TM Restore -- Clean Install System First?

I'm about to replace crashed drive on G4 Powerbook. All my data is backed up on Time Machine. After I install the new HD & format, is it better to do a clean install of Leopard off the DVD first, then Restore from TM? Or should I just let TM restore the entire HD, including the backed-up System? Does it matter?
Also, if I do a clean install off the System DVD first, then do the TM restore, will TM write over my cleanly-installed System and restore the backed up System instead anyway?

Just format the drive, then do the full restore per #14 of the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.

Similar Messages

Clean Install System 8.5 - Desktop Menu and Get Info??

Hello,
I'm helping an older lady with a clean install of system 8.5, upgrading from 7.5.3. on a 6214CD Performa. (I'm mostly using 7.6). To my suprise, with the full install (not custom), I'm not seeing several things in the Desktop Pull down menu - like for example Get Info, and some things under Views. Further the keystrokes I've used for 15 years like Apple "I" for "get info" don't work. What am I missing?
Secondly, I lost access to one partition on an external back-up hard drive by accidently using a 68k Disk Tools vs the new Disk Tools for 8.5 and the 603e processor. My question is, can I "initialize" only ONE partition or will Initialize attempt to re-do the whole SCSI hard drive, and go into the partitioning thing again?
Thanks
Lowell

Hi, Lowell -
Welcome to Apple's Discussions.
I'm not seeing several things....
Look in Finder's Preferences - it may be under the Edit menu when Finder is active, or in one of the control panels (it's been a long time since I was in OS 8.anything). Locate an item named Simple Finder, and uncheck it. The change should be immediate.
Can't help with the Disk Tools question, at least not directly...
Try running Drive Setup (or the OS 8 equivalent - can't recall its name - HD Setup?). If you can see and select that partition, you should be able to select either Mount Volume and/or Update Driver from one of its menus (the Functions menu in Drive Setup). Neither of those functions is destructive, and one or the other, or both, may be able to recover the ability to mount and access the partition.

Clean install Lion first?

I just want check it is best to do a clean installation or write over SL with Lion, before I install my upgrade from CS5 to CS6 standard?
Please kindly advice me. It would be nice to say why and why not?

It's not a bad idea to do a clean install before doing a major operating system update. It's not required but it makes sure you're getting reading of accumulated "crud" on your computer.
However, most important, if you choose to do a clearn install, make sure that your hard drive, and especially, all your software is backed up. It wouldn't be a bad idea also to deactivate the Adobe software.
It's not necessary to reinstall CS5 after doing such a clean install unless you want to be able to open version-specific files (e.g., Adobe InDesign). You will need your CS5 serial number if installing a CS6 upgrade.

Lenovo pre-load OS vs. clean install + System Update

Hi all, just wondering what the conventional wisdom is these days: stick with the Lenovo pre-load OS or perform a clean install and then use System Update to add whichever drivers seem worth adding.
I've traditionally performed clean installs on new computers, but I'd be happy to skip the chore if it's not all that beneficial anymore.
Thanks!

Windows 7 - clean install recommendations by Lenovo
My home-forum: http://www.thinkpad-forum.de
Wiki: Deutsches ThinkPad-Wiki English ThinkWiki
My ThinkPad-Collection

Is it possible to restore iWork package after a clean install system?

Hello friends!
Is it possible to restore the iWork package after a clean installation? To buy back in the store too expensive. MacBook Pro MB990, OS Lion 10.7.3.
Thanks!

Hi I was wondering the same thing, I want to restore my MacBook Pro to clean it up and start fresh but I am unsure if I can reinstall iWork agin from my disks? Also will I just be able to go on to the Mac app store and reinstall the apps I have purchased?
Thanks!

