How do I know I'm ready for a clean install?

[Ketchup]

Total rookie here. Currently running Tiger. I want to do a clean install of Snow Leopard. I've backed up my hard drive to an external device.

Before I wipe the slate clean, how can I be certain the external drive contains everything I will need to repopulate the new system?

I'm afraid I'll start adding stuff after the install and realize too late that I'm missing some crucial permission or folder. When I look at the external drive finder, I see that I, the admin (God help us), don't have access privileges to many of the other users' folders. Does this matter?

 

[miles01110]

Before I wipe the slate clean, how can I be certain the external drive contains everything I will need to repopulate the new system?

If whatever program you used completed the clone successfully, you have everything.

 

[Ketchup]

And the clone is completed successfully if the files on the external drive exactly mirror the files on the hard drive, right? I know this sounds like an idiotic question, but I keep being surprised by things that seem obvious to me turning out not to be how my computer actually works.

Also, I didn't actually use a program to back up. All I did was drag the "Macintosh HD" icon onto my external drive icon. So, while all the files appear to have been copied, I'm not sure that's all that a true backup is supposed to include.

Thanks for your patience. Hardware is not my thing.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Btw, it's a software thing.

Better use CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper to make a 1:1 copy of your Macintosh HD to the external HDD, as using Finder will not copy everything and might introduce permission hiccups.


Helpful Information for Any Mac User by GGJstudios

 

[Ketchup]

I guess software's not my thing either. But, I do type very well. Anyway, CCC worked. Thank you so much for your help!