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adztaylor

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 20, 2009
1,723
2
Preston, UK
I understand there have been threads on this, but wanted to include a poll to sample just what people's preferences are. So please vote :)
 

crazyxzer0

macrumors 6502
Oct 28, 2008
369
4
I will do a clean install on my MBA to do some spring cleaning on the stuff I don't use anymore.

my old uMB I will just do an upgrade
 

MacGurl111

macrumors 65816
Feb 4, 2010
1,284
288
Seattle
After reading for a month on this forum... I think I'll go with the upgrade.

When I had my 2010 mbp I went with the upgrade to SL. It did make my computer a bit slow where i was constantly getting the rainbow timer. At that time I should have gone with a clean install.

Now that I have the retina mbp, ML is 'suppose' work well for this laptop and this mbp was made with ML in mind. So, I'll go ahead and just do the upgrade. :D
 

kingoftherolex

macrumors member
May 26, 2012
52
0
seeing as how I just picked up this Mac saturday I'm just going to be upgrading, no point in a clean install for me as there is barely anything on the mac.
 

yaymath

macrumors regular
Jan 8, 2011
131
0
Do I need to have an external hard drive to do a clean install? If so, would it be worth buying one just for it?
 

xgman

macrumors 603
Aug 6, 2007
5,672
1,378
To me, your computer has to be in pretty bad shape in order to have to do a clean install. I have seen no ill effects form an upgrade. It's really more like a big service pack. Saves a lot of time and keeps your personal settings.
 

50voltphantom

macrumors regular
Jun 23, 2011
177
0
I noticed better performance doing a clean install of Lion after trying the upgrade so it will be a clean install again for me. Purchased new flash drive today.
 
Last edited:

imahawki

macrumors 6502a
Apr 26, 2011
612
8
Upgrade. One of the reasons I went to Macs is I got tired of all the bending over backwards you had to do with Windows. I upgraded my 3 Macs from Snow Leopard to Lion with no problems or performance issues. I'll do the same to ML.
 

golf1410

macrumors 6502a
May 7, 2012
748
3
San Francisco, CA
I just don't get the part of clean install, redeem code and USB drive. How to put them together? Basically, I wanna USB partition for install ML. I don't wanna waste recovery partition on my HDD.
 

adztaylor

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 20, 2009
1,723
2
Preston, UK
I thought more people would do the upgrade route. Personally I'm going to clone my hard drive to an external and upgrade my internal. If I encounter any problems then il go for the clean install. No point doing a clean install if the upgrade runs smoothly.
 

Aldaris

macrumors 68000
Sep 7, 2004
1,790
1,247
Salt Lake
Upgrade here, don't want to devote the time to re-download so many apps from the Mac App Store, AutoDesk, and others. That would be a days affair.
 

Stooby Mcdoobie

macrumors 6502a
Jun 26, 2012
834
45
I'm going for a clean install because I'm getting a new SSD for my MBP. I would just do a clone of the HDD I'm on now (running GM build), but it's got over 80 GB of 'other' files -- even as a new Mac user, I know something's not quite right there.
 

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Reach9

macrumors 68020
Aug 17, 2010
2,417
224
In America
Is clean installing the following? :

1) buy and download Mountain Lion

2) back up everything with Time Machine

3) Run Mountain Lion setup, choose clean install

4) finish installation process

5) bring back all files via Time Machine

Why not try the upgrade first; if it fails then you can do a clean upgrade. Faster.

how does one do that?
 

Stooby Mcdoobie

macrumors 6502a
Jun 26, 2012
834
45
Is clean installing the following? :

1) buy and download Mountain Lion

2) back up everything with Time Machine

3) Run Mountain Lion setup, choose clean install

4) finish installation process

5) bring back all files via Time Machine
No, that wouldn't be a true fresh/clean install. Whatever unnecessary/buggy/glitchy/etc. files you had before will be brought back over via Time Machine.

A fresh install is when you back up only your files (music, documents, pictures, etc. -- not the settings files), then replace them manually after the install.
 

negativzero

macrumors 6502a
Jul 19, 2011
564
55
My 2011 MBP has been incrementally upgraded from Snow Leopard to Lion and now Mountain Lion GM with no problem. Don't see a need to change my methods especialy when a "repair permissions" and SMC/PRAM reset will fix most problems thereafter :)
 

mjcharlton71

macrumors regular
Nov 11, 2011
134
70
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Clean install on both iMac and MBA.

I'd pickled the iMac a bit with my old Windows-centric mindset, but couldn't be hacked to unpickle it.... clean install sorted everything out for me (running GM from my dev account).

Mindset fully Apple now though, as I have trouble using Windows boxes now when I've got to troubleshoot and fix for people!
 

NotAdvisable

macrumors regular
Nov 16, 2011
220
90
Perth, Australia
I get why some users of Snow Leopard or Lion might want a Clean Install; but some rMBP are saying that their going to do a Clean Install. Why the hell would you need to do that? It's nearly brand spankin' new.
 

PatriotInvasion

macrumors 68000
Jul 18, 2010
1,643
1,048
Boston, MA
I always clean install even though an upgrade would probably be sufficient. I like the cleansing feeling of the clean install to get rid of the accumulated junk in the bowels of the OS - preference files, support files of apps that I downloaded and deleted, etc.

It takes a little more time and know-how, but at the end you're essentially rewarded with a "brand new" machine.:p
 
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