Made my decision, bought my iMac, need help to set it up :) [Archive]

View Full Version : Made my decision, bought my iMac, need help to set it up :)

FrenchPB

Aug 22, 2008, 09:07 PM

Guys,

I finally made my decision and bought my first iMac (3rd personal Mac after a PowerBook G4 and a MacBook), the 20" 2,66Ghz core duo model with 4Go RAM and a 500Go HD. Thanks to all the persons on this board who helped me make this choice that perfectly fits my needs.

I really would like to set it up perfectly, so I was wondering what I had to do...

- should I reformat the disk and reinstall the OS (without the free iLife and iWork demo) and if so, should I put everything to 0 using the install options ?

- I usually download all the updates when the OS is installed, before installing all my softwares, then I go through all the Preferences options in order to have it all set up. Is that a good way of doing it ?

- what is the cleanest way to import my music on iTunes (it's currently on my MacBook iTunes) ? Since I don't want to lose my music counts, I thought I just needed to copy all the files from my current iTunes directory to the new one. How can I set up a shared folder so that I could copy wirelessly these files from the laptop to the desktop ?

- same question for my photos on iPhoto. Should I copy one event after the other to copy it all as cleanly as possible ?

- now I'll need a great wallpaper for my desktop, any website of recommendation ?

Thanks for all your advices on setting up my brand new iMac correctly. I'll get it on Sunday, when I'll turn 25yo. Cheers !!

Metuas

Aug 22, 2008, 09:47 PM

FrenchPB

Aug 23, 2008, 01:36 AM

Migration Assistant takes care of it all. Just grab a 6-pin FW cable, start up your MB in Target Disk Mode, connect, and run it. It will migrate all of your applications, your settings, preferences, documents, anything you tell it to.

interfaceLIFT has some nice desktops, too.

BTW, there's no need to reformat. iLife isn't a trial, and you can easily remove the iWork and MS Office trials.

Do you all agree that there is no need to reformat your Mac when you first open it ? Besides, I don't really want to use a migration tool as my MacBook is not really well organized. I really wanna start the new one on a clean basis.

benoitgphoto

Aug 23, 2008, 04:20 AM

Do you all agree that there is no need to reformat your Mac when you first open it ? Besides, I don't really want to use a migration tool as my MacBook is not really well organized. I really wanna start the new one on a clean basis.

No need to reformat at all...there is mainly nothing in it besides the OS and Ilife

Hoopdy

Aug 23, 2008, 07:27 PM

I know you decided all this by getting help on these boards, but DO NOT upgrade your ram through Apple. Order 4gb of ram from Newegg - much cheaper.

JDee

Aug 31, 2008, 01:19 PM

For great desktop wallpapers, try out http://desktoptopia.com/

It is from user-created content and it automatically updates your wallpaper for whenever you choose, or you can keep it as a default wallpaper.

Elven

Aug 31, 2008, 01:22 PM

Also worth time browsing on is www.deviantart.com good site to waste half an hour.

I'd first off get it updated, and install

Adium - My personal favorite MSN Client

Transmission - Simple easy does the job torrent client

Colloquy - Damn good IRC client

Candybar - worth the money, best customization tool for the Mac, does the dock and icons * get those from Deviant or Interfacelift*

Littlesnitch - basic firewall type application, I think they charge for it these days, I got mine free, does the job and many mac users swear by it.

Istat - gives your top menu bar system stats, cpu temp etc. Worth the google.

Hope these help.

Etherz10

Aug 31, 2008, 01:30 PM

the best option for backgrounds is desktoptopia you can set a time limit like 10 seconds or mins and then that time limit is how long the wallpaper stays on and then it goes to another one

www.desktoptopia.com