How many times have you had to reinstall your OS

[flyfish29]

Never! Updates yes, reinstall- NO!

I have had macs since 1993 (five of them) and never had anything go bad on them (knocking on wood right now!) except a powermac 5300 school edition which had one recalled problem (can't remember what it was, but Apple paid for it)

In that time period my brothers and sisters, who have owned about the same number of PC's, have reinstalled about a dozen + times and had four hard drives, three modems, three mother boards and countless other things go wrong with them. I love my Macs!

I went over a year without my current iMac needing a restart (minus restarts with updates)

 

[ahunter3]

Ignoring systems before the hard drive era (never ever reinstalled, just made copies from one diskette to another in a never-ending daisychain)...

Ignoring also upgrades from an older to a newer OS version, which isn't a reinstall at all...

System 6, System 7: never. When moving from an old hard drive to a new one, would just copy the System Folder over. Having really bad disk-corruption problems, want to wipe the drive and start from scratch? Initialize the disk, then drag-copy a working System Folder from another bootable partition (I don't think I've ever had any version of the MacOS in only one place).

MacOS 8: once. MacOS 8.6 to be precise. The System file itself had acquired some kind of slow minor corruption over a long period of time, and it had been copied from place to place and I wanted a fresh newly-installed copy to get rid of the problem.

MacOS 9: never. I've restored from backup after swapping out the hard drive, rather than doing a Finder copy, though.

MacOS 10.0-10.1: once. I could not figure out how to make a bootable clone. (It's not as easy as you might think on an "Old World" machine like my WallStreet PB, the "bless" procedure is different). Installed 10.1.0 from the installation CDROM when I got a larger drive and had to set everything up all over again.

MacOS 10.2-10.3: never. I've restored from backup after hosing the OS a couple of times, and used bootable-clone procedures to replace/update the hard drive, though.

I've also:

• Installed a MacOS on one machine, copied that System Folder to a newer machine a few years later, upgraded the OS, copied that System Folder a few years later to a yet newer machine and upgraded the OS. Thus, I have a System Folder with a pedigree of settings and extensions and control panels that started off on a Mac SE, functioned on a 7100/80, and lived on to boot a WallStreet G3 PowerBook. Essentially the OS was always upgraded, never reinstalled, and outlived the hardware it was originally installed to (at this point by nearly a decade, although I don't boot that partition very often any more, it's MacOS 8.1).

• Taken an external FireWire HD that had a bootable OSX for my WallStreet on it and booted the temporary iBook loaner from it without any modifications at all while my WallStreet was in the shop getting its CardBus cage worked on.


All this is standard Mac operating procedure. None of this is unusual.

 

[FadeToBlack]

I've had my eMac a year on the 9th of this month and I done a clean install when I upgraded to Tiger, then done another clean install a couple of days later because Safari was crashing on this one website I always visit. (another forum) I realize now that reinstalling because of that was really pointless. Old Windows habits, ya know?

 

[shieldyoureyes]

Never on my mac.

My dell is another story...Try 3 within 24 hours and 7 total in 1.5 years.

 

[Vinnie_vw]

I reinstalled OS X for the 1st time on my 4 months old 12" iBook to implement the Swap-Partition. Runs much faster now and I learned a little about what's under the hood of my 1st Mac.

 

[ortuno2k]

I recently switched to Macs and so far, I haven't reinstalled in 5 months of use, but I think I would do a clean install when upgrading to 10.5 when it releases or sooner if a major system crash like a hard drive failure (knock on wood) or something out of this world happens.
The OS is rock solid, and unlike Windows XP doesn't "slow down" after months of use
With my XP system, I'd format & reinstall every 6-8 months just to keep things running clean.
I love my mac.

 

[johnnyjibbs]

I've never reinstalled it. The only thing I've done is UPGRADE twice. My machine came with Jaguar 10.2.7 and I upgrade installed Panther and now Tiger. It's running smooth as silk and faster than ever before.

