Clean install?

[foreverandalway]

I need to repair my hard drive but the Disk Utility won't work.

I found out that I can insert the disk it came with and install the OSX and then run disk utility and do the repair.[I think it's called doing a clean install]

So I insert my disk and try and install the OSX and it's telling me I need to erase everything on my computer and then I can install it because there's a newer version on OSX on it.[My MBP is 2 years old so I think I have Leopard or Snow Leopard]

Is there any way I do it without having to erase everything?

If I do end up having to erase everything would it be possible to put it all on my Seagate, that currently is holding stuff from my PC? How do I do that?

 

[MacDawg]

If all you need to do is repair the disk with Disk Utility, then you boot from the CD that came with the computer (hold down the C key with the CD in the drive) and run Disk Utility from the the boot CD without reinstalling anything

A clean install does not repair your disk, but if you want to do a clean install, your best bet would be to run Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner, erase your disk, install the OS and use Migration Assistant to restore your data from TM or CCC

Regardless, I would recommend you implement a backup solution for your Mac

 

[foreverandalway]

If all you need to do is repair the disk with Disk Utility, then you boot from the CD that came with the computer (hold down the C key with the CD in the drive) and run Disk Utility from the the boot CD without reinstalling anything

A clean install does not repair your disk, but if you want to do a clean install, your best bet would be to run Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner, erase your disk, install the OS and use Migration Assistant to restore your data from TM or CCC

Regardless, I would recommend you implement a backup solution for your Mac

I assumed a clean install wouldn't repair my disk, but I was told doing it would allow me to repair the disk using disk utility.

When I tried to do a clean install it told me that I had a newer version on OSX than what the CD was. The CD is Leopard.

What does Time Machine do? I always assumed that Time Machine helped put all your files onto a external had drive.