it seems to me TM backups should be readily available, and I want to solve this problem. I may still want to go back to a previous month to recover something. But mostly I'd just like to know that TM is a functional backup. It certainly isn't in my case right now.
Don't want to migrate the entire home folder. Too risky. Risky enough to bring over Mail and selected Application Support folders and keychains.
Thanks again. I think your answer is right on, but there must still be something else. I know I have those names correct because I see the old computer name on the sparse bundle, and the old home name in the TM backups. (Haven't read the tips yet. Will do so.)

Program installation after erase and install of Mac OS X.

Good day to you all,
A quick question to you Mac experts and enthusiasts. I am going to perform an erase and install on my 24" Aluminum iMac. I have numerous programs on my HD. If i copy them to an external drive and complete the erase and install, will I be able to just copy them back to my HD after, or will I need to reinstall them from the discs and .dmg files? Any help would be much appreciated on this topic. Thanks to all in advance for your time and input!
N8
Message was edited by: Nathan Barton

Nathan Barton wrote:
A quick question to you Mac experts and enthusiasts. I am going to perform an erase and install on my 24" Aluminum iMac. I have numerous programs on my HD. If i copy them to an external drive and complete the erase and install, will I be able to just copy them back to my HD after, or will I need to reinstall them from the discs and .dmg files? Any help would be much appreciated on this topic. Thanks to all in advance for your time and input!
*Hi Nathan, Welcome (Back)* to Apple's Users Help Users Forums.
Maybe I missed something—wouldn't be the 1st time—cuz I am surprised no one has suggesting making a clone prior to the E&I. You could then clone back your apps.
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
Purchase at $27.95 will allow smart backups that look at the bu files and only move over new ones. It's quick at ~7 mins to change ~1 gig out of 20.
Be sure to test that the clone boots and apps behave properly.
Here are other popular cloners.
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
http://www.prosoftengineering.com/products/drivegeniusinfo.php?PHPSESSID=909c070fb2e13b35097fa9cc1340bfc0
Good Luck, JP

Software Update simply not updating after erase and install.

Help. I have an intel imac that was recently reinstalled of the OSX after I decided to custom install. Previously, it was running on 10.5.5. I did the erase and install with the option of of selecting the MAC OS Extended (Journaled). As for the custom installation, all I did was to select only the HP printer driver, while the rest I have unchecked.
Currently, the version is 10.5.2 and I have tried to run the software updating. There is a MacOSUpdate combo 10.5.5. I have downloaded it and during installation, halfway of updating the OS, the bar just seem to hang for a long time. Now is this normal? I have waited for an hour or so and there seem no respond or any sign of the OS is being updated.
What did I do wrong? I am posting from Malaysia. Could it be an asia server problem?

did you attempt the update using  - Software Update or did you download the 10.5.5 Combo Updater?
http://support.apple.com/downloads/
or
http://support.apple.com/downloads/MacOS_X_10_5_5_ComboUpdate
By the way, that site is not working for me this morning so there may be server issues, I don't know if there are problems with the Apple servers or if my local ISP is having problems, again.
I have internet issues because I live in the country so internet service is not good. I always download the full updater before I try to install it.
Another good habit - After your install, Run Disk Utility Repair Permissions and Disk Utility Verify Disk. I run those two before and after each install or Update. Some gurus here say is it not necessary to do that, but I always do it - before and after - and I have never had an installation failure or update failure.
Hope that helps.

Reinstalling docs and pics after "erase and install"

What is the easiest way to load my documents and pictures back to my imac from an external drive after an erase and install procedure?
OSX 10.5.8
Thanks.

In the sidebar of a Finder window, select the icon representing your startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) At the top level of the volume are folders with these names, among others:
Applications
Library
System
Enter Time Machine and select the most recent snapshot, which is behind the frontmost window. Are those folders present in the snapshot?

Restore after Erase and Install

Depending on the answer I get to another question, I might have to erase and reinstall system 10.3 on my ancient Yosemite.
I have already backed up my entire HD to an external drive using third-party backup software. Presumably the backup softare itself has been backed up.
How do I restore my user settings, Entourage email files, other files, etc. after the erase and install?
I have run into trouble in the past with reinstalls and don't want to go thru that again.

These are personal choices only you can make.
You say you have two places from which to get a working copy of your 10.3 software:
Choice #1) Erase and install 10.3 from scratch using Apple tools:
This will give you a positively excellent version of your 10.3 software. But will return you to a completely "factory fresh" version with NONE of your personal files at all.
Choice #2) Use the Restore function in your Backup software:
This will return all the files on your Mac to the moment of your Backup, and re-install all personal files along with anything troublesome that had already happened by the time you made your Backup.
Provided that it works as intended, which is not guaranteed.
Choice #3) Combined approach:
1) Erase and Install the System Files with Apple Tools;
2) then recreate your Users (and their passwords) in System Preferences > Accounts;
3) use your Backup software to restore the "Users" directory structure, which contains all Users files including email and preferences (except the Account specification and password itself).
Provided that it works as intended, which is not guaranteed.
It is possible that despite your best intentions, certain files have not been backed up. Files that come to mind are Address Books, on which the system tends to restrict permissions so that they are difficult to hack and difficult to copy. Keychains may similarly be difficult to backup and restore.