I don't envisage having to reinstall at any point in the future. But I'm also not going to say that it could never happen because it might one day. No software is completely bug-free or without issue, even OS X.

 

[crap freakboy]

OSX? Never!
Pre OSX going back to 1990, well thats a different story.

 

[FadeToBlack]

Funny story and the thing that caused me to finally switch after wanting to for years: I was doing my bi-montly (or very close to that) ritual of reinstalling Windows and I had forgotten to unplug my ethernet cable beforehand. Well, I get it up and running and get a worm within like 15 minutes. I ordered my Mac later that week and the rest is history.

 

[GimmeSlack12]

I remember re-installing a bit with Classic systems (7.5-8.5) but at those times I was installing a LOT of extensions and Control Panels. But System 9.x was very stable. With OS X???? I don't think I've ever even thought about reinstalling, every problem I've ever had was fairly minor.

 

[localghost]

OS 7: never

Win95: Every 6 month. All the Windows ‚Geeks’ I knew back than could not help, made a fresh install on their own Win95/98 boxes every year, give or take 1-2 month.

OS 9: Once to get rid of AOL Software and to get back the files this installer deleted. Probably would not have been necessary, but I a had a recent copy of the system so it was just a question of a couple of minutes to be back on a perfect system.

OS 10.0: Installed a few times new because I could not believe how buggy it was. Went back to OS 9 until 10.1.2

10.2 an up: Only a fresh install for upgrading, up to 2.5 years. Same on about 5 other Macs I take care of. I always make a fresh install though and that’s what I recommend to everybody (even if it’s not necessary it’s not worth the hassle of potential problems and it forces me to get rid of all the garbage).

I have to admit that since I changed my workplace my w2k machine has been running smooth for almost 2 years, but that’s behind a huge firewall, with professional security software and a huge and very capable crowd of tech-guys for maintenance.

 

[ewinemiller]

lost count

On my ibook G4, I did a reinstall shortly after getting it. It was totally squirelly, kernel panics, lockups, etc., after the reinstall it was fine for a while. It's now getting bad again, but I've been nursing it along until I have time to put 10.4 on it, which is sitting in a box on a shelf.

On my Power Mac, I've lost count. I remember a time or two because of general flakeyness and once because it ate a harddrive (which has been running fine since that time a year or so ago so leads me to believe it was an OSX issue not a hardware one).

I find that reinstall requirements are about the same as a PC. For those machines where you seldom change the configuration and/or installed software they go fine for years. For those where you are constantly fiddling with stuff, 12-18 months seems to be about the limit before an reinstall is required to get it stable again. Since that works out to be Apple's release schedule it's usually good timing when a new OSX comes out.

 

[beige matchbox]

performa 6200 - never (1995-1999)
performa 5400 - apart from upgrading to OS8, never (1996-1999)
PowerMac G3 - Apart from upgrading to OS9, then OSX... never (1999-2005)
Orange iBook - Apart from upgrading to OS9, then OSX... never (1999-2005)
iMac G4 - Once after i went playing, lol (2002-2005)
PowerBook G4 - never (2005-2005)


So err... apart from when i play with things i shouldn't be (gotta learn at some point) it doesn't happen very often, to me anyway, and i've only personally seen 2 macs that needed a reinstall

 

[IJ Reilly]

On my ibook G4, I did a reinstall shortly after getting it. It was totally squirelly, kernel panics, lockups, etc., after the reinstall it was fine for a while. It's now getting bad again, but I've been nursing it along until I have time to put 10.4 on it, which is sitting in a box on a shelf.

On my Power Mac, I've lost count. I remember a time or two because of general flakeyness and once because it ate a harddrive (which has been running fine since that time a year or so ago so leads me to believe it was an OSX issue not a hardware one).

I find that reinstall requirements are about the same as a PC. For those machines where you seldom change the configuration and/or installed software they go fine for years. For those where you are constantly fiddling with stuff, 12-18 months seems to be about the limit before an reinstall is required to get it stable again. Since that works out to be Apple's release schedule it's usually good timing when a new OSX comes out.

