I want to refresh my computer.

solution

the best way is to:
1. move any files (apps, docs, music, video) you need to a different hard drive or flash drive if you don't have much to keep. | i also recommend having a full time machine backup or just the latest HDD clone before you continue on to next step
2. have the latest osx install disk, snow leopard **or you can use whatever came with your mac and do a "erase and install" which deletes everything and gives you the freshest copy available**
3. wait about 30 mins and go to software updates and do all the updates given
4. reboot & repeat step 3 again
5. move everything from step back to its respectful places (docs go back in the Documents, music gets imported into iTunes, etc...)
6. CONGRATS, you've just refreshed your mac

i want to note that you should make sure you have all your serials and program discs available before you start step 2 otherwise you might smash your mac cause you cant get CS4 or office back on without paying +$100

if this is a media mac with external source as your main media, i highly recommend getting deepfreeze, which prevents anything from happening to your system no matter how bad you mess with the system. It goes back to the day it was first install after reboot which is always good if your mac somehow starts to slow down or just starts to crap at you while your trying to enjoy some quality time.

MSTRKRFT said:

How would I go about the Itunes library? What do i keep there?

Are there any files that I should absolutely keep that I may not think of. All of the free apps I'm going to be re downloading.

Click to expand...

all your music is probably in music>iTunes>iTunes Music **save everything in here, then drag everything back into the itunes icon once you have the new os
if you have video and iphone apps just backup the entire music>itunes folder


not really that i can think of, the best thing to do is to take a screenshot of your apps folder so you remember to reinstall all the apps back again. it gets annoying when you try to do something and forgot to download the app required before hand.


as stated, carbon copy cloner for HHD backup if your really paranoid of losing data
and dont use restore feature because since might also restore all your old things again bringing you back to where you were before reading this post, lol

i dunno if you have mobile me or not, but if you don't you should probably save a copy of your keychain and bookmarks and anyother preference profile things. i dont worry about this because everytime i do a new reinstall, entering in your name and password into mobileme pref panel automatically restores all my precious info. like my passwords for forums, and facebook stuff. these sites wont wreck my life if it gets stolen or confiscated by hackers. as well as contacts -- basically, all the things i dont have to remember in my head that can be written down is in mobileme.