Trouble: HD "Data Lost," DiskWarrior stumped, then a "Clean Install"

Hello Classic Fans,
Since installing OS 9.1 on my 1998 WallStreet PowerBook on 25 April 2005, I enjoyed a PERFECT computer until 3 days ago (16 Feb. 2006) when my Mac started badly acting up.
I'll chart what happened and what I did to correct the problem in the hope it may help others. I would also appreciate feedback telling me if what I did was correct and if there's anything else I should do. Since I'm just now back up and running I'm not sure the problem is gone.
Sequence of Events:
16 Feb: While surfing in InternetExplorer 5.1.7 the program quit then the display froze. Ran DiskWarrior (5% out) and installed fresh copy of I.E. I had not had a freeze for many moons!
17 Feb: Got "Data Lost" on HD error message twice. Ran DiskWarrior again (5% out).
Backed up recent important "Documents" stuff to CD.
(Note: From past experience I knew that the HD "Data Lost" error means certain trouble).
18 Feb: It's back! Got HD "Data Lost" right away. This time the error box kept flashing and dinging like nuts and wouldn't stop.
Forced restart.
Flashing "Question Mark" appeared (HD can't recognize its own "System" software!)
Booted to Zip Rescue Disk with DiskWarrior on it.
DiskWarrior can't see HardDrive -- none of my normal desktop icons appear either.
Shut down with Power Button.
Tried to start/boot to HD ("System" folder) using Power Button.
This time HD recognized its "System" folder and started normally! (How come it could normally boot this time but not last time?)
Restarted to the Boot Rescue Zip. This time DiskWarrior COULD see HD, so I ran DiskWarrior (1% out) on the HD and successfully rebuild Directory.
Almost certain now that something was wrong more than DiskWarrior could fix (I had run DiskWarrior twice in 2 days and the problem was still there and getting worse), I consulted the Apple TroubleShooting guide and decided to do a "Clean Install" of OS 9.1 before I lost EVERYTHING on my HD (that dire event happened before!)
Did "Clean Install" of OS 9.1.
Moved the following folders from the "Previous System" suitcase to the new clean install "System" Suitcase: Control Panels, Extensions, Favorites, Apple Menu Items, Startup Items, and Preferences.
After doing that stuff and a restart, my desktop now looks the same as it did before the Clean Install and my applications, etc. are working like they did before too.
Is the problem fixed? I don't know yet. But from past experience I do know that once the HD "Data Lost" error starts appearing bad stuff starts happening really fast.
Als: Since installing OS 9.1 nearly a year ago, I have never rebuilt the desktop or reblessed anything. Was that a mistake? But this PowerBook just ran PERFECT better than when brand new!
Until 3 days ago....then BANG!
Did I follow the correct procedure? Any other suggestions for this eight year old PowerBook to keep it alive?
Thanks and I hope this helps others....
Wallstreet G3 Powerbook Series (1998) Mac OS 9.1.x 233 Hz; 20 GB HD (16 GB free); 288 RAM:

I have no expierence using a zip disk. I have always ran DW directly from the CD. Therefore, unknown if it would have made a difference.
The reason why IE froze could have been because it needed more preferred memory. The newer version needs approximately 300%.
If you were looking at a flash type site, those take up a lot of memory & can cause freezes if your browser does not have enough preferred memory.
Then again, you could have had directory damage. 5% is not much. You could have run Disk First Aid directly from your System Install CD that originally came w/your computer. Whatever, DFA can't repair, then that is when you pull out the heavy artillary (DiskWarrior, etc.).
I would just leave sleeping dogs lie for right now if your computer is running smoothly again.
I would also do a monthly maintenance by running DW & Plus Optimizor.
Rebuild your desktop after updating/upgrading an OS, running a 3rd party utility like DW, downloading & installations.
You really need a backup browser. The following is from Microsoft's website:
"Microsoft ended support for Internet Explorer for Mac on December 31st, 2005, and is not providing any further security or performance updates. As of January 31st, 2006, Internet Explorer for the Mac is no longer available for download from Microsoft."
Alternative OS 9.x Browsers:
Mozilla v1.3.1(Wamcom)
Netscape Browser Archive
Netscape v7.0.2
MacUpdate-NC v7.0.2
iCab v3
Opera v6.0.3

Clean Install? What is required? Macbook shutdowns?

