A few questions about clean installing Lion

[karansaraf]

Hi,

I'm having a bit of a buggy experience with Lion, and wanted to clean install. I am a new Mac user (only bought a MBP about a week before the Lion release) and had a few questions.

1. How can I make a bootable Lion install USB stick? Do I have to download the dmg file from the App store again? Once I have the dmg file, do I literally just copy it over to the USB stick? How do I boot from the USB stick?

2. I have an (windows formatted NTFS, using NTFS-3g) external hard drive. I haven't used TimeMachine to back up my system yet, but if I did would I

(a) be able to completely restore my apps/documents/data onto a clean install of Lion without any problems?

(b) if I just reverted back to SL instead, would I still be able to use the Time Machine backup of my Lion system to restore just my apps/documents/data but not restore back to Lion?

3. An aside, but relevant to TimeMachine. When you make a backup, does it also copy every file/folder that you've made? Like for example, if I restored from a TimeMachine backup, would it restore every mp3 file, avi file, folder, word document, app etc. to my clean installed OSX?

Many thanks for your help.

 

[Eradik]

1. How can I make a bootable Lion install USB stick? Do I have to download the dmg file from the App store again? Once I have the dmg file, do I literally just copy it over to the USB stick? How do I boot from the USB stick?

Not exactly. A good set of instructions can be found here: http://osxdaily.com/2011/07/08/make-a-bootable-mac-os-x-10-7-lion-installer-from-a-usb-flash-drive/

2. I have an (windows formatted NTFS, using NTFS-3g) external hard drive. I haven't used TimeMachine to back up my system yet, but if I did would I

(a) be able to completely restore my apps/documents/data onto a clean install of Lion without any problems?

I'm not sure about NTFS-3g and its compatibility, but if it does work (or you format it with the Mac FS) you would be able to restore everything with a clean install, but bear in mind it would defeat the purpose of a clean install. By restoring EVERYTHING from the TM backup, it would bring back any problem apps, old files/folders, plists, etc etc. You're best bet if your looking for that squeaky clean install feeling, would be to pick and choose what to backup. Download all the apps and only transfer your personal files piece by piece. Takes a bit longer, but in my opinion, worth it if you want that really new feeling.

(b) if I just reverted back to SL instead, would I still be able to use the Time Machine backup of my Lion system to restore just my apps/documents/data but not restore back to Lion?

No experience with this, sorry. You should be able to do a piece by piece backup like I mentioned above, but I'm pretty sure you couldn't use it as a full, automatic backup. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, please, as I am not positive.

3. An aside, but relevant to TimeMachine. When you make a backup, does it also copy every file/folder that you've made? Like for example, if I restored from a TimeMachine backup, would it restore every mp3 file, avi file, folder, word document, app etc. to my clean installed OSX?


Every single thing. Every MP3, every folder, every text file, every plist, every single file. The only time it wouldn't, obviously, would be if you excluded a file/folder from the Time Machine backup.

 

[karansaraf]

Thanks for your help.

One more question from what you said.

Could I do a "piece by piece backup" from a TimeMachine backup? Or would I manually have to copy over every file to my HD that I wanted in my clean install?

ie.

1. Make a TimeMachine backup
2. Clean install Lion or SL
3. Drag only the files I wanted from my TM backup on my HD to my new OSX install

 

[dukebound85]

Thanks for your help.

One more question from what you said.

Could I do a "piece by piece backup" from a TimeMachine backup? Or would I manually have to copy over every file to my HD that I wanted in my clean install?

ie.

1. Make a TimeMachine backup
2. Clean install Lion or SL
3. Drag only the files I wanted from my TM backup on my HD to my new OSX install

I did a clean install last night and did the piece by pice with a carbon copy clone

 

[Eradik]

Thanks for your help.

One more question from what you said.

Could I do a "piece by piece backup" from a TimeMachine backup? Or would I manually have to copy over every file to my HD that I wanted in my clean install?

ie.

1. Make a TimeMachine backup
2. Clean install Lion or SL
3. Drag only the files I wanted from my TM backup on my HD to my new OSX install

Yup! That's what I'm doing today when I get my new hard drive, since Im choosing to clean install. What you'll do, (or, what I've done in the past) is plug in my Time Machine, and tell it 'Decide Later' when it asks if you want to use it for TM backups.

Then, right click the TM Icon on the menu bar and select (I think) Browse Backups on this Drive. It says something to that effect, and it will let you select your TM drive.

It then loads up Time Machine.

What I did then is browse to what I wanted, i.e. all my documents, all my iTunes, my iPhoto library, bookmarks, desktop, etc etc and just manually told them to save to my desktop. I then placed them on my new install where they needed to go and was done. It takes a bit longer, but you can prepare it by making a folder on your desktop that you put all these files in. (i.e. export your bookmarks, move your photos, mp3s, avis, etc etc all into this folder). Then sync your TM and when you go to restore it's all on your desktop in that one file.

I used my computer for a few days, making sure I didn't miss anything, then I wiped the TM drive and started a new one.