Weird, quirky 15" MacBook pro

[iGaryMonnecka]

Hello all-
My friend recently purchased a 15" MacBook pro for college. The wierd thing is that random apps close very abruptly, and now refuses to shut down. We are going to reload the OS but I have a simple question. Is there anything built into the mac that will preserve songs, program, virtually everything on the mac, but switch it over to a fresh install of OS X?

Any help is much appreciated,
Gary

 

[Jocelyn84]

http://www.apple.com/macosx/what-is-macosx/time-machine.html

Load it during the install setup, not after

 

[iGaryMonnecka]

THanks very much! I didn't know that time machine had that functionality.

 

[Jocelyn84]

Yes. Assuming you have an external hard drive, format it to hfs+. then back it up via Time Machine. When you get into installation mode, click Utilities (up top), then select restore from time machine

 

[iGaryMonnecka]

Bu you're sure that the data will be copied over onto a COMPLETELY fresh install of OS X? Because Im pretty sure the problem is that her OS is somehow corrupt.

 

[kryptonianjorel]

You might want to try an archive and install. It will probably save you a good bit of time (no need to back up anything). Basically, you pop the leopard disc in and boot from it, choose the archive and install option, and the System is reinstalled, where all of your personal files and apps are never touched. Best thing is, if for some reason you find that you're missing something, the OS saved the old system in a folder that you can access, and delete once you're sure everything is present.

Works great, I had to do it myself after I messed with some system stuff I shouldn't have