Would a Time Machine restore keep all my software licensing and serial #s intact?

[NXTMIKE]

Well my Mac is experiencing some problems which I won't get into and it's getting a bit laggy so I'm considering doing a fresh install of SL. But my question is if I were to restore it to my Time Machine backup, would it put all the applications back to their previous state on my mac and maintain software registration and stuff. Because it would be a pain to go and find all my lost serial numbers again.

Thanks.

 

[celticpride678]

It should.

 

[tofagerl]

Well my Mac is experiencing some problems which I won't get into and it's getting a bit laggy so I'm considering doing a fresh install of SL. But my question is if I were to restore it to my Time Machine backup, would it put all the applications back to their previous state on my mac and maintain software registration and stuff. Cause it would be a pain to go and find all my lost serial numbers again.

Thanks.

Well, yes. But if you did a full time machine copy, you might bring with you a lot of the problems you have now, so it might not be worth it.

Try it, but if the problems resurface, I would just wipe the drive again and install all your stuff manually. It's a few hours work, but do it with the radio on in the background and it won't be so bad.

//Does this rather a lot...

 

[stridemat]

Well, yes. But if you did a full time machine copy, you might bring with you a lot of the problems you have now, so it might not be worth it.

Try it, but if the problems resurface, I would just wipe the drive again and install all your stuff manually. It's a few hours work, but do it with the radio on in the background and it won't be so bad.

//Does this rather a lot...

I had exactly that problem when I restored from my Time Machine Backup. I wish there was a simple way to choose the time/ date that you want to restore back from when doing a complete reinstall.

 

[Nermal]

When I did a TM restore, some licensing settings (such as iTunes authorisation) were not restored.

 

[jrlcopy]

I'm about to do this same thing this weekend. Bought a new hard drive that hopefully will extend my macbook's life long enough till when the i7's come into the macbook pros. My OSX install is most def needs a fresh start so debating either doing a fresh install or restoring from time machine backup.

I guess it sucks that I loose all my time machine data and will have to really dig if I ever need something. But on the plus side, a faster working machine. .

 

[NXTMIKE]

thanks guys for all the help so far. but I'm starting to gravely remember that I'd have to take another 1-2 hours installing Leopard first, then Snow Leopard because I purchased the $29 update SL disc only.

So if I'd do it, it'd be a whole day long activity for me.

I'm also going to be stopping by the Genius Bar this weekend to get some answers to some of my problems and I'll ask them about this there too.

 

[devburke]

thanks guys for all the help so far. but I'm starting to gravely remember that I'd have to take another 1-2 hours installing Leopard first, then Snow Leopard because I purchased the $29 update SL disc only.

So if I'd do it, it'd be a whole day long activity for me.

I'm also going to be stopping by the Genius Bar this weekend to get some answers to some of my problems and I'll ask them about this there too.

You do not have to install Leopard first! Lots of people were saying you did without knowing what they were talking about, but trust me, it’s a waste of time. I wiped my HD clean and installed SL from the upgrade disc. It works just like any other OS installation disc. The “upgrade” part is just the license. You’re not licensed to use it unless you already owned Leopard. But the disc itself doesn’t check for Leopard.

 

[Nermal]

You can install 10.6 on an empty hard drive and do not need to install 10.5 first.

 

[NXTMIKE]

You can install 10.6 on an empty hard drive and do not need to install 10.5 first.

You do not have to install Leopard first! Lots of people were saying you did without knowing what they were talking about, but trust me, it’s a waste of time. I wiped my HD clean and installed SL from the upgrade disc. It works just like any other OS installation disc. The “upgrade” part is just the license. You’re not licensed to use it unless you already owned Leopard. But the disc itself doesn’t check for Leopard.

oh ok thanks for telling me this.

 

[devburke]

oh ok thanks for telling me this.

Plus, I just installed Leopard on my dad’s friend’s G5 a couple weeks after installing Snow Leopard on my own MacBook, so I had a fresh comparison, and the SL install is a lot faster. So not installing both should cut your time by more than half.