Question about Panther...?

Bond007 · Oct 11, 2003

I recently switched over to the Mac back in Feb. of this year. I have never installed an OS on a Mac before. Mine had jag allready installed. So my question is this...Do I have to re-install everything? All my apps? Photoshop, Corel, and all the others? Or will panther just update jaguar and everything will stay the same? I really want Panther, but I cant re-install everything all over. Not now. I run my business with this mac, and cant affort to spend the night re-installing everything, or chancing anything not working. Any help or info on this would be great!!! Thanks...

-007

Horrortaxi · Oct 11, 2003

You have some options when you install the OS. You could wipe the drive and start fresh, but you can also install the new right over the old. I think there's an option for archiving the old OS as well.

The short answer is, no you don't have to reinstall everything.

Bond007 · Oct 11, 2003

ahhh. great. Thank You!!!

aethier · Oct 11, 2003

Yup, there is an archive install feature. it saves all your apps, and home directory.

aethier

Phatpat · Oct 11, 2003

If I do the archive install, can I drag apps from the archive, then then delete the archive? I want to do a clean install, but if archiving would make it easier...

SiliconAddict · Oct 11, 2003

Originally posted by Horrortaxi
You have some options when you install the OS. You could wipe the drive and start fresh, but you can also install the new right over the old. I think there's an option for archiving the old OS as well.

The short answer is, no you don't have to reinstall everything.

Is it anything like windows where you get a more stable OS with a clean install vs. just an upgrade? I know from my MS experience that I NEVER do upgrades to MS OSs. Its really a game of Russian roulette when you do that in Windows. Hows the upgrade experience in OS X? Since you guys dont have the f***ed up experience of a Registry. (Who the hell thought that would be a good idea?!?!?!) I have to imagine its a heck of a lot better then windows.

Catfish_Man · Oct 11, 2003

Originally posted by SiliconAddict
Is it anything like windows where you get a more stable OS with a clean install vs. just an upgrade? I know from my MS experience that I NEVER do upgrades to MS OSs. Its really a game of Russian roulette when you do that in Windows. Hows the upgrade experience in OS X? Since you guys dont have the f***ed up experience of a Registry. (Who the hell thought that would be a good idea?!?!?!) I have to imagine its a heck of a lot better then windows.

It's better. A clean install will typically be a little snappier, a little more stable, but it's *usually* not a big deal. If your system is a bit ****ed up, then a clean install can be a good idea. And, yeah, we don't miss the registry

(the defaults database and netinfo are vaguely similar, except that they never seem to **** up). Archive and install basically does a clean install, but saves settings and such. It won't fix messed up prefs (since it keeps them), but it'll be somewhat similar to a clean install.

dho · Oct 11, 2003

Unless you are getting major disk errors, a permissions repair and archive and install is all that will be necessary to experience a "new" and updated system.

When you do archive(make sure to preserve user and network settings) and install it puts any outdated apple apps into the "previous system" folder.

Meaning that anything that is not updated by the installer cd is not moved from your apps folder.

Once the install is complete you can delete the "previous system" without losing your apps or documents.(It does require authentication)

mmmdreg · Oct 11, 2003

I would've thought he's looking for just a regular "upgrade" install which, if it's still the same, you should be able to do. It saves the hassle of taking stuff out of the archive.

simX · Oct 11, 2003

Originally posted by mmmdreg
I would've thought he's looking for just a regular "upgrade" install which, if it's still the same, you should be able to do. It saves the hassle of taking stuff out of the archive.

Agreed. There's no real reason to do an archive and install if all you want to do is upgrade the system.

Abstract · Oct 12, 2003

Originally posted by dho
Unless you are getting major disk errors, a permissions repair and archive and install is all that will be necessary to experience a "new" and updated system.

When you do archive(make sure to preserve user and network settings) and install it puts any outdated apple apps into the "previous system" folder.

Meaning that anything that is not updated by the installer cd is not moved from your apps folder.

Once the install is complete you can delete the "previous system" without losing your apps or documents.(It does require authentication)

So doing an "Archive and install" is the only way for me to save all my work, photos, and mp3s AND do a somewhat "clean" install? Sorry, not much of a techie. I've never tried that "Archive and Install" thing because I wasn't sure of the differences.

The Reaper · Oct 12, 2003

i would recommend formatting your HD first, just to be sure. first, go ta a friend with a large HD and copy your home folder and apps folder to your friend's HD. then format and install panther on your old HD. then, copy the contents of your old home folder into the new one created, and then copy your apps. the apps should still work because the preference files are in the new Home folder (in the library).

Bond007 · Oct 12, 2003

http://www.apple.com/macosx/upgrade/questions/howto.html

according to this, its really easy to upgrade to Panther. I hope

Sweetfeld28 · Oct 12, 2003

its times like these when my portable 40G pocket drive comes in handy. all i have to do is drag my applications over to it and make a back up copy of any thing that i need to save. Then, i usally make a clean install of the new OS, and drag back all of my apps. from my portable, to my master hard drive. 98% of the time all of my stuff works fine. occasionaly, i might have to reinstall something like photoshop.

rainman::|:| · Oct 12, 2003

Originally posted by The Reaper
i would recommend formatting your HD first, just to be sure. first, go ta a friend with a large HD and copy your home folder and apps folder to your friend's HD. then format and install panther on your old HD. then, copy the contents of your old home folder into the new one created, and then copy your apps. the apps should still work because the preference files are in the new Home folder (in the library).

unless you're experiencing problems there's absolutely no reason to do any of this. it's fine and good for power users, who want it to be the best it can possibly be, but for the average user the standard upgrade procedure is all that's necessary. anything more is a lot of overkill that apple took pains to make sure you didn't have to do.

pnw

MetallicPenguin · Oct 12, 2003

Yeah guys he [the starter of this thread] never said there was anything wrong with his computer, unless you're responding to someone else that I can't seem to remember.

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