Whats the best way to do a clean new install

Question

Funny thing is I have always only had Macs and never used this board to post. There has been some bad Apple < LOL > machines in the past that had serious problems. Like the old G4 mirror door.
I have gone from a G5 Dual 2.33 ( best Mac I ever had! ) to this new MacPro quad 2.66. For several reasons. One being I have a MacBook Pro 17" thats intel and wanted so called "matching computers".
I have had issues. Of which I am on my 3rd machine. I am glad Apple replaced the other 2 but this leads to my question. But in reading this forum I see Apple replacing a lot of machines.
It seems that the new MP is not as user friendly as the older G5. In that if you don't get a clean install and in the right order > things go bad.
For the real Pros who work and so called live on a Mac. What steps do you take to what I call, start from a new slate. ( ie from Hard Drive and machine prep, to steps in loading software and updates )
I have Disk Warrior and use it. But no other 3rd party software to > keep the Mac running smooth or quick.
I was running 10.4.9 thats on my install disks. 10.4.10 has had it's problems. But I got the new keyboard and iLife 08 and am using them now. So I had to go to 10.4.10 to get them running as suggested. ( but I did not do the new security update.... once bitten twice shy on those....LOL!
Thanks for any tips!

Answer 1

If you look you can see lots of users with 3-4 yr old G5s having problems of all sorts and they had their own issues, with drives, NVRAM getting corrupt, not recognizing memory properly, PSU issues, liquid leaks...
Never had an issue with my MDD in 4 yrs though.
The Mac Pro is a year old, should be tried and true and tested. Seems like real problems are not that common, unless it is your own of course!
Panther was difficult to install and get right and right order.
How to install and upgrade the OS is an issue and I never use Software Update. I take a lot of pains and precautions. And I prefer the way Vista does the update and install process.
Repair and backup. Restart in Safe Mode. Don't use the computer when it is being patched and updated. Use combined updates. combined updates can also be applied to an alternate drive than the one booted.
Backup and restore with CCC or SuperDuper from time to time.
Yes, 10.4.10 may have 'broken' something for some. Or Safari 3, or QT, or.... so I always wait, and install updates on a test system drive, never on the 'working system' unless I first make and keep a backup of the prior OS I can use or revert to. (there are no 'restore points' to restart to last known stable snapshot. not sure if Time Machine does what Vista does in that regard or not, and of course if I did know, then I could not disclose or discus in any way, no NDA here.
Not sure why you had a lemon or problems... with at least two systems. Bad batch? bad house wiring?
I actually prefer buying the refurbished Apple Store Specials whenever possible (wasn't possible last August of course which is when I ordered this one). Best Mac in 20 yrs.
I use to zero a drive before using. Now I use Speedtools to test, map out, bench, and 'torture test' a new drive, just so I feel safe.
RAM is probably the underlying cause of a lot of problems and most problematic.
FireWire ports and devices, and even USB devices and iPods for some.
So I don't know that I'd say I see a lot of people with replacement machines (and some make mention of theirs regularly!) Logicboards change. Graphic cards can use a lot of power, generate a lot of heat.
The SATA chip has probably been updated to support more drives. PSU was implicated in pulling more power on wake from sleep than normal. It took months for chip vendors to really get FBDIMMs with heat sinks and able to produce 2GB modules that stayed cool enough.
Some people have had problems as a result of the SMC Firmware 1.1, but the majority, 99%+ don't. Like you, people come here not when it works, but when they need help and it stopped working or have questions and problems.
I know people who went through 3 Quad G5 logicboards before it was 'right.' And one person got a Mac Pro instead - and continued to have trouble - a LOT of trouble! - until he got 8GB RAM or more, and setup some serious hard drives and RAID for his heavy graphics files and work flow that were stressing anything and everything to the limit.
I would probably take a look at two things to add to monitor the heat and temperature sensors, and to give a small but helpful boost to the fans: Temperature Monitor (or Hardware version), and smcFanControl 2.1.2.
I find Tiger Cache Cleaner to help when there is a problem, to repair boot drive or caches, or tweak network settings along with launchd and LaunchSerivces and other processes.
Backups. Repairs. Extra drives. And more RAM, it does help to have 4GB or more, 4GB is probably a realistic minimum.
That is my basic take on Mac Pro and keeping it running.