It's MBP rebuild time - but restoring data not problems from Time Machine

[NLangridge]

I have reached the point of needing to rebuild by MBP, but without inheriting the existing problems.

My MBP is around 3 years old, running Snow Leopard, but with 8GB RAM, over 30GB disk space and not running lots of apps. It runs too slow, including QuickTime being unable to run full screen HD videos - or even 1/3 or 1/2 screen without buffering and effectively losing picture. Web browsing is ok, but anything remotely hard work on the machine grinds it to a halt. It also randomly crashes and then just appears at the login screen, having crashed out of everything, so something is clearly wrong.

I have tried reinstalling the OS once from the disk (standard reinstall over the top), and restoring pretty much everything from Time Machine (iPhoto, iTunes, etc.). However, nothing particularly changed or improved.

Can anyone suggest how to get back to a clean Mac, and re-import from Time Machine without bringing back the issues? For example, you can't seem to select specific apps, just the whole lot - and then I get rubbish like old AV I am unable to remove. I don't know if iPhoto is a bit clunky and could do with a "clean up", but I have over 7,000 pictures in folders and albums and I don't fancy doing that all over again.

Any thoughts much appreciated.

 

[Aylan]

I have reached the point of needing to rebuild by MBP, but without inheriting the existing problems.

My MBP is around 3 years old, running Snow Leopard, but with 8GB RAM, over 30GB disk space and not running lots of apps. It runs too slow, including QuickTime being unable to run full screen HD videos - or even 1/3 or 1/2 screen without buffering and effectively losing picture. Web browsing is ok, but anything remotely hard work on the machine grinds it to a halt. It also randomly crashes and then just appears at the login screen, having crashed out of everything, so something is clearly wrong.

I have tried reinstalling the OS once from the disk (standard reinstall over the top), and restoring pretty much everything from Time Machine (iPhoto, iTunes, etc.). However, nothing particularly changed or improved.

Can anyone suggest how to get back to a clean Mac, and re-import from Time Machine without bringing back the issues? For example, you can't seem to select specific apps, just the whole lot - and then I get rubbish like old AV I am unable to remove. I don't know if iPhoto is a bit clunky and could do with a "clean up", but I have over 7,000 pictures in folders and albums and I don't fancy doing that all over again.

Any thoughts much appreciated.

Do a clean install of OS X. Then use Migration Assistant to transfer your user data. DO NOT select "Computer Settings"

This will only move your libraries (iTunes, iPhoto, etc) and your applications.

You can always just re-install the apps one by one.

Or just wait with us and buy a Haswell rMBP

 

[etn]

You can replace your HDD by an SSD, this will give your laptop a new life!
(see ifixit for howto guides). I did this to my 2008 pre-unibody and with an SSD it's still a very usable machine!

Place your current disk in an external enclosure and as Aylan suggested use Migration Assistant to transfer your data. Migration Assistant lets you chose what to import.

If you want to install Mountain Lion the procedure would be as follows
(Tech-savvy forum members, feel free to correct me if I say something wrong)
1. Get a Mountain Lion copy from the App store, download it but do not install it
2. Place your SSD in an external enclosure
3. Install ML on the SSD
4. Swap drives
5. Reboot and use Migration Assistants.

Many webpages give more detailed info, an example here:
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/clean-install-mountain-lion/

Hope this helps,

Etienne

 

[NLangridge]

Thanks for the feedback!

New MBP would of course be ideal, but the budget won't stretch that far!

I suspect the HD might be at fault. Do you know of any simple tests or apps can help identify any faults? I'd rather do that than buy a new one unnecessarily.

...however, while a full SSD might be a stretch too far (especially as I need at least 250GB), does anyone have any experience of the hybrid drives? Something likes this looks decent:
http://www.ebuyer.com/480300-seagate-500gb-solid-state-hybrid-drive-sshd-st500lm000