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Disadvantage to clean install?

K

Kurt871

macrumors regular
Original poster
Hi everyone. Tiger and my new PowerBook are currently on their way, and I had a question about doing a clean install of 10.4 when I get it. My question is this: are there any disadvantages to doing it? Is there anything I would lose by doing it? For example, are there any programs that will come with my PowerBook that are not included in Tiger (and thus would lose doing a clean install)? (Other than iLife '05, I know that doesn't come with it.) Thanks for any help.
 
Kurt871 said:
Hi everyone. Tiger and my new PowerBook are currently on their way, and I had a question about doing a clean install of 10.4 when I get it. My question is this: are there any disadvantages to doing it? Is there anything I would lose by doing it? For example, are there any programs that will come with my PowerBook that are not included in Tiger (and thus would lose doing a clean install)? (Other than iLife '05, I know that doesn't come with it.) Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

Sorry if I'm kinda stealing the thread, but I had a similar question. I recently got a mini 😀 and was wondering: If I do a clean install of Tiger, could I "restore" iLife via the restore CD (or is it a DVD, I couldn't really tell... 😕 ) after the Tiger clean install?

Thanks!
 
A-race said:
Sorry if I'm kinda stealing the thread, but I had a similar question. I recently got a mini 😀 and was wondering: If I do a clean install of Tiger, could I "restore" iLife via the restore CD (or is it a DVD, I couldn't really tell... 😕 ) after the Tiger clean install?

Thanks!
Click to expand...


Music and Photos should be able to be backed up as data files relatively easily across several discs. I think the trick here is making sure you keep good records of what it looked like before you backed up so you can rebuild them or possibly reimport them into a Tiger build.

As to the best method - I am only theory and I have a 250 gig backup drive so its only a matter of moving the whole directory not fragmenting it across discs for me.

iLife should reinstall easily besides that.
 
As long as you have iLife on a CD (or DVD) then you can just install it again once you have intalled Tiger. But remember if you do a clean install of Tiger, it will delete EVERYTHING off of your system, returning it to like it was when you first got your Mac.
 
Thanks for the replies. So it sounds like the iLife applications are the only ones that will need to be reinstalled. I was told AppleWorks would also be lost, but I guess that's not the case. Thanks again for the help.
 
Kurt871 said:
Thanks for the replies. So it sounds like the iLife applications are the only ones that will need to be reinstalled. I was told AppleWorks would also be lost, but I guess that's not the case. Thanks again for the help.
Click to expand...

AppleWorks will be lost. Every app other than those on the Tiger disk will be lost. Stuffit, MS Office, iLife suite, Internet Explorer (as of 10.4), AppleWorks, Graphic convertor.. etc etc etc all your apps will be gone and need reinstalling.

My only problem is backing up my 46GB homefolder?! how!
 
Kurt871 said:
Thanks for the replies. So it sounds like the iLife applications are the only ones that will need to be reinstalled. I was told AppleWorks would also be lost, but I guess that's not the case. Thanks again for the help.
Click to expand...

Well Appleworks hasn't been bundled with Mac OS X for a few years now... so unless you have a backup copy, then yes, you will lose that too.
 
ebally said:
As long as you have iLife on a CD (or DVD) then you can just install it again once you have intalled Tiger. But remember if you do a clean install of Tiger, it will delete EVERYTHING off of your system, returning it to like it was when you first got your Mac.
Click to expand...

So, the restore CD/DVD that came with my mini should put iLife back on? (hopefully yes)
 
What you get with your PowerBook:
  • Mail
  • iChat
  • Safari
  • Sherlock
  • Address Book
  • QuickTime
  • iLife (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie HD, GarageBand and iDVD[4])
  • iSync
  • iCal
  • DVD Player
  • Classic environment
  • Art Directors Toolkit
  • GraphicConverter
  • OmniGraffle
  • OmniOutliner
  • QuickBooks for Mac New User Edition
  • Zinio Reader

What you'll have after you do a clean install of 10.4:
  • Mail
  • iChat
  • Safari
  • Sherlock
  • Address Book
  • QuickTime
  • iSync
  • iCal
  • iTunes
  • iPhoto
  • iMovie
  • DVD Player

And for those of you with Mac Minis, this is what you get with it:
  • Mail
  • iChat
  • Safari
  • Sherlock
  • Address Book
  • QuickTime
  • iSync
  • iCal
  • DVD Player
  • Classic environment
  • iLife ‘05 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD and GarageBand)
  • AppleWorks
  • Quicken 2005 for Mac
  • Nanosaur 2
  • Marble Blast Gold

And (again) what you'll have after a clean install of 10.4:
  • Mail
  • iChat
  • Safari
  • Sherlock
  • Address Book
  • QuickTime
  • iSync
  • iCal
  • iTunes
  • iPhoto
  • iMovie
  • DVD Player

If you have no use for the bundled software Apple provides (and have nothing better to do with your time), then do a clean install of 10.4.

Personally, I think Archive and Install is your best friend for installing 10.4.
 
ebally said:
Well Appleworks hasn't been bundled with Mac OS X for a few years now...
Click to expand...
Actually, AppleWorks was never bundled with Mac OS X... it was always part of the software bundle that came with the consumer line of hardware. So it comes with iMacs, eMacs, Mac Minis, and iBooks, but not with PowerBooks or PowerMacs (which are considered the professional line).
 
RacerX said:
Actually, AppleWorks was never bundled with Mac OS X... it was always part of the software bundle that came with the consumer line of hardware. So it comes with iMacs, eMacs, Mac Minis, and iBooks, but not with PowerBooks or PowerMacs (which are considered the professional line).
Click to expand...

O really. I was wondering why I didn't get it, but had never heard an answer. Thanks for the info.
 
Install Tiger with a clean install. Then use Pacifist (get it from Versiontracker.com) to extract the iLife '05 packages from your Mac's restore disk(s). The packages are invisible by the way. You can then install iLife with those packages.

I bought iLife '05 seperately so I won't have to worry about this anyway 😀
 
For those of you with Mac Minis: after doing a clean install of Tiger, insert the DVD (yeah, its a DVD) that came with your computer. On the disc, there is an option to just install the software that came with the computer. This is how you can get back iLife, AppleWorks, etc.

Question of my own: Where does Safari store your bookmarks?? I have my system all backed up to my Lacie FW drive except I cannot find bookmarks anywhere. Please help!!
 
Cooknn said:
Sorry, are you referring to Archive and Install? I'm confused 😕 Should I just upgrade?
Click to expand...

Just upgrade. Clean installs are the latest Mac voodoo. We're onto about our fourth thread on this subject, and in every one I ask the clean installers to give me one good reason why a clean install is better than an upgrade. I haven't heard one yet.

As nearly as I can tell, clean installing is just a huge hassle for no payoff, except it makes some people feel better. If I wanted a huge hassle, I'd use Windows. That probably wouldn't make feel any better either.
 
rtdgoldfish said:
Question of my own: Where does Safari store your bookmarks?? I have my system all backed up to my Lacie FW drive except I cannot find bookmarks anywhere. Please help!!
Click to expand...

/your home folder/Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plist

I would back up the whole Safari folder if I were you.
 
IJ Reilly said:
Just upgrade. Clean installs are the latest Mac voodoo. We're onto about our fourth thread on this subject, and in every one I ask the clean installers to give me one good reason why a clean install is better than an upgrade. I haven't heard one yet. [...]
Click to expand...
Operating Systems are complicated things. Coming from a Windows background, formatting and reinstalling was never required, but was always suggested. Even in major revisions of *NIX systems, I see people advocate formatting and reinstalling the OS.

OS X may be slick enough to pull off the upgrade without any hiccups, but I depend on my Powerbook for both work and play and would rather take the extra hour or two it takes to format and reinstall the OS now than spend that time somewhere down the road troubleshooting what winds up to be a problem rooted in the upgrade.

Besides -- Personally, I enjoy having as little on my machine as possible. I format and reinstall, then I just wait to install something until I need it. I get the OS, iLife, and a few other necessities installed and updated, then I just start working.

When I need FCE, I'll install it and update it. The same for Photoshop or Dreamweaver. I hate having cluttered drives and doing an Upgrade or a Archive and Install just perpetuates the clutter.

Formatting and reinstalling gives me an opportunity to wipe out the clutter and start fresh. For me, it's worth the hassle. As always, though, YMMV.
 
IJ Reilly said:
Just upgrade. Clean installs are the latest Mac voodoo. We're onto about our fourth thread on this subject, and in every one I ask the clean installers to give me one good reason why a clean install is better than an upgrade. I haven't heard one yet.

As nearly as I can tell, clean installing is just a huge hassle for no payoff, except it makes some people feel better. If I wanted a huge hassle, I'd use Windows. That probably wouldn't make feel any better either.
Click to expand...

From what I can tell the latest "Mac Vodoo" here is not doing a clean install. It would be magical if hard drives never screwed up, but this is not the case. I take the time to do a fresh install upon every major upgrade.
One would have to be pretty set in their ways to not admit a fresh install does not speed up their computer after a period (a year or so) of heavy use (forum posting does not count).
Not only does a clean install force me to back up every year or so, it gives me a chance to zero my hard drives and check for corrupt sectors (albeit not standard clean install practice).
In fact i'm looking forward to the upgrade just so I can do a clean install.
All I'm really getting at is don't dismiss the clean install option as evil... and yo mama smells.
 
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