A few question's / Some Backup Advice needed in prep for SL

[snverhallen]

Hello there,

Like many of you I have SL pre-ordered and am awaiting it's arrival impatiently. Currently my Mac is running extremely slow and sluggish because of reasons that will take too long to fully explain... basically I just need to start from scratch thus a clean install.

I'm pretty sure it has been confirmed now that SL can be installed on a fresh HD which is good but

1) can I open Disk Utility in the SL installer and wipe the HD that way or do I need to wipe the HD before I begin the installation?

2) Basically when I restored my computer from a corrupt HD many of the system files remained corrupt and therefore my Mac is running slowly and for that reason I just want my docs etc. on an ext. HD for during the installation then I can drag only the stuff I need off the ext. HD.

3) How would I transfer things over like Mail folders, Safari bookmarks and those types of personalized settings?

So what backup method do you recommend, a Time Machine backup or mirror my HD with SuperDuper. Which way would not mess up all the permissions for all the different users etc.

I believe that conclues all the questions I have, all your help is greatly appreciated.

snverhallen

 

[Hellhammer]

1. HD will be wiped if you choose Erase and Install option, no need to do it manually.

3. I recommend you to make clone of your current HD to external and manually transfer all those files. I would still have Time Machine backup as well if something goes wrong.

Bookmarks, e-mails, etc can be found from /User/Library there are Mail and Safari. It's quite easy to copy them to their places again, just PM or add my MSN if you need help

 

[helix21]

1. HD will be wiped if you choose Erase and Install option, no need to do it manually.

3. I recommend you to make clone of your current HD to external and manually transfer all those files. I would still have Time Machine backup as well if something goes wrong.

Bookmarks, e-mails, etc can be found from /User/Library there are Mail and Safari. It's quite easy to copy them to their places again, just PM or add my MSN if you need help

From what i heard there no longer is an erase and install option cause apple said many people were doing it without knowing that it would wipe off all the data (stupid i know) so now you have to do it manually

 

[OllyW]

From what i heard there no longer is an erase and install option cause apple said many people were doing it without knowing that it would wipe off all the data (stupid i know) so now you have to do it manually

It's still there but they have moved it to disk utility so it's not used by mistake.

https://www.macrumors.com/2009/08/12/os-x-snow-leopard-installation-process-changes-described/

 

[Hellhammer]

From what i heard there no longer is an erase and install option cause apple said many people were doing it without knowing that it would wipe off all the data (stupid i know) so now you have to do it manually

It's still there but they have moved it to disk utility so it's not used by mistake.

Okay, thanks, I did not know this.

To add my post above: I would do it manually to avoid crap you may have had in Leopard

 

[snverhallen]

1. HD will be wiped if you choose Erase and Install option, no need to do it manually.

3. I recommend you to make clone of your current HD to external and manually transfer all those files. I would still have Time Machine backup as well if something goes wrong.

Bookmarks, e-mails, etc can be found from /User/Library there are Mail and Safari. It's quite easy to copy them to their places again, just PM or add my MSN if you need help

OK thanks, so I would just drag those bookmark files etc. from the cloned ext. HD to the internal one running SL, and there wouldn't be any permissions problems or anything?

It's still there but they have moved it to disk utility so it's not used by mistake.

So I can just pop in the SL DVD and run Disk Utility and wipe the drive there and then continue the SL installation? And the SL DVD will be bootable of course so I could always wipe in Leopard then boot from the SL DVD and just install SL like that.

Okay, thanks, I did not know this.

To add my post above: I would do it manually to avoid crap you may have had in Leopard

By manual you mean via Disk Utility right?

Thanks for all your help,

snverhallen

 

[Hellhammer]

OK thanks, so I would just drag those bookmark files etc. from the cloned ext. HD to the internal one running SL, and there wouldn't be any permissions problems or anything?

Yea, shouldn't be any permission issues (basically Safari just looks for bookmarks.plist file from Safari folder). You can repair your permissions with Disk Utility

So I can just pop in the SL DVD and run Disk Utility and wipe the drive there and then continue the SL installation? And the SL DVD will be bootable of course so I could always wipe in Leopard then boot from the SL DVD and just install SL like that.

Yes, wipe it and install SL.

 

[Hellhammer]

By manual you mean via Disk Utility right?

No. Manually I meant file transfer. You just copy the file from external to its place in internal, like /User/Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plist from external to same place in internal.

 

[snverhallen]

Yea, shouldn't be any permission issues (basically Safari just looks for bookmarks.plist file from Safari folder). You can repair your permissions with Disk Utility



Yes, wipe it and install SL.

OK, thanks for the clarification. One last thing, I have a iMac 2.16 GHz, C2D. Thus my proccesser is capable of 64-bit except I checked something else in Terminal and it said my EFI is only capable of 32-bit. So I won't be able to enjoy SL 64-bit goodness?

snverhallen

 

[Hellhammer]

OK, thanks for the clarification. One last thing, I have a iMac 2.16 GHz, C2D. Thus my proccesser is capable of 64-bit except I checked something else in Terminal and it said my EFI is only capable of 32-bit. So I won't be able to enjoy SL 64-bit goodness?

snverhallen

Your Mac is fully capable of running 64-bit apps but not 64-bit kernel, I think. SL uses 32-bit kernel as default but that can be changed with some file modification. Don't worry, 64-bit apps will make a noticeable boost.

 

[snverhallen]

Your Mac is fully capable of running 64-bit apps but not 64-bit kernel, I think. SL uses 32-bit kernel as default but that can be changed with some file modification. Don't worry, 64-bit apps will make a noticeable boost.

So what is the real distinguishing difference between 64-bit apps and a 64-bit kernel. Obviously 64-bit apps are faster etc. but what is the advantage to a 64-bit kernel?

snverhallen

 

[Hellhammer]

So what is the real distinguishing difference between 64-bit apps and a 64-bit kernel. Obviously 64-bit apps are faster etc. but what is the advantage to a 64-bit kernel?

snverhallen

That's something I would like to know as well. I think the whole OS will be faster and more stable if kernel is 64-bit. I hope someone can share his knowledge with us