Reinstall advice needed

[MacKenzie999]

Hey everyone...
I upgraded to Mavericks about a month ago, and everything has been fine until recently. Quicktime developed some serious playback issues, both through the player and through apps like After Effects that rely on QT. Some troubleshooting has brought me to the conclusion that I need to do a clean install of Mavericks. I think I know what to do, but am maybe a five on the tech-savvy ten scale, so I want to make sure my plan is solid, plus I have a question.
1. My OS, Users and apps are on an SSD. I would clone this onto a spare usb HD using Super Duper. (I also have a usb HD with a clone of my previous MT Lion setup on it, created before I upgraded to Mavericks the first time, if that is at all helpful).
2. Reboot using Mavericks clone as startup.
3. Reformat SSD via Disk Utility
4. Clean install of Mavericks onto SSD via app store.
5. ?
The part I am shaky on is, how do I migrate all my user data (app prefs, mail, etc) from the clone to the newly minted mavericks SSD, which is to be my startup? Also, can I simply drag my apps from the cloned drive back onto the SSD? I am a video pro, so a lot of my apps like After Effects have many plugins installed, and doing a clean install of the aps, plus all the plugins, is kind of a nightmare for me.
Any and all help greatly appreciated!

 

[Weaselboy]

There is no easy way to do this. A true "clean install" involves erasing the drive and reinstalling the OS like you mentioned, but then a manual reinstall of all apps and data. There is no way to automate this.

Some simple apps can be just dragged over, but any app that uses an installer to install the app and its support files will need to be installed using the installer. Any MS or Adobe app will need to be reinstalled manually.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Weaselboy's right. It's an all-day job to do a clean install and re-install and setup of all apps.

Did you try a new User Account in the present system to see if the issues exist?

 

[robgendreau]

You don't necessarily have to use a clone. Just erase, reinstall system software, and then migrate from your TM backup. You could boot from a USB stick with Mavericks on it, check around for instructions on that.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5856?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Handy to have around in any event.

Since you don't know what your problem is, rolling the dice with an erase and reinstallation of the system, and then manual reinstallation of applications and data probably has as much chance of success as an erase, reinstallation and migration. Adobe products cannot be copied back, BTW. You'll either have to migrate them or reinstall from your DVDs or downloads.

Since you're erasing anyway, I'd try migrating first, since it would be faster than manually reinstalling everything, and safer.

 

[Weaselboy]

You don't necessarily have to use a clone. Just erase, reinstall system software, and then migrate from your TM backup. You could boot from a USB stick with Mavericks on it, check around for instructions on that.

Thing is if you use the Migration Assistant after a clean install, it just reimports all the cruft the clean install was intended to get rid of and defeats the purpose.

The only way to do a true clean install is to erase and reinstall the OS, then manually reinstall all apps and data.