Resolved Yosemite clean install? Do you need to?

[HaruAoki]

Hello, since the Apple Event is coming up soon and we might get a date for the of Yosemite lunch, do you think a clean install is needed for the new OS or can you just install it over the old one with out issue.

Also before installing if it a clean install is not done is it best to do a Disk Utility cheek of the computer.

Thanks for your time and have a great day.

 

[Apple_Robert]

If you are running Mavericks and haven't had any problems, you should be able to upgrade over Mavericks to Yosemite. If you have been having problems with the OS or have been running Yosemite betas, it it probably best to do a clean install of Yosemite, in my opinion.

If you want to use disk utility to check for any HD problems ahead of time, that is fine although there typically isn't a need to do that.

 

[stringent]

As I've been doing the betas (installed on main home laptop) I'll be doing a clean install. Gives me a chance to start afresh. Will have a Time Machine Backup though in case all goes wrong!

 

[n-evo]

I've always been doing Erase & Installs when a new OS X version is released. So many friends of mine run into weird and unexpected behaviour after upgrading that are gone after erasing their Macs and making a fresh start. It spent more time trying to fix things after an upgrade than the time it takes to erase and reinstall everything.

 

[ABC5S]

Me....Always a fresh clean install.

 

[Bending Pixels]

Me....Always a fresh clean install.

Ditto - leftover habit from using WinDoze for way too long

 

[SandboxGeneral]

Since joining the Mac world with Tiger, 10.4, I've always just upgraded over top of the existing OS and never had any issues yet. I know some people do have issues, but I think most do not.

Now when it comes to Windows, I always do a clean install.

 

[philipk]

You might know the old saying, "Three on a match" which means it is bad luck to light three cigarettes from the same match.

I feel similar about operating systems. Even though it is probably safe, I will only upgrade one time. The next time it is a clean install.

A clean install is also a good way to get rid of old files. When I do a clean install I do not use a backup to reinstall the software as do that from scratch. I use iCloud to restore passwords and whatever it restores. I use Dropbox and OneDrive to restore my files.

One upgrade is safe if you are not having problems.

 

[psik]

Hello, since the Apple Event is coming up soon and we might get a date for the of Yosemite lunch, do you think a clean install is needed for the new OS or can you just install it over the old one with out issue.

Also before installing if it a clean install is not done is it best to do a Disk Utility cheek of the computer.

Thanks for your time and have a great day.

Clean install

 

[tekboi]

Yeah, I like to do a fresh install with new OS's the only thing I hate is how it screws up my bootcamp partition.

 

[DSeeker]

Since joining the Mac world with Tiger, 10.4, I've always just upgraded over top of the existing OS and never had any issues yet. I know some people do have issues, but I think most do not.

The "Clean Install" is almost a religious rite in the OS X world. For some reason, people who trust Apple engineers to be able to write an operating system don't trust them to be able to write a system updater. I don't understand it. I came into OS X at 10.0 and haven't done a clean install since.

I've hopped back and forth between the PB and DP tracks and will still be doing a simple update. If it ain't broke...

 

[Weaselboy]

The "Clean Install" is almost a religious rite in the OS X world. For some reason, people who trust Apple engineers to be able to write an operating system don't trust them to be able to write a system updater. I don't understand it. I came into OS X at 10.0 and haven't done a clean install since.

I've hopped back and forth between the PB and DP tracks and will still be doing a simple update. If it ain't broke...

Agreed. The way OS X updates now is like the old archive and install where with the exception of files in the User space, you are essentially getting a clean OS install when you upgrade install.

I can see the clean install for people that installed a bunch of junk utilities and such and don't know how to get rid of them I suppose.

 

[phillytim]

Heck I even consider doing a full combo update (on the 10.X.2, 10.X.3, etc. releases) to be practically a clean install in of itself. That blasts down fresh OS files as they should be.

The 2nd next best thing to a clean install, for most intents and purposes, really is to delete your user account and create a new one (and then restore back your user docs/pix/etc. files).

I agree that clean wiped installs in this Mac/*nix world are unnecessary for the majority of times; the majority of user opinions on this have been so tainted by the necessary reinstalls of Windows over the past couple decades.

 

[SandboxGeneral]

The "Clean Install" is almost a religious rite in the OS X world. For some reason, people who trust Apple engineers to be able to write an operating system don't trust them to be able to write a system updater. I don't understand it. I came into OS X at 10.0 and haven't done a clean install since.

I've hopped back and forth between the PB and DP tracks and will still be doing a simple update. If it ain't broke...

Agreed. The way OS X updates now is like the old archive and install where with the exception of files in the User space, you are essentially getting a clean OS install when you upgrade install.

I can see the clean install for people that installed a bunch of junk utilities and such and don't know how to get rid of them I suppose.

It makes perfect sense to me. As I mentioned, I've never had a single upgrade issue since Tiger.

 

[campyguy]

I've installed the latest build on two rMBPs, both over a Mavericks install. Yosemite has been working fine on both Macs, but I've had issues with one of them related to the DP and GM installers creating a Logical Group - the GM installer created a revertible Logical Group out of the single-partition drive and getting it "restored" was not as simple as it should have been IMO. Because of the issues related to the installers creating a Logical Drive, I'm leaning toward a wipe and install - I'd like to not have "sh** happens" turn into "sh** happened"...

I'm waiting to see what the actual release installer looks like, and I'm aware that there's going to likely be a firmware installer as well (from tywebbooooo's posts in the dev forums) - for which Macs, I don't know yet. My second Mac's drive was never partitioned and seems to be running perfectly. I'd err toward a simple upgrade for most recent installs, but for partitioned drives I'm going to watch them closely and lean toward a clean install if one shows up as a Logical Group drive when it shouldn't be...

 

[HaruAoki]

Thank you for your help.

Thanks everyone for your time and help in answering my question. Have a great day.

 

[bakron1]

Since joining the Mac world with Tiger, 10.4, I've always just upgraded over top of the existing OS and never had any issues yet. I know some people do have issues, but I think most do not.



Now when it comes to Windows, I always do a clean install.

I to have always upgraded over the top of my existing OS and haven't had any issues. I do read the compatibility recommendations before I do any major OS upgrade, just good common sense as far as I am concerned.

 

[roland.g]

I will do an upgrade on my Mavericks iMac from last year. On my MacBook Air I have messed with a lot of stuff in the firewall and other places that I wanted to restore, so I will update today and in the next few weeks wipe and clean install. I personally hate the task of reinstalling all the software, etc. that required serials, etc. to complete. And backing up data that isn't cloud based, etc.

 

[thatJohann]

How do I do a clean install of Yosemite? I'm on the betas and my iMac is super slow. Do I just download installer? Or is it through disk utility?

 

[SR 7]

how do you do a fresh install? You delete everything thats scary?

 

[tom vilsack]

How do I do a clean install of Yosemite? I'm on the betas and my iMac is super slow. Do I just download installer? Or is it through disk utility?

The easy way is to do this...

-Download Yosemite,when done quite the installer (do not click continue)
-Download Diskmaker X (google it) and get version 4.0b2 (to use you must be on osx higher then snow leopard)
-Put in a usb stick 8g or higher and using disk utility erase and call it Untitled 1
-Now run Diskmaker X and let it make your bootable Yosemite usb stick
-