panther upgrade disk

[joeyjojoe]

i bought the panther upgrade disk for $20 (like everyone else) a while back. if i want to reformat and reinstall the os, do i first need to install jagaur on it? is the panther disk also a full install?

also, do i just need to copy over my user folder to get all my preferences and documents?

 

[mklos]

I believe on the Panther Upgrade CD is an option to do an Erase and Install which will wipe the drive out first, format it (HFS+ Journaled) and then Put a fresh copy of Mac OS X.3.x on it.

You can just copy over your Home folder and you'll have everything (Docs, Photos, Movies, Music, your preferences, settings, Mailboxes for Mail, any spelling words you added, Safari Bookmarks, etc..)

I usually just copy over my Documents, Movies, Music, Photos, and Library folders. Then I can just replace the new Documents folder with the old one. I do that for every folder EXCEPT for the Library folder! That can be a little dangerous since it might conflict with OS X.3 if it has OS X.2 stuff still in it. But its perfectly ok to transfer things like bookmarks, OS X Mail Mailboxes, and things like that.

Make sure that you do do a Erase and Install. Just doing an upgrade will only create a ton of problems for you down the road!

 

[TEG]

There is no such thing as an "Upgrade" Disk from Apple. All Apple Disks are full versions, have been since OS8. You can do a full install with out having to have Jaguar installed beforehand.

TEG

 

[mklos]

Originally posted by TEG
There is no such thing as an "Upgrade" Disk from Apple. All Apple Disks are full versions, have been since OS8. You can do a full install with out having to have Jaguar installed beforehand.

TEG

Yes there is! If you bought a new Mac that didn't come with Mac OS X.3 then you can send Apple $19.99 for a Mac OS X.3 upgrade CD. I did it with Mac OS X.1. You don't get the full version CD, just an upgrade CD.

 

[janey]

ya know there's something called archive and install. saves all your prefs, home folder, apps, etc. except for the base system.

 

[mklos]

Its best to just wipe the drive out and start clean. You'll be better off in the long run!

 

[bankshot]

Originally posted by übergeek
ya know there's something called archive and install. saves all your prefs, home folder, apps, etc. except for the base system.

I agree with this. Archive & Install has all of the benefits of Erase & Install (clean installation, no cruft from the old version) without the hassles (you don't have to backup your data and re-create accounts/settings). Definitely the only way to go!

As for the question of upgrade discs, yes, the $19.95 Panther upgrade CDs are technically "upgrade" only. They can do any of the three install methods (Archive, Erase, Upgrade), but they WILL NOT RUN if there's not a previous version of OS X on your machine. That's the only difference - the upgrade CD checks for a previous version, the regular one does not. Other than that, both have the same full installer.

If you wipe the disk clean before upgrading, you will have to install Jaguar first, which is a pain. If you must wipe, then just do it from the upgrade CD (but again I recommend Archive & Install over this if possible).