I am experiencing these annoying MB shutdowns, all the time, and have tried EVERYTHING possible to reset and change, like the RAM sticks, the PMU, the PRAM, firmware, and many other things. I am going to try a clean install, but first of all, how do I do this, and do I need to back up my data? I have tried putting my Mac HD onto my firewire HD but my MB shuts down in the process. What is the deal? How do I do this?
-The Jaxter

Yes, if you do an erase andinstall it will wipe your HD then re-install everything, so you will need to backup your data or it will be lost.
You cannot simply copy over your HD to an external FW drive. If you want to get everything, you will need to clone the HD using a tool like SuperDuper but if your Mac will not stay on long enough to make the copy all you can do it drag and drop data in chunks that are small enough in an effort to get them copies over before the next shutdown.
I doubt a clean install will solve the problem, but it is still worth a shot. Replacement seems to be the way to go.

2 questions : journal or not to journal? superduper clean install.

I am sorry... I am not sure if i should have broke this up into to different entries?
Question 1:
I have read the search forum regarding... and i am still confused?
are we to journal or not journal when reformatting a disk for our Final Cut Pro scratch disk files?
Question 2:
I emailed the guys at superduper regarding my problem. I do not understand what he is trying to tell me. I thought one of you could translate? thank you
it starts off with my questions and then his reply:
1) should I wait to do a clean install until i install snow leopard?
I am looking at making a backup copy of my system drive to one of my
internal drives temporary until i can get an external drive.
then i will install snow leapord on my main system drive and then make
a back up of the new clean install system drive to the external drive.
I will then use what files I need from the internal copy to put back on
my clean install drive. i.e. emails, favorites, iphoto, itunes files.
Then update my new copy on my external and erase my system drive on my internal hard drive.
**He replied**
*A full "Backup - all files" made to a drive with Erase, then copy or*
*Smart Update will include your email information.*
*I strongly recommend backing up directly to a drive, and not to an*
image.
So then i wrote back "what does "backing up to an image"?
He replied
*I mean not to a "Disk Image" file - that is, a sparse image/bundle. Instead, the backup should be in its own partition, properly partitioned, written directly to the drive, and not to a container.*
Can anyone tell me what is he trying to say?

do not journal AV drives, only the system drive requires journaling on
when upgrading to Snow Leopard, it is recommended to clean install so that it is a completely fresh install:
back up all the work files to CD or a hard drive
erase the disc
format the hard drive as Mac OS Extended Journaled
install Snow Leopard
install all the applications from the original install discs and update using Software Update
copy over your the copied workfiles
the recommended way to set up a clone of the system drive is:
# clone your system drive of the new clean Snow Leopard install
# buy an internal drive that will fit in the Mac pro so you have two internal drives fitted; the original system drive and a back up clone
# copy over the clone files onto the new internal drive so that you have an instant swap over system drive with all the applications ready to go
a disc image is a single file containing many smaller files-forget about this for setting up the system clone

How to use Time Machine to do a system restore after clean install of mavericks

Hi I have a late 2008 MacBook Pro 15" ... I updated from mountain lion to mavericks and was having issues with mavericks running slow. Took it to Apple today and they were great with helping me upgrade the RAM to the max (8GB DDR3) ... I asked them to do a clean install of Mavericks as well. I have Time Machine backups that I would like to use to restore to my previous settings but I can't seem to figure out what to do.... When I enter Time Machine and I try and select a past date, it doesn't let me choose a date to "restore" ... What am I doing wrong? Please walk me through it thanks!

Use Migration Assistant to migrate your previous account from the Time Machine backup. Migration Assistant is in your Utilities folder.
Read: OS X: How to migrate data from another Mac using Mavericks
When doing so, select your previous User account but do not migrate "Applications", "Computer and Network Settings" or "Other files and folders". De-select those choices. Subsequent to using Migration Assistant, you will need to reinstall any essential software you may require.
"Essential software" means programs that have been verified by their developers to be compatible with Mavericks, and specifically excludes junk such as "cleaners", "boosters", "optimizers", or ill-conceived "anti-virus" garbage. Install that essential software from original sources such as the App Store, developer's websites, or original optical media, and not from untrustworthy download aggregator hosting sites such as C net dot com, Mac update dot com, etc, and not from backups that may have been corrupted.
Be aware that if you already created an account with the same name as the one you want to migrate, Migration Assistant will offer to rename the account it's about to create. In other words if you're already logged in as "Tara", and you want to migrate the account named Tara from the Time Machine backup, it will offer to name the migrated account Tara1. Migration Assistant will tell you what it's going to do, but the warning is easy to overlook. Therefore you might consider creating another, temporary account with Administrator privileges, and deleting the one you created subsequent to erasing your Mac and installing Mavericks.
For those instructions read: OS X Mavericks: Set up users on your Mac. Follow the instructions under "Add a user". Be sure to select “Allow user to administer this computer.”
Log in under that temporary account, then use Migration Assistant. Confirm everything works as you expect, then you can delete the temporary account.