This appears to be another case of trying to fix a hardware problem by reinstalling the OS, with predictable results. If you haven't already done so, you should read up through this thread, and you will find that even the Mac owners who do like to clean install periodically don't do it because it's necessary.

 

[ewinemiller]

This appears to be another case of trying to fix a hardware problem by reinstalling the OS, with predictable results. If you haven't already done so, you should read up through this thread, and you will find that even the Mac owners who do like to clean install periodically don't do it because it's necessary.

Actually I did read the thread, but since I don't have the magic divination tool to identify the true problem, reinstall does appear to be necessary (or at least more expedient) without paying for some sort of service call.

Also it's hard to believe that it's a hardware problem if the problem no longer occurs after a reinstall. ibook kernal panics no longer happened after reinstall, powermac random harddrive trashing no longer happened after reinstall. Actually the hard drive required the reinstall because it was the system drive! It's since been running fine on that drive for over a year.

 

[kasei]

Besides from upgrading to Tiger, once. Mail crapped out of me and I had to reinstall the entire OS. I should have done a full install of Tiger the first time, but I didn't which caused mail to not work properly.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Actually I did read the thread, but since I don't have the magic divination tool to identify the true problem, reinstall does appear to be necessary (or at least more expedient) without paying for some sort of service call.

Also it's hard to believe that it's a hardware problem if the problem no longer occurs after a reinstall. ibook kernal panics no longer happened after reinstall, powermac random harddrive trashing no longer happened after reinstall. Actually the hard drive required the reinstall because it was the system drive! It's since been running fine on that drive for over a year.

I'm confused by your explanation. You said it got better for only awhile after the reinstall, and now you are saying (I think) that the hard drive needed to be replaced. But I'm not sure.

You don't need any magic tools to determine whether a kernel panic problem is hardware related. It almost always is. The hardware test CD you got with your Mac might isolate the problem, but it's hardly 100% effective.

The lesson I think you should derive from the discussion in this thread is that OSX reinstalls are by no means required periodically in order to keep a Mac running smoothly, and that if you find that they are, then something else is wrong with your Mac, and you ought to find out what it is.

 

[bousozoku]

A few times, I suppose, when I was replacing hard drives and when I was testing beta versions of Mac OS X and after one catastrophic freeze during disk defragmentation.

Of course, this is almost delightful in contrast to dealing with various versions of Windows at work, especially Win95 and above when re-installing was a clean up technique because the machines would finally stop working due to Registry bloat.

 

[xsedrinam]

One time, with Jaguar. That's it.

 

[ewinemiller]

I'm confused by your explanation. You said it got better for only awhile after the reinstall, and now you are saying (I think) that the hard drive needed to be replaced. But I'm not sure.

You don't need any magic tools to determine whether a kernel panic problem is hardware related. It almost always is. The hardware test CD you got with your Mac might isolate the problem, but it's hardly 100% effective.

The lesson I think you should derive from the discussion in this thread is that OSX reinstalls are by no means required periodically in order to keep a Mac running smoothly, and that if you find that they are, then something else is wrong with your Mac, and you ought to find out what it is.

Other issues have cropped up on the ibook, the kernel panics did not return after the reinstall. It's used by the wife and kids, gets stuff installed and removed constantly, worked well for about a year and over the last six months or so has gotten a bit flakey, some lock ups, web sites with java that work fine on the powermac, don't on the ibook, etc. Nothing critical, and someone with the right knowledge could probably clean it up, but for someone with my knowledge, it's just quicker to do a clean sweep.

The Powermac has been running fine since the last reinstall, no issues, hard drive was not replaced. It however is a production machine and has pretty much stayed in it's original state since the last reinstall except for the normal security patches and updates. I no longer experiment with it like I did when I first got it, it's just too slow to be fun anymore, but it stays stable and does its job without complaint.

