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Backing up for a reformat in OS X

K

kenyabob

macrumors regular
Original poster
I am looking to reformat my G5 with jaguar for when my panther comes. Is there an easy way to backup settins and files to a extenal hard drive so when I reformat, I have a nice little executable that will restore my panther system to normal?
 
hey i was also thinking about this. i want to back up all my mail/preferences/documents/settings just in case something goes wrong with the install.

also, is there some benefit to clean installing (like in windows), or is it just the same as installing over?
 
Clean Installs takes all the OS and moves it into a directory called "Previous System" and then recreates your OS leaving your /Users and /Applications intact.
 
use CCC to back up your home directory. and when you put it back, pray that panther didn't change the structure of the home directory.

why the reformat?
 
CCC? I am going to reformat becuase I dont have a lot on this machine and I can afford to start from scratch. If I do a clean install, can I just tranfer the directories and files I want to the new OS and just delete the old jaguar remnants?
 
OH i read you, Carbon Copy Cloner, and I guess with the clean install there wouldnt be any jaguar left over. Sorry for my confusion!
 
Originally posted by kenyabob
If I do a clean install, can I just tranfer the directories and files I want to the new OS and just delete the old jaguar remnants?
Click to expand...

i think what you're asking to do is this:
1. back up your home directory
2. wipe the HD and install panther
3. restore your home directory

if successful, you'll have all your old files, preferences, emails, etc.

i'm suggesting there may be a gotcha: if apple changed the home directory structure or filenames when making panther, then your plan won't work 100%.

e.g. if an apple application stores its prefs under jaguar as Foo.plist, but under panther as FooApp.plist, you'd have to know to rename that file after step 3.

otoh, everything may work fine.
 
What about the iPod. If I do a format of my HD and then do a clean install of Panther, will I be able to get my songs off of the iPod?

What about if I just do a clean install without the format... will I lose all my songs that are stored in my home/music area?

This is my first time installing Mac OS, so tips will be greatly appreciated.
 
I need to know about my iPod too. From my experience, I cannot copy the songs from my iPod onto another machine. Will i have to drag my /home/music directory to another disk to back it up, or can I get the music off my iPod (from the hidden library)?
 
I got this from TechTV:
(http://www.techtv.com/callforhelp/features/story/0,24330,3393561,00.html)

---------------
Super-secret way to extract tunes from iPod
The iPod's songs are stored in an invisible folder called iPod_Control. It lives at the root level of the iPod's hard drive. To reveal it on your Mac running Mac OS X, download a copy of Marcel Bresink's free TinkerTool.

Open the TinkerTool System Preference.
Select "Show hidden and system files" in the Finder pane.
Press the Relaunch Finder button to invoke this option.

This procedure will reveal all invisible files on your Mac and iPod, including the iPod_Control folder. Open iPod_Control to reveal the songs on your iPod. To extract the songs, just drag the files to your Mac's hard drive.
-------------


I guess this provides a solution to my problem.

ohh yeah... heres the link to TinkerTool http://www.bresink.com/osx/TinkerTool.html


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or just use this script i found...
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20030409015020645
 
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