How will YOU install Leopard?

[cLin]

I want to do a clean install but I don't know what to backup. What do most people backup? There's so many files in application support 🙁

 

[Flobber88]

I've heard doing an upgrade will leave Tiger files left over, just hanging around. Is this true, and how do you remove those/how big are they?

 

[whiteyanderson]

screw it clean install. my mind is playing with me 😱.

 

[zerodfg]

What should i do

I don't know what is easiestand safest for my computer. i want to be able to upgrade but i don't know if i should archive and intstall first. what would be best if i do not want to loose any of my files???😕😕😕

 

[slb]

Hi all.
Is it better to do a clean install rather than an upgrade? Or am i thinking too 'windows' again?

Cheers!

It's better to do a clean install, because Upgrade just copies the new system right onto the old. Archive and Install is essentially a clean install--it backs up the old system files, installs OS X from scratch, and then auto-imports your accounts, applications, and settings from the old system into the new system.

There's little reason to do an Upgrade when Archive and Install does the same thing in a cleaner, safer way. In fact, last I heard, Upgrade wasn't even an option anymore in Leopard, but maybe they've added it back for the final release.

So an Archive & Install is essentially the same thing as an Erase & Install except that an Archive & Install creates a new folder with the contents of your previous SYSTEM folder.

Correct?

Just to clarify, Erase & Install wipes everything and installs OS X from scratch. Archive & Install does the same thing, but it backs up the previous system first, and when the clean install is done, it auto-imports your old accounts, apps, and settings into the new system. Upgrade just dumps the new system right on top of the old one. If you have the disk space, Archive & Install is probably the safest, recommended way to install a new version of OS X, and like I said, it was my understanding that the Upgrade option wasn't even going to be available in Leopard.

 

[macDonalds]

I'll be doing a fresh install for sure. But I don't think I will get it the first day.

 

[Veritas&Equitas]

I had to do a fresh install because the upgrade screwed with some of my settings I guess, and would only boot the the blue screen after the initial gray Apple bootup.

 

[jstad]

I was initially going to upgrade my macbook but decided to just throw it out the window and get a MBP 😛 I am not kidding either but the reason I am upgrading is not only for Leopard but for my own sanity. 😱

 

[Merser]

Sorry for the noob question...

If I do an archive and install, will I have to reinstall ANY of my existing apps like MS Word or World of Warcraft?

Thanks

 

[naftalim]

Less than a day till I get Leopard and I still can't make up my mind. My iMac is only a little over 1 month old and don't yet have many apps or data on it. Upgrade seems to be the right way to go, but part of me wants to start fresh.

Help me make up my mind.

 

[Nightfall]

Have you read Multimedias' replies to these questions a few pages earlier? Archive and install seems the best choice. 🙂

 

[naftalim]

Thanks. I think thats what I will do, What happens with the Previous System Archive, can I delete that at some point?

Have you read Multimedias' replies to these questions a few pages earlier? Archive and install seems the best choice. 🙂

 

[ironsidephoto]

so i got a new imac about a month ago. . .
i have a question about apps: let's say i copy my entire applications folder to an external, then do a fresh install, and then put the apps back on the computer. will they all still work? even photoshop, etc? thanks.

 

[Khryz]

What will you be able to do with the system files from Tiger if you do an Archive & Install? Would you be able to downgrade back to Tiger with those files? If not then what's the point? How does it differ from a complete OS back-up right before the point of upgrading?

 

[CANEHDN]

Clean for me. I want a fresh copy with all new iWork and iLife which I'm also buying tomorrow.

 

[aafuss1]

Clean install for me. Did a archive & install, but later decided to start from scratch.

 

[technicolor]

Archive and install. No way I want to reinstall all that software.

Thanks for changing my mind about the fresh install.

 

[astrostu]

so i got a new imac about a month ago. . .
i have a question about apps: let's say i copy my entire applications folder to an external, then do a fresh install, and then put the apps back on the computer. will they all still work? even photoshop, etc? thanks.

Some yes, some no. This is safe to do for applications that install via "Drag to Applications folder." Your preferences will be lost (you could copy them from ~/Library/Preferences), but many things keep files elsewhere, and programs that actually go through an Installer program also usually have dependencies elsewhere.

For example, iCal keeps information in ~/Library/Application Support. As does Pixadex, RapidWeaver, and some others. Dashboard widgets are either saved in /Library/Widgets or ~/Library/Widgets depending upon how you installed them. Etc.

So, bottom-line is, "Some yes, some no."

 

[benj07]

Okay...noob question here:

I currently have Adobe Creative Studio 2, and Final Cut Studio installed on Tiger.

If I perform an "Archive and Install"... Will both of these Application suites be preserved and usable in Leopard?

I assume "Archive and Install" also transfers over my Mail, iCal, Address Book, etc??

Thx.

EDIT: Also, it won't affect Parallels and my Windows VM, will it?

 

[Billy Boo Bob]

From another article mentioned here at MR...

MacWorld
- Resizable partitions: Create and resize hard disk partitions on the fly in Leopard.

Hmm. I have enough room on my main HD to make a nice partition to test it on... Anyone know if this is in Disk Utility on Leopard, and can you do this when you fire up Disk Utility while booted from the install disk?

If so, I'll partition, then back out and clone my boot HD to it, testing an upgrade and/or archive install on it first.

 

[cyclingplatypus]

I did an upgrade and it is sweet and have had zero problems, even fixed the 10.4.10 wifi problem I was having 😀

 

[oduinnin]

Success & Bungled password

I did Upgrade on my MacBook Pro, it worked great! Took 1 hour +/-. 🙂

On my iMac, I did Archive and Install because I wanted to get rid of any system and application "clingons" from when I did target mode to move my stuff over from a PM G4 (PowerPC processor).

I had one kind of MAJOR problem, after the initial log on, I wasn't able to download software because the system wouldn't recognize my password. So I rebooted to the install disk to reset my password. Which I did, yet when I rebooted from the hard drive, my account didn't show up in the list of users! I panicked. Then I calmly rebooted and rebooted and booted with the install disk and fixed permissions (which didn't find any to fix), checked the file structure, no problems found there either. 🙁

Got on the Apple support site via the MacBook Pro (sure is nice to have two computers). Alas, I found that likely many others had the same or similar problem and there is a fix for it. It has to do with your password being created at or before OS X 10.2.8. Apparently, Apple assumed everyone would be changing their password at sometime between then and now. Well, I didn't.

You have to boot into "Single user mode" which gets you to the unix command line. From there Apple outlines the necessary commands to delete the old and enter a new password.

Voila! That did the trick. I'm happy now. 😀

 

[lem09]

hi sorry if this has been covered, but if i want to do a fresh install but don't have all the discs for my applications.

is it possible? if so which files do i have to make copies of [onto an external hd] to keep my applications running?

thanks 🙂