Tips for re-installing the OS

I was active in the forums a while back when I designed my first mac system. Without these forums, I don't think I would have gone forward with the decision. In the last year I have installed a bunch of trial software, and tons of various apps as I learned what worked for me ( and what didn't ). I use appcleaner to remove all files when I uninstall software but have noticed a few glitches popping up over time and on occasion some of my adobe CC apps hang, which I think has something to do with having the CS6 trial stuff loaded at one point, but even after I removed them they seem to show up when I update the CC apps which is pretty odd and I think has something do do with the instability. I have had a variety of apps crash as well... not just adobe's.

Long story short, I just want to wipe the slate clean and reinstall a fresh version of the OS.

I have a full backup of my user's directory/documents. I am not concerned with that aspect of it as I know where the information is stored that I want to keep. Assuming I have a complete backup of my relevant data, I am just looking for some tips as far as how to go about the process of wiping the system and getting a fresh OSX install going. For instance, is it hard to get a current copy of OSX to install or how does that work?

I am currently running OSX 10.9.1

Thanks for any advice.

 

Its a mac mini 'late 2012' model.

I'm pretty sure a fresh install will solve my issues, I just want to clear up a few legacy items like the CS6 demo always trying to update the apps that are no longer installed (I tried a few solutions from the adobe forums to fix this without success) and a occasional issues with instability.

I also have a mountain of apps I tried that I dont use, such as MAMP which was a little trickier to uninstall as it configures the computer's localhost settings and I am not sure but I don't think I will be installing that again after moving forward as I never really started using it... but I think it affected the system a little.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4848

I found this page on the apple site about the recovery assistant. This looks like the direction I will need to take. Any tips in relation to using this recovery program?

edit- I also found this walk through. Any feedback on his approach?
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/clean-install-mountain-lion/

 

Thank you for directing me here. I am not trying to make it complicated, I am just not that familiar with OSX yet thus sought the advice of more experienced users before I made any changes.

As is, I am planning this about a week ahead of time as well, I am going to finish up any loose ends, very carefully backup my system ( to an external drive ) and then go for it when I can create some time to focus on this.

Also I do have internet connected, via ethernet cable. However, it is spotty here and the power frequently goes out, so downloading the new OS via internet, will probably work but does kind of make me worry. As long as I could restart the process.. I do remember the Mavericks update taking a fair amount of time to download. Thus, I may be interested in an alternative approach to relying on the internet to reinstall my OS.

 

This sounds like a very nice approach. Just to be clear in order to download the OS as you mention in the first step, it seems you go to the store and click purchases, the option click to download the package instead of installing it.

edit - I just went ahead and checked and actually the first option it offered me was to download it, I am doing so now.

I will post when I get this done. I just got a few new projects to knock out before I jump into this, it may be a week or two before I find a good stopping point to approach this project.

 

Very cool. I was downloading it earlier, it said it would take 5 hours and about 3 hours into it .. of course, middle of the day the power goes out. Going to try again but this is definitely the workflow I am going to pursue in order to get this done. Thank you for info as to where the file downloads to, as I was wondering where it was going to put the file. The diskmakerX util sounds like a really useful tool.