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Erasing my mac and saving apps

A

angelo488

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 28, 2012
3
0
I can't seem to find an answer to this, so Sorry if it's been covered.

I am having an issue with my Macbook Pro. It is telling me I have used 450g of space on a 500g hd. Total memory used is about 40g when I count it manually. I have tried everything suggested on many posts here, including one that I posted myself. So...

Per the suggestion of the Mac store, I am doing a fresh install. I don't want to lose any of my programs. I am transferring all files to an external HD, but I'm wondering if I can just move the programs there too. I don't want to lose them (Adobe suite, office, etc.) I downloaded office when I bought it and I don't think I can download it again. No idea where the other disks are for the rest of the programs I want to keep. Anyway, is there a way to save programs and then re-install them after a complete wipe of my Mac? Thank you so much for any help. My Mac is getting on my last nerve because it is running so slow. Like I said, I have tried everything possible other that erasing everything and starting over.
 
Time Machine. In System Preferences.

Once it backs everything up, and you verify everything is there, you can reformat the drive. Then install the system, and when it first boots up follow the instructions to migrate your stuff from the Time Machine backup.

Most applications then work with the same settings and preferences you had before. Adobe stuff can be odd; I've had to re-enter serial numbers on occasion when I've migrated. If you have legal copies of Adobe stuff you should be able to contact them to get the correct info to register your software.

Rob
 
angelo488 said:
I am having an issue with my Macbook Pro. It is telling me I have used 450g of space on a 500g hd. Total memory used is about 40g when I count it manually. I have tried everything suggested on many posts here, including one that I posted myself. So...

Per the suggestion of the Mac store, I am doing a fresh install.
Click to expand...
You don't need to do a fresh install. You simply need to find what's using space.

If you're wondering what "Other" category in the Lion storage tab is about, this may help explain:
For space issues not explained by the above, there are a few things you can try, some of which may or may not apply:
  • Begin by restarting your computer as a first step. This sometimes resolves issues.
  • For Time Machine users on notebooks running Lion, space may being consumed by Time Machine local snapshots, which can be disabled.
    OS X Lion: About Time Machine's "local snapshots" on portable Macs
  • Search with Finder to see if the space is being consumed by a very large file or several large files. Adjust the 50GB in the illustration to whatever size you deem appropriate.
    attachment.php
  • Use OmniDiskSweeper, JDisk Report, Disk Inventory X, DaisyDisk or GrandPerspective to see how space is being used on your drive. Some of these apps may show more detail than others, so try several.
  • Check your drive with Disk Utility: Using Disk Utility to verify or repair disks
  • Try re-indexing your drive: Spotlight: How to re-index folders or volumes
Here are a few resolutions found by others with the same question:
 
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