How to Clean Install but then retrieve & restore my Keychain and Mailboxes.

For months now, there have been a large number of irritating problems with my system - and I'm not enough of a techie to resolve them.
It is as though my machine is stuck in the past.
Spotlight doesn't index well - and fails to find up to two thirds of my files - including most of the newer ones.
Dashboard remains at the point at which I upgraded my disk drive. I know this, because a clip from Safari (a web-page with drives for sale) comes up - laboriously slowly - every time I open dashboard; when I delete the clip, it simply reappears the next time I open dashboard after a reboot. Similarly, post-it-style notes made in the Stickies app just vanish after a reboot.
When I open TextEdit, the same untitled file I was working on back in the early summer opens with it; I close it, it's back again the next time I open TextEdit. Alterations I make to Text substitution disappear the moment I close the panel.
All new bookmark additions to Safari vanish from my bookmarks when I restart Safari.
Every time I open iTunes, it thinks I am opening it for the first time. I can't tell you how many times I have agreed to their Software License.
My iCal alarms go off ad infinitum even when I turn them off and for months after the event in question.
And so on, and so on. It's like living with an Alzheimer's patient who keeps asking you what day it is.
I have twice reinstalled Snow Leopard (and rebooted my way through all those software updates) to no avail. My system - or at any rate my applications - still think it's early summer 2010 and any changes since then are forgotten; and Spotlight continues to be virtually useless.
It seems intuitive that some of these problems might be associated with individual preference files and caches for the various applications. But, even if I knew how to correct such problems, I'm concerned it might take me days - even weeks - of messing around but without solving all of my problems.
I have to say, I am tired of having half a Macintosh at my disposal. And I'm inclined to do something drastic.
The obvious solution to these pernickety system problems is completely to reinstall Snow Leopard (onto an erased hard drive) and start from scratch. What has stopped me doing this so far is the fact that, together with the various keycodes that came with my applications, I would also lose all my e-mails and accounts from the Mail application - and all the various passwords in my Keychain.
Surely there must be some way to retrieve just these select items alone from backup after a clean install? (And - yes, techies - I KNOW that Apple doesn't offer a "clean install" these days but you know what I mean: I want to reset everything; then retrieve a few select items - but WITHOUT the complete migration - which would likely, in the process, reinstate all those corrupted preference files or permissions or whatever it is that is messing around with my machine's short term memory.)
So here's my question again:
How - following a "clean install" - do I locate and retrieve the specific ingredients that will restore my mailboxes and keychain to their current state, whilst leaving everything else "clean"?
Message edited by: Eric M Colvin
Message was edited by: Eric M Colvin

An alternative proposal I'm going to make is to set up a new user account. It seems highly likely to me that all, or almost all of these issues are related to the account preference files in ~/Library. Certainly the iTunes issue, Safari, TextEdit, iCal etc. suggest that your account is having trouble with saving any changes to its preference files which would result in anything you tried to do being forgotten the moment the application was closed.
So for a start, make a new account, log in to it and do a couple of experiments - make some bookmarks in Safari, change some TextEdit options, open iTunes - then close and reopen them, or even restart the machine. If the changes are saved, then it's definitely an account problem and there is no need to reinstall Mac OS. Worst case scenario then would be you might need to move your documents and settings over to the new account; however it's also worth taking a couple of steps to see if the original account can be fixed. Try the above step and if it works; if so, go to /Users and right click your home folder, then 'Get Info'. Under the section dealing with permissions, ensure that your username has both read and write permissions, then use the cogwheel to apply this setting to all folders and files inside your home folder (you may need to use your password to unlock the padlock for this).
There are other things that can be attempted even before moving to a new user (or reinstalling if the new user test failed) so it's still worth checking back here in case other people suggest steps, it just depends how much time you want to invest.
As always, back up all your data before troubleshooting.

