reinstalling OS X

[hilliap]

Hi..fairly new to the Mac world. I want to reinstall Tiger (and the Leopard upgrade) due to some funky things going on with the Mac (screen saver sometimes freezes when trying to 'wake' the Mac, drags images across the screen, color wheel keeps on spinning, etc).

Since I was used to Windows, I would (at this point) just reinstall the OS after backing up everything.

How do I make sure I back up everything that I need to (movies, music, pics, etc)? I have time capsule, but I feel if I back up to, say, Oct 08, I lose all the pics I've loaded since then.

I have a 24" iMac, 2.4 Intel duo 2. I've had it for about a year and a half.

thanks

 

[BlueRevolution]

So you mean you want to roll back to Tiger? In that case, you won't be able to restore from a Time Machine backup.

 

[Cave Man]

Yeah, this isn't clear. It sounds as though you believe you have to install Tiger before Leopard, which is not the case. You can clean install Leopard, then use Migration Assistant to get your files back.

 

[raziel777]

Unless he only has the upgrade disk and not the full version. The upgrade disk says you have to have 10.4 installed on your computer before you can install leopard.

 

[Cave Man]

Really? I've never seen such a thing before (except for a version of Mac OS 8.5).

 

[raziel777]

Really? I've never seen such a thing before (except for a version of Mac OS 8.5).

There around. Friend had one when he got his macbook back in 2007.
First time I had seen one. Think it was some kind of promo. or something.

 

[flopticalcube]

There around. Friend had one when he got his macbook back in 2007.
First time I had seen one. Think it was some kind of promo. or something.

Drop in disks just around Leopard release?

 

[r.j.s]

Drop in disks just around Leopard release?

Yes. Although I've heard there is a way to bypass the check for Tiger.

 

[Cave Man]

Yes. Although I've heard there is a way to bypass the check for Tiger.

Right, right. I forgot about those.

 

[JustGretchen]

Yes, there should be a way to bypass the check on a drop-in disk. Google it.

 

[IJ Reilly]

You should try to find out what is wrong instead of reinstalling. That was the Windows solution to everything, not the Mac solution.

 

[hilliap]

yes, the Leopard disk is an upgrade disk, not the full version, which is why I assumed that I need to install Tiger first, then Leopard.

As for finding out what is causing the issues....the issues gradually came about, not after I downloaded/installed anything in particular. Any ideas on first step of troubleshooting?

 

[IJ Reilly]

Start by describing the symptoms more completely.