Thus both follow my comment in the original post, which is, if you futz with it a lot, it may be necessary to reformat to get things running smoothly again. If you don't, it works fine.

BTW, I did use the hardware diagnostic CD when the Power Mac ate it's system drive hoping that it could perhaps save a drive I had not backed up for a couple of months. It did not find any problems. Never used it on the ibook, but since the kernel panics never returned I strongly suspect that was a software issue.

 

[xli_ne]

Once, last week or so.

My dashboard no longer worked. It would load up but everytime I placed a widget on it, the widget would dissappear. So, I just did a upgrade on tiger and reload all the updates. Works fine now.

 

[Lacero]

I re-install the same OS about once a year, just to keep my data and computer in check, or when I'm upgrading to larger, faster and quieter HDs.

Also a chance to do some Spring cleaning on the internals. Apple users don't re-install OSes as a matter of 'routine maintenance' although I'm hearing many PC users resorting to this to maintain their PCs on a monthly basis.

Here's to the Crazy Ones ​

 

[IJ Reilly]

Other issues have cropped up on the ibook, the kernel panics did not return after the reinstall. It's used by the wife and kids, gets stuff installed and removed constantly, worked well for about a year and over the last six months or so has gotten a bit flakey, some lock ups, web sites with java that work fine on the powermac, don't on the ibook, etc. Nothing critical, and someone with the right knowledge could probably clean it up, but for someone with my knowledge, it's just quicker to do a clean sweep.

The Powermac has been running fine since the last reinstall, no issues, hard drive was not replaced. It however is a production machine and has pretty much stayed in it's original state since the last reinstall except for the normal security patches and updates. I no longer experiment with it like I did when I first got it, it's just too slow to be fun anymore, but it stays stable and does its job without complaint.

Thus both follow my comment in the original post, which is, if you futz with it a lot, it may be necessary to reformat to get things running smoothly again. If you don't, it works fine.

BTW, I did use the hardware diagnostic CD when the Power Mac ate it's system drive hoping that it could perhaps save a drive I had not backed up for a couple of months. It did not find any problems. Never used it on the ibook, but since the kernel panics never returned I strongly suspect that was a software issue.

I don't want to highjack this into a diagnostics thread (though maybe it was bound to become one), but there's quite a few quick, simple things to try if a Mac becomes flaky or slow, and you're sure hardware isn't the issue. I don't know much of anything about the innards of OSX, yet I've been able to keep three Macs running for years without any reinstalls, and a lot of other people have too. So it can't be that difficult!

Just trying to provide an alternate view, so please don't take it personally. I hate to hear about Mac owners pulling out the blunderbuss whenever they're bothered by a gnat.

 

[~Shard~]

I re-install the same OS about once a year, just to keep my data and computer in check, or when I'm upgrading to larger, faster and quieter HDs.

Also a chance to do some Spring cleaning on the internals. Apple users don't re-install OSes as a matter of 'routine maintenance' although I'm hearing many PC users resorting to this to maintain their PCs on a monthly basis.

I try and do frequent "spring cleaning" on my Mac as well - cleaning up old files, programs, etc., however I have never reinstalled the OS. I think it is more meaningful for PC users to do it on a regular basis as opposed to Mac users, due to, well, Windows versus OS X. Still though, definitely a good idea.

So Lacero, how long does it take you to reinstall all your programs when you rebuild? Judging by the size of your dock in that other thread, it might take a while!

 

[jdechko]

For windows XP, a bunch. I don't know. Its been about a year since the last time I did it, though. Things seem to be running smoothly (relatively) so I see no reason to start over.

IJ Reilly - I think that the way you "fix" the windows registry is a reinstallation of windows. It may even be in the registry help file.

Chapter 1: What to do if your registry becomes corrupt? Reinstall Windows. -End of Help File-

Actually, when I get a mac, I will do a reinstall of the OS first thing, mainly to remove all of the localization settings. I'd also install X11 and maybe some other things, remove some other stuff. I just think it would be a decent way to figure out how to do it without worring about messing up something important.