Permission issues after Snow Leopard clean install, Migration Assistant+Time Machine restore.

Hello, here's the situation.
I've done a clean install, for various reasons, I've got backups including one done just before the clean install. Following directions somewhere else I set up a user account called "test" just for the purposes of reimporting PART of my old system, since one of the reasons I did the clean install was to clean up my system (get rid of all those little ghosts of old programs, the old programs themselves, files and settings I not longer want etc.) so I didn't want to just import the whole thing. So I imported just the user account and a few folders such as music and photos that I knew I wanted back on. Then I restarted so that it would log back into my old user account that's been restored using Migration assistant. So far so good. I enter time machine and start restoring Applicatons, their associated support files, a few preference panes, some other files and folders I want back on, so and and so forth. Then I enter my old home folder and see that many of the subfolders I don't have access to, I check their permissions with Get Info and see that read/write access has been granted to my test account, which is ridiculous since it didn't exist when they were backed up. Some searching reveals that on the first Time Machine back-up after a restore like this it should as at the start whether I want to inherit he old backups, so I tell Time machine to do a backup, figure that it shouldn't take much, seeing as there's nothing new, and I've put it all in the same place as in the backup. It doen't give me any such prompt, instead just starts indexing/preparing hundreds of thousands of files, and tells me that the backup should take about 135 gb of space. I stop the backup, give up on working this out myself, and come here. Help?
Of note
The "harddrive" (it's a partition, I've got Windows on the other part) is not named the same as it was in the backups, would this affect it?

I'm not familiar with Lightroom.
Where is the "Lightroom 2 catalog" folder in the second message, and what are it's permissions?
Note that +Repair Permissions+ only repairs permissions on files installed by OSX or certain Apple apps, and you should use the version of Disk Utility that's on your OSX volume, not your Install disc. See: [About Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions feature|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1452].

IPhoto won't open after clean install followed by Time Machine restoration of data.

Hello.
I've just completed a clean install of OS X Yosemite followed by a restoration of my data from a Time Machine backup on my Mid 2010 iMac i3 3.2GHz.
Since the install iPhoto will no longer open. The icon in the dock bounces for a short while and then I receive the following error: iPhoto cannot be opened because of a problem. It then shows problem details and system configuration, the top part of which I post below:
Process:               iPhoto [466]
Path:                  /Applications/iPhoto.app/Contents/MacOS/iPhoto
Identifier:            com.apple.iPhoto
Version:               ???
Build Info:            iPhotoProject-910029000000000~1
App Item ID:           408981381
App External ID:       729712666
Code Type:             X86-64 (Native)
Parent Process:        ??? [1]
Responsible:           iPhoto [466]
User ID:               501
Date/Time:             2014-11-15 16:52:59.886 +0000
OS Version:            Mac OS X 10.10 (14A389)
Report Version:        11
Anonymous UUID:        34962211-17B1-3442-0D78-C0F697641981
Time Awake Since Boot: 920 seconds
Crashed Thread:        0
Exception Type:        EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP)
Exception Codes:       0x0000000000000002, 0x0000000000000000
Application Specific Information:
dyld: launch, loading dependent libraries
Dyld Error Message:
Symbol not found: _OBJC_CLASS_$_RKMigratedLibrary
Referenced from: /Applications/iPhoto.app/Contents/MacOS/iPhoto
Expected in: /Applications/iPhoto.app/Contents/MacOS/../Frameworks/RedRock.framework/Version s/A/RedRock
in /Applications/iPhoto.app/Contents/MacOS/iPhoto
I then get a long list of binary image data which I haven't posted here (but can if required).
I believe the version of iPhoto I have is 9.6 as that update was installed a short while before I did the clean install of the OS.
I would try reinstalling the iPhoto again but cannot see a way to uninstall or to download again from the app store.
Has anybody seen this behaviour before and/or know of a fix or workaround so I can get my iPhoto program working again please?
Many thanks for your time.
Alex

Looking at that report I would reinstall iPhoto as a first step:
To re-install iPhoto
1. Put the iPhoto.app in the trash (Drag it from your Applications Folder to the trash)
2. Download it from the App Store to reinstall It's on your Purchases List* there.
*Sometimes iPhoto is not visible on the Purchases List. it may be hidden. See this article for details on how to unhide it.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4928
One question often asked: Will I lose my Photos if I reinstall?
iPhoto the application and the iPhoto Library are two different parts of the iPhoto programme. So, reinstalling the app should not affect the Library. BUT you should always have a back up before doing this kind of work. Always.