After erase and install, is the old data still recoverable?

Hello,
I'm doing an erase and install on a mini that I want to sell. Can I be sure that the old files are gone? After an erase and install can someone use a disk recovery program to get old files? Do I have to use Disk Utility to zero the drive?
Thanks
Bob

Here's a series of steps to prepare the computer for sale:
Follow these instructions step by step to prepare a Mac for sale:
First, back up the data:
1) Shut down all Virtual PCs. They cannot be in their "fast saved" state. They must be shut down from inside Windows.
2) Clone to an external drive using Carbon Copy Cloner.
Next, prepare the machine for the new buyer:
3) Deauthorize the computer in iTunes! Deauthorize both iTunes and Audible accounts.
4) Remove Open Firmware passwords
5) Turn the brightness full up and volume nearly so.
Install a fresh OS:
6) Insert the OS X install CD/DVD.
7) Restart the computer while holding down the C key to boot from the CD/DVD.
8) Run Disk Utility from the file menu and erase the internal hard drive (optionally zero all data).
9) Install OS X.
10) Reboot the computer.
11) From the welcome screen, you can skip the registration step by typing command-Q.
12) When prompted, create an account (it will be an admin account).
13) From your new admin account, configure networking.
14) Then use Software Update to bring your system and all of it's applications up to date.
15) From Disk Utility, repair permissions on the new volume.
Now delete the account you just created:
16) Boot from a different volume (e.g. a firewire drive, if available)
17) Clean up the image using the following terminal commands:
prompt> rm /Volumes/<imagevol>/var/db/BootCache.playlist
prompt> rm /Volumes/<imagevol>/var/db/volinfo.database
prompt> rm -r /Volumes/<imagevol>/var/vm/swap*
18) Now you can get rid of the admin account you used to set up the machine Use the terminal:
prompt> nicl -raw /Volumes/<imagevol>/var/db/netinfo/local.nidb -delete /users/<admin>
prompt> rm -r /Volumes/<imagevol>/Users/<admin>
prompt> rm /Volumes/<imagevol>/var/db/.AppleSetupDone
19) Shut down and ship it to your buyer. When they get it, it will boot to the Welcome screen just like a factory Mac, except that it's better because it's completely up to date.

After erase and install my photo library won't load - please, please help

I hope you can help. I backed up my mac then installed snow leopard - I had many issues with this and decided to erase and install normal leopard. I copied the iphoto library from my ext. HD to my pictures folder and thought once I opened iphoto that they would load but they haven't. I looked in my pictures folder and there were two iphoto libraries: the one I just copied and another much smaller one with (original) by the side of it. I did the whole hold down 'apple + control' on starting iphoto and 17 photos imported, I presumed these came from the (original) library and so I moved that library out of the pictures folder. I started iphoto again holding 'apple + control) and again the same 17 photos. I know my photos are here somewhere and they are so precious to me. I would so grateful if someone could help.

Welcome to the Apple Discussions.
To choose a Library is simply hold the +option (or alt)+ key on launch.
Regards
TD

Merging Itunes Libraries after erase and install of Tiger

Hello all,
If someone can point me in the right direction. i have searched and read a lot of postings about merging libraries. i'm not sure if i fall into any of these categories.
here is what i did:
1. all my itunes music is on an external maxtor 300 gb hard drive.
2. upgraded to tiger - had errors, so needed to do an erase and install.
3. the maxtor external hard drive was disconnected during the upgrade.
4. itunes was installed during the upgrade with none of my current playlists or purchased music since the external drive was not connected (found this out from reading a post).
5. my girlfriend downloaded music that was waiting to be downloaded so now i have music in my new itunes library.
and the questions is:
i would like to combine the new library with the existing library so that all my purchased music is in one folder and i reclaim all my old playlists (the current itunes setup has no playlists yet).
so is there anything i need to do special in this instance?
thanks so much for any and all help.
regards,
ron - nyc

Thanks for your questions. Actually, I did two Archive and Installs and one Erase and Install. In every instance by the time I got the OS up to 10.4.11 (via one combined update) things started acting funky. iPhoto wouldn't work — to get it running required an overwrite install via iLife 05, Appleworks 6 won't open and, as mentioned Mail never worked from the get-go.
I have tried reinstalling only Mail. But as yet no luck getting it to work.
I have been trolling around the forums and have noted a lot of problems regarding Mail in 10.4. When I have time, I will try some of the simpler, albeit arcance, suggested solutions.

Missing HD Space even after Erase and Install

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