Fresh install of Lion

[scouser75]

Guys, I want to fresh install Lion on my Bootdrive. By that I mean I want to totally wipe the Bootdrive clean and then partition it so I have one Partition for Lion and the other Partition for all my other Apps - Final Cut Studio, Adobe PS etc.

BUT right now I have a few things on the Bootdrive such as other applications, drivers etc which I do not want to lose.

What is the best way for me to do what I stated above?

I have another internal HD which has space to copy everything on my Bootdrive. But then how would I be able to transfer everything else over (FCS, PS, drivers etc) and leave Snow Leopard out of the transfer?

Thanks

 

[robgendreau]

It sounds like you want one volume that can boot your machine with Snow Leopard with older applications on it, and one that can do Lion. Right?

I'd just clone the SL volume to another bootable volume, or reinstall SL and migrate. That gives you two SL startups. Then just install Lion on one of them, and voila, you have both options.

Rob

 

[scouser75]

It sounds like you want one volume that can boot your machine with Snow Leopard with older applications on it, and one that can do Lion. Right?

I'd just clone the SL volume to another bootable volume, or reinstall SL and migrate. That gives you two SL startups. Then just install Lion on one of them, and voila, you have both options.

Rob

Hi Rob, thanks for your reply.

To be honest I don't need SL to use older apps as I only really use Final Cut Studio and the Adobe apps.

What I do need to do is have a clean Boot Drive to install Lion onto as over the years I've had a lot of stuff I've put on and deleted from the Boot Drive.

But once I have Lion on the Boot Drive I need to move over ALL my apps which were on the Boot Drive (Final Cut Studio, Adobe Premiere, all the related Plug-ins etc).

I really don't fancy re-installing all the apps and Plug-ins.

 

[VTECaddict]

I would just do a full backup of your drive with something like carbon copy cloner, erase your boot drive, install lion, and restore whatever from the backup as necessary. That way you don't have to worry about forgetting to back something up.

And I'm not sure if simply dragging and dropping apps like Final Cut and Adobe stuff will work since they required installers when installing.

 

[scouser75]

Thanks VTECaddict.

If I did erase my bootdrive how do I then install Lion? My Mac won't boot up if I don't have an OS X on the bootdrive, would it?

Also, I had another idea... when I do erase my bootdrive, would it be a possible and a good idea to partition it to have Lion on partition 1 and all the other apps, plug-ins etc on the other partition?

 

[dilgit]

The best way to achieve the most clean install is to totally wipe your primary drive. Partition it and install lion. Than reinstall your software from scratch on the same drive. This will give you a totally new start. Good luck!

 

[scouser75]

Thanks dilgit. So would you partition it the way I wanted to? Partition one holds Lion. Partition 2 holds all my other apps? I'd obviously need to partition as GUI, but would that have to be done for BOTH partitions? Or just the one that holds Lion?

I have 2 other internal HD's which hold all my other docs and media.

 

[PenguinMac]

Why are you trying to separate the OS and the applications? I've seen many computers with separate data drives (as you have), but never separate application drives. Since the applications are linked closely with the OS directory structure, I don't think it can be done. Assuming you own these applications, as many others have said just reinstall them. As for a clean install, there are many threads on how to do this using the Lion download from the Mac App Store.

 

[scouser75]

My thinking for separating the apps is that next time if I need to fresh install the OS I'll only need to wipe the 1st partition.

I own all the apps but was trying to not have to re-install all of them and all their related plug-ins and add-ons.

My worry is that I'm in the middle of a few long term FCP projects and if I wipe FCP and all the plu-ins and then re-install my projects will get messed up.

If I hold off from installing Lion I'll be waiting a very very long time.

 

[robgendreau]

Put the applications you want to use on the same volume/partition as the system you are using.

DO NOT put applications you want to use on a separate partition, unless you are absolutely sure they'll work there. Some do, but many don't. It's a very bad practice to have applications anywhere but where the system expects to find them. And you gain nothing by doing so, unless you like fiddling with your computer instead of getting work done.

And frankly, I don't know why you need to do this "fresh" install business. If I were you I'd concentrate on having a good backup, because where you're headed is risky.

And your rationale of having to reinstall applications every time you update your software is unnecessary, and as you can see, confusing and time consuming. I would suggest that you first have a good workable backup, and second, that you just install Lion per Apple's installer. The odds are very much in your favor that it will just work. The fact that you're even considering having system and applications on separate volumes suggests that you're going to create a mess for yourself. If the regular installation doesn't work, THEN take more extreme measures.

Rob