Clean Installing MacOS 10.6 - restoring Mail, iCal & Address Book

My parents own a first-generation white MacBook.
A couple of years ago, the MacBook's internal hard disk had to be replaced under extra-extented warranty. (MacBooks of that era had hard drive problems, and Apple took care of its customers.)
As a result, I had to clean-install MacOS 10.6 off of its DVD. I remember it being a pain because I do backup with La Cie's Silverkeeper backup utility, not Apple's Time Machine. (I don't have any empty external hard disks around, so I didn't bother to use Time Machine). I used Silverkeeper to copy my parents' entire user folder over to a hard drive. Because I am cautious about restores, I carefully copied only specific data back to the MacBook once the "new" hard drive was installed. I did not just restore the entire user folder with all of its settings.
Fast forward a couple of years...
My parents were complaining of unusual fluctuations of internet speeds on their machine. (They use WiFi, with an Airport base station connected to a DSL modem.) My MacBook Pro had no problem on their Airport connection. Theirs is really screwy. I have been advised to clean install MacOS X again.
As I recall, this was a bit of a pain the last time. I don't know what has happened, but I assume that something has gone wrong with their settings or with the system software. I want to be careful in doing a clean-install this time so that most settings are not copied over, and only some things do get copied:
iTunes
iCal
Mail
Address Book
Safari bookmarks only (I want to be careful about this one)
How do I do these things without copying over all the other settings/libraries/junk?
Also: my parents use Facebook frequently. Is there anything in Facebook that can infect their MacBook? If so, what can I do to avoid re-creating that after a clean install?
I have their user folder backed up on two separate external hard drives just to be safe. Each of those drives contains other information, but I made sure to place the copied user folder inside another folder at the root level of the disk, clearly labeled, so there won't be any problems.
MY PARENTS' HARDWARE
MacBook (white, first-generation, 2006 vintage)
FireWire/USB external hard drives for backup
THEIR SOFTWARE
MacOS 10.6 Snow Leopard
iLife 2009
iWork 2009
Microsoft Office 2011: Mac
Adobe Photoshop Elements 8, with Adobe Bridge CS4
Flip4Mac

Does anyone know the easiest way to transfer my account (mail, calendars, etc) from my old account to a fresh one whilst offering a possible elimination of the crashing issue I am experiencing?
see this link
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=6185507
copy (not move) the relevant data from the old account to some location that both accounts have access to like the folder /Users/Shared. then log into the new account and copy the stuff back to the new account.

System slow/clean installed

Hello and thanks for taking a peek in here:
I run a 27 inch mid 2010 imac w/ 2.93ghz i7 and 16gb 1333 mhz ddr3 running lion
My system suddenly got a whole lot slower after a recent power outage (the system was UPSed but the UPS gave out before power was restored so it was shut down quite nasitly
My first thought was a hard drive issue, since everything seemed VERY slow, i then launched from my previous leopard install disk, went into disk utility, and erased the hard drive.
I then did a clean install, and I have the same issue. Response time for anything clicked is in the minutes, web pages open very slowly, youtube videos don't show up at all.
When i took a look recently at "about this mac" The memory said 16gb??? (with the questionmarks there) So i popped in the original 2x2gb sticks that came with the mac and removed the user-installed ram. The questionmarks are gone and i'm down to 4gb of ram.
I also went into the disk utility, checked disk and persmissions without a hitch.
The mac takes over 10 minutes to boot up now.
When I click any menu, it takes 2-5 minutes for that menu to open
when I open an app, it bobs up and down for 2 mins, then stops, then opens 5 minutes later.
Connecting to wifi or bluetooth devices gets stuck on the "connecting" part for ages.
Cpu load is under 1%
Memory is 80% free
disk acitivty looks normal, from time to time it can read/write at over 20mb/s
what now?
PS: I bought this mac around 1 year ago, having it sent in to apple is impossible as I live in a 3rd world country with very annoying customs regulations. It would litterally cost me the price of a new imac to have it sent in.
PPS: "About this mac" memory option states:
"your mac contains 0 memory slots, each of which accepts a ??? memory module
No user-installable memory slots exist."
in the general window, it does state that I have 4gb of ram...

