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upgrading to Tiger

twoodcc

twoodcc

macrumors P6
Original poster
Feb 3, 2005
15,307
26
Right side of wrong
i just got my Tiger DVD in the mail, and i'm about to upgrade from Panther, but i had a few questions.

Will i lose any of my currently installed programs? files? anything?
 
Before making any major installations, like a system upgrade, it's always a good idea to have complete backup of all those files you cannot afford to loose (basically all data as applications are possible to reinstall).

When you have backup you can proceed to install Tiger. You will be given three options, and you find much consensus here at MR that Upgrade is a bad idea (nothing but trouble), and that Erase and Install is overkill (unless you're in need of a spring cleaning). Go with the Archive and Install, that will give you a fresh system without touching your data or 3rd party applications (well some might be moved, but you'll find it in the Previous Systems folder, which you can delete once you're sure everything is working).

Remember to repair permissions before you start (and when you're finished) and be sure to check out Tigers custom install options: Many GBs of space to free up by avoiding Languages and Printer Drivers you know you never going to need.

Good Luck! :)
 
No, no... you need separate backup, just in case anything goes wrong... and they do from time to time...

However, the A&I will not delete any of your data or 3rd party applications, if all goes well. So with a bit of luck you will never need the backup.

But, as I said above, never perform any large installations without current backup, the risk is too big for a hiccup to occur... and without backup that may cause you to loose all your data.

Also, backup is nice to have, on a general basis. You never know when your HD will crash beyond repair, your computer will be stolen, there might be a fire, etc... you get the point. There's an axiom that goes something like: Everybody will loose all their data at least once in their life. And if you don't have backup those data are lost forever. :)
 
so what's the best way to backup everything? is there a backup option that compresses everything? what about programs? is there any install files?
 
u can backthings up on cds, dvds, external hds, or flsh drives. basically just drag and drop ur important folder and files on the backup device or disc. good luck!
 
I just installed Tiger over 10.3.9 on my PowerBook. Straight upgrade. No problems whatsoever. I'm not sure why anyone thinks this can't be done.
 
twoodcc said:
did you lose any programs? have to reinstall anything? will i lose ilife?
Click to expand...

If you do a straight upgrade you lose nothing. Everything stays the same except the OS is upgraded. An archive and install will have the same effect, but the old OS is retained as a backup, and any extensions you might have added to the old OS, such as printer drivers, will have to be reinstalled. The truly paranoid may want to take this route, but for my time and money, it's just too much of a hassle, so I just do normal upgrades. This has not caused me any problems -- ever. I realize my experience isn't universal, and I honestly don't know why some people have such awful problems with this and others like me have none. Clean living, I guess. :)

Backing up first is always good advice. So is repairing permissions before and after. In fact this is good advice whether you are upgrading the OS or not! Another measure to consider if you are worried and have a large enough external drive is to clone your entire boot drive as a backup. You'll need Carbon Copy Cloner or a similar application. That way, if something terrible happens you can restore the drive completely.
 
twoodcc said:
did you lose any programs? have to reinstall anything? will i lose ilife?
Click to expand...

I was in the same boat as you. You have two options:

- Regular Install - NOT recommended, as it may cause some extra bugs to crop up.

- Archive and Install - This shrink-wraps Panther and puts it away into Macintosh HD/Previous System Folders/ It should leave everyything - settings, programs, etc. intact. However, in case something goes wrong with your install, you may need to wipe your hard drive (this is very rare, obviously). Therefore, you may want to back up your important stuff before you install (I didn't, but It's probably a good idea). Don't bother backing up apps, its impossible to find all of the resources. Instead, make sure you have the discs for all of your apps in case something goes wrong. iLife and other software that came with your computer but isn't on the Tiger DVD is on a recovery disc that came with your Mac.
 
Other Notes

Oh yeah,

- Repair permissions using Disk Utility before installing
- Delete "Previous System Folders" on Macintosh HD after installing, otherwise you'll have two copies of everything!
 
what if you have more than 1/2 your hard drive filled? If that's the case can you still do an archive & install? Seems like there wouldn't be enough space.

(I plan to upgrade in the near future so this thread caught my eye)
 
You don't need more than 3 or 4 GB free to do a (typical) Archive and Install (in addition to the 5-6 GB free HD space you need to prevent OS X to go into a complete slowdown). It's just selected parts of the (old) system that's preserved in the Previous Systems folder.

The Tiger installer will tell you exactly how much space is needed for whatever options you choose (installation type and customization).
 
i do have about half of my 80 GB harddrive filled. i think i'm just going to repair permissions and then do an upgrade.

another quick question: can you boot from an external hard-drive?
 
Mitthrawnuruodo said:
You don't need more than 3 or 4 GB free to do a (typical) Archive and Install (in addition to the 5-6 GB free HD space you need to prevent OS X to go into a complete slowdown). It's just selected parts of the (old) system that's preserved in the Previous Systems folder.

The Tiger installer will tell you exactly how much space is needed for whatever options you choose (installation type and customization).
Click to expand...

Thanks. It sounded form other post that everything (music/pics/apps/etc...) is copied into the archive, but it sounds like that's not actually the case. Also good that the installer gives that info to you.
 
twoodcc said:
i do have about half of my 80 GB harddrive filled. i think i'm just going to repair permissions and then do an upgrade.

another quick question: can you boot from an external hard-drive?
Click to expand...

Sure, you can boot from an external drive -- if the system is installed on it of course. Just select it in the Starup Disk control panel and reboot.
 
well i finally upgraded to tiger, and it wasn't an easy process. first of all, i couldn't upgrade from panther. when i tried it just said "installation error" and i got the same on archive and install. so i was stuck doing an erase and install. i did it, but the external harddrive i had to backup my stuff was like usb1.1, so it was very very slow moving 30 gb of data to it. now i have to install everything again. but i did buy an external harddrive (300 gb, seagate, firewire) which i installed tiger on and now i boot on it. do you think it's faster than my internal harddrive?

is a 7200 8mb firewire harddrive faster than 4200?
 
well i just installed the bundled software and now i have 2 garageband icons and 2 imovie icons in my dock, and i don't have idvd in my dock? or iphoto? any ideas?
 
well something really weird happened. after i transferred my stuff from my external drive, while i was at my house (now i'm at my college dorm) all my songs didn't have any ratings and stuff anymore. but now that i'm back at my dorm and i'm hooked up to the internet, some how magically everything is back like it was?!
 
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