Best way to clean system while keeping settings and software?

[DougFNJ]

Hi all.

I'm going to get to the point first and give you the why if you choose to read further. Just wanted to know the best way to clean up the system get everything running as smooth as possible while keeping programs, settings, and passwords? Is there maybe a maintenance utility built in lion to check the system and correct any errors?


Here's why: I just took the plunge and upgraded my hard drive to an SSD. I wanted to do a straight info transfer from my old drive to the new one, but Best buy wanted $60 for the enclosure, Radio Shack didn't have a 2.5" enclosure, and Staples didn't have them at all.

So I downloaded Super Duper to transfer everything to my external and transfer it all to the new one, after 1 hour it shut down due to an error. I deleted super duper and tried Carbon Copy Clone and after 2 1/2 hours it transferred what appeared to be everything, but there was an unspecified error that also didn't specify which disc. It looked like everything transferred, looking at music, photos, etc everything matched except other, there was a 10 GB difference. So I transferred everything to the new drive figuring if anything was missing I would hunt down an enclosure to transfer direct if I had to.

Everything started up and booted up fine. Permissions and discs were all verified no errors. The only thing I had to do for some reason was re-enter the key for Microsoft Office. That error after the fact is nagging at me though. So as originally stated, anything I could use to make sure everything is optimal?

Thanks in advance

 

[Modernape]

Not really, because there's no way of knowing as yet what the error was related to - it could have been something in your user settings, or something in the system, or something completely unimportant. Keep using it for a while until you notice a problem - that way you'll know what you need to do from that point, otherwise you're just guessing in the dark.

 

[snaky69]

A clean install by definition doesn't keep your settings and software.

Apart from doing it by hand, it can't be done.

 

[aziatiklover]

A clean install by definition doesn't keep your settings and software.

Apart from doing it by hand, it can't be done.

This!

 

[DougFNJ]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I ended up searching more this morning and came up with a solution. I ended up doing a full install of Lion on my extended drive as I think the missing piece may had been the start up disc portion. So the install went smooth on the external for a good clean backup clone. Then I reinstalled Lion on the main drive in my MacBook Pro. after an hour and a half the install completed on the main drive, and I am much more confident that everything is good to go. I took the long way to do it, but if it worked out, that's all that matters.