Hello and thanks for taking a peek in here:
I run a 27 inch mid 2010 imac w/ 2.93ghz i7 and 16gb 1333 mhz ddr3 running lion
My system suddenly got a whole lot slower after a recent power outage (the system was UPSed but the UPS gave out before power was restored so it was shut down quite nasitly
My first thought was a hard drive issue, since everything seemed VERY slow, i then launched from my previous leopard install disk, went into disk utility, and erased the hard drive.
I then did a clean install, and I have the same issue. Response time for anything clicked is in the minutes, web pages open very slowly, youtube videos don't show up at all.
When i took a look recently at "about this mac" The memory said 16gb??? (with the questionmarks there) So i popped in the original 2x2gb sticks that came with the mac and removed the user-installed ram. The questionmarks are gone and i'm down to 4gb of ram.
I also went into the disk utility, checked disk and persmissions without a hitch.
The mac takes over 10 minutes to boot up now.
When I click any menu, it takes 2-5 minutes for that menu to open
when I open an app, it bobs up and down for 2 mins, then stops, then opens 5 minutes later.
Connecting to wifi or bluetooth devices gets stuck on the "connecting" part for ages.
Cpu load is under 1%
Memory is 80% free
disk acitivty looks normal, from time to time it can read/write at over 20mb/s
what now?
PS: I bought this mac around 1 year ago, having it sent in to apple is impossible as I live in a 3rd world country with very annoying customs regulations. It would litterally cost me the price of a new imac to have it sent in.
PPS: "About this mac" memory option states:
"your mac contains 0 memory slots, each of which accepts a ??? memory module
No user-installable memory slots exist."
in the general window, it does state that I have 4gb of ram...

Clean Install and Restore from Time Machine

Hi All,
Just after some advice, I'm thinking of doing a clean install of OS X when Mavericks comes out. I've been a Mac user for 13 years and have always used Migration Assistant to move my data over whenever I've bought a new Mac. I've never done a clean install before, but I've noticed over the years all the crap that's floating around my hard drive from old Mac's and various files from software I've removed years ago. I'm sure there's tons of rubbish that's accumulated over the 13 years.
Someone suggested clean installing OS X and then using Migration Assistant to load all my data back on from a Time Machine backup, but customise what I want to restore. I was told that if I don't choose to restore System Settings or something similar then it should just restore all my other stuff such as apps, files, itunes and iphoto library, etc. but would leave out all the rubbish. Is that the case?

TJ Skywasher wrote:
Someone suggested clean installing OS X and then using Migration Assistant to load all my data back on from a Time Machine backup, but customise what I want to restore.
Largely agreeing with baltwo, it's probably not worthwhile.
I was told that if I don't choose to restore System Settings or something similar then it should just restore all my other stuff such as apps, files, itunes and iphoto library, etc. but would leave out all the rubbish. Is that the case?
No. If you transfer everything with Setup Assistant when the Mac first starts (preferred), or Migration Assistant later, and leave everything selected, it will transfer everything except OSX (which you just replaced) -- all your apps, user home folders, data, settings, etc. There's rarely a point to that.
With either Assistant, you can omit some broad categories of things, but you can't "pick and choose" individual items even if you knew which ones you wanted. See Using Setup Assistant on Mountain Lion or Lion. Read the first few paragraphs, then scroll down to the Transfer Your Information windows and the pink boxes below them for details. The windows and procedures for Mavericks may be somewhat different, but functionally the same.
If your Mac is just full of junk, be sure it's well backed-up just in case, then delete what you know you don't need.
If it's sluggish, after trying everything else, as a last resort you might want to do a clean install transferring everything except apps, then reinstall the extra and 3rd-party apps you want from the original discs or re-download them. If you have a lot (you probably have more than you think), that can be a daunting task. You''ll also need the serial numbers / purchase keys for them.

TM Restore -- Clean Install System First?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for