Adobe and Leopard

[Kpeters213]

Hello

I want to install Leopard. I have my computer backed up with Carbon Copy Cloner. I also have Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, Indesign, Dreamweaver, and After Effects. Will I have to re-enter all the serial numbers after I install leopard and restore with Carbon Copy Cloner.

Thanks.

 

[ziggyonice]

There are two ways to install Leopard on your Mac:

Upgrade -- goes from current version to Leopard, and leaves all your files and applications untouched. They'll work even after the upgrade.

Erase and Install -- erases your hard drive and then installs Leopard. This will get rid of all your personal files and programs.


If you're just concerned about your Adobe apps, why not just do an upgrade? You won't even need Carbon Copy Cloner. Besides, to answer your question, you won't have to enter the serial information again anyway -- regardless of what option you choose.

 

[Makosuke]

No, there are three options; the third is "Archive and Install":

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1545

...which is what most people recommend. (Or at least it's what I recommend and do myself.) It preserves your user settings and most other things, but also installs a clean copy of the OS. It's generally going to produce a "cleaner" system than a straight Upgrade, while not requiring you to completely wipe the hard drive like Erase and Install.

I've done upgrade installs before, but I once ran into a weird bug that ONLY occurred in upgrade installs (I and few other people on the Apple forums saw it); since then I've been somewhat wary of those.

Note on Adobe apps, though: Adobe's installs are notoriously fragile, and while both an Upgrade install and Archive and Install should preserve them, frankly I'd just reinstall the Adobe apps from scratch--it's time consuming but better than having them flake out on you later.

Also note that if you're using CS3, while it works fine under Leopard, the Acrobat Pro 8.0 updater is completely broken; I ended up needing to download the 8.1 patch, install it manually, THEN run Acrobat Pro and tell it to check for updates, at which point the updater would update itself AGAIN (why it doesn't unless you do it through Acrobat is a mystery) and properly recognize and update Acrobat Pro. I just had to figure this procedure out and do it on three machines at work.

I hate Adobe's installers and licensing system so much.

 

[Blue Fox]

Hello

I want to install Leopard. I have my computer backed up with Carbon Copy Cloner. I also have Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, Indesign, Dreamweaver, and After Effects. Will I have to re-enter all the serial numbers after I install leopard and restore with Carbon Copy Cloner.

Thanks.

I would just either.....

A. Upgrade from Tiger to Leopard (easiest way).

or

B. Format and freshly install Leopard, transfer the files you need from your backup, and re-install the Adobe products. And yes, if you do this, you will need to reactivate and re-enter your serial numbers. To avoid running into issues with re-activation, I would going into each Adobe app, and select "deactivate" from the help menu. This will deactivate it and allow you to re-activate it if you wipe your hard drive.

Personally, I would just upgrade from Tiger to Leopard if I were you. So much easier.

 

[Mr.Noisy]

Archive and Install is the best way to go,
I never had 1 problem with CS3 apps at all, neither did anyone else i know,
but at least you got all serials ect ect if you encounter a problem

 

[Kpeters213]

Thanks everyone for your input.

As of now (I'm still thinking about it) I think I'm going to go with Archive and Install. Now I have a few questions about restoring after I installed it:

I have a 500GB My Book Quad Interface. I have a lot of files on there for all my projects. I also have my computer backed up on there. When restoring my computer, will those other files cause problems? How exactly do I restore? And should I partition my drive?

Thanks so much.

 

[kolax]

I think it is always best to start fresh.. back everything up, then install Leopard, then all of your apps. Everything is fresh, any dodgy preferences or anything isn't there.