Leopard Upgrade - What to backup?

[pixelbaker]

I'm preparing to upgrade my Mac Pro to Leopard. I'm not sure what all I should backup in preparation. I want to do a clean install as this install of Tiger has been used and abused for over a year.

All of my actual data is stored on a second hard drive, named Storage. I have Aperture data, iTunes library content, etc... all stored there. What should I do to backup my iTunes library and make sure it gets fully transferred with all info (it would be nice to have play counts, but I can live without if I have to) and album art that I've assigned?

What about Aperture? I think I set it up in an odd way when beginning since I didn't really know what I was doing, but I just have an Aperture Library directory with JPGs in it rather than an actual Library package. It's not a large/complex library so I can lose my adjustments and photo groupings if it's too much trouble to transfer.

Other than that I'll just reinstall all of my software and start fresh. Other settings I can handle backing up on my own.

 

[queshy]

I'm not sure about aparture, but what I did for iTunes was just drag the "iTunes" folder onto an external and then once you have Leopard drag it back into the "Music" folder. Then when you boot up iTunes everything's there, nice and preserved. Good luck!

 

[pixelbaker]

my iTunes library is all contained in a /Storage/Music/ and it's organized completely by iTunes. I'm just not sure if all my play count data is saved there as well or where that might be saved.

I'm using SuperDuper to save a disk image of my System drive to my Storage drive then I'll just try a fresh install and see how it goes. Hopefully I won't be too bad off. Not a huge deal if I don't have all of that data I guess...

 

[queshy]

Hmm I can't speak for your computer, but on mine, everything 'itunes' was stored in the music folder, which I simply copied over after doing a clean install. Then when I opened iTunes for the first time it was all there, just like before.

 

[roland.g]

No no no.

Even if you keep your Music on a separate drive, you need to open the Music/iTunes folder on your internal drive in your home folder. The iTunes Music folder inside iTunes should be empty, but there should also be an iTunes Library, an iTunes Music Library.xml (both files) and a Album Artwork folder. Copy these. Then copy them back after you install but before your launch iTunes. The Library and Music Library.xml files contain all the library data incl. playlists, play counts, iPod sync data, stuff like that.

As for Aperture, not really sure. There are a lot of files, preferences, .plists, and other items located in the user Library folder as well as the computers Library and System folders. It is a good idea to back up those three folders as they can contain Application Support, etc. The one thing about a clean install (considering one myself) is that all your preferences, system, and per program, as well as application installations, and other minute details need to be redone from scratch depending how much you want to recreate the look and settings of your previous workspace. It may be a good idea to make a list of applications, backup installers for downloaded ones, etc. as well as making a list of anything else you can think of so that you can reorder your stuff after the install.

 

[pixelbaker]

Thanks roland.g. I didn't get your message in time, but i figured it out and ended up doing exactly what you instructed.

My only problem now is that some of my discs don't seem to be recognized by Leopard? I have an Adobe CS3 DVD that will not recognize, although it worked fine in my macbook after i upgraded to leopard. My iLife disc does not seem to work either.