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Finally upgrading to snow leopard

djsound

djsound

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 4, 2006
791
17
Well the time has come. I can no longer hold off. I need to upgrade to Snow Leopard from 10.4.11 Tiger...I have held off because I have SO many things on my computer now I don't want to lose them all....The upgrade will wipe everything clean right? :( soooooo many lost passwords and such
 
djsound said:
The upgrade will wipe everything clean right? :( soooooo many lost passwords and such
Click to expand...

no.

pop in the SL install DVD and when prompted click on restart. lean back and let the installer do its job.

however, be well backed up in case something does go wrong. i would suggest you create a bootable clone of your startup disk using e.g. Carbon Copy Cloner (http://www.bombich.com/) before you start.

you might even want to install SL on the clone and test the new installation there until you are convinced all is as it should be.

JG
 
it wont save all my saved firefox passwords and all that would it?
 
Yes it will, providing you tell it to. There are three upgrade options. One wipes the HD and installs from scratch, one installs over the top and preserves everything, and the third installs a new System folder but leaves your user home directories and applications directory untouched. The third is normally the one I use. There are a few bits of software that require re-installation afterwards but user settings are normally carried over.
 
Queso said:
the third installs a new System folder but leaves your user home directories and applications directory untouched.
Click to expand...

if you mean an archive & install, this is not an option anymore since SL.

you can perform a repair install (SL over SL) but that's different compared to an a&i that was possible with Leo.

JG
 
very interesting. this is cool =) to bad i cant do the best of both worlds....a clean install but save only my passwords and things.....a lot of the software i wont be using on snow leopard so i don't need it.....but the passwords i will....and email addresses etc.
 
djsound said:
to bad i cant do the best of both worlds....a clean install but save only my passwords and things
Click to expand...

in a way you can.

to do so, you would need to clone your current installation to an external HD (it ought to be a firewire drive for it to work, though) using the software i recommended above.

then wipe your internal drive, put a fresh SL on it, and, with the clone connected via firewire, use setup assistant to migrate your account and network settings etc. from the clone.

although it is in connection with time machine, this excellent tip by Pondini will walk you through the steps: http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/19.html.

JG
 
sorry this might be a stupid question but i have never done this before. With CCC can I make a disk image onto a dvd instead of a hard drive? or is that not possible?
 
hmmm when i select a target in CCC it only lets me select my external drive. I can not put it into a folder on my external drive? I have other stuff on that drive...I don't want to overwrite it =/
 
djsound said:
hmmm when i select a target in CCC it only lets me select my external drive. I can not put it into a folder on my external drive? I have other stuff on that drive...I don't want to overwrite it =/
Click to expand...

get another (preferably firewire) external drive.

again, a smart backup routine is essential. it's also about having redundant backups. all drives will fail eventually and you will want to protect your precious data.

in my case, all of my Macs back up to a time capsule using time machine. additionally, for each of my three Macs i have two external firewire drives to which i clone the respective startup disks, alternating on a weekly basis.

you may call that paranoid but my thinking is better safe than sorry.

so, my advice would be to invest in one (if not two) new external firewire drive and clone your startup disk to it.

JG
 
Wow thats expensive haha....good idea though. For now I will get one more =)
 
djsound said:
Wow thats expensive hah
Click to expand...

i know. some folks even go to the extend of storing one of their clone drives in a safe deposit box @ some bank.

on the other hand, imagine all your data got lost due to a failing HD. none of your documents, emails, media files - nothing !

you'd have to start over from scratch.

now, isn't that extra security worth a couple of 100 $$ ? ;)

JG
 
You can manually move things, but it might be better for Mac OS migration assistant to do it for you. You have all your passwords, apps (compatible), documents, media, etc.

Sky Blue said:
You can't go from 10.4 to 10.6.
Click to expand...

Works with retail disk, for Intel Mac.

PPC doesn't do 10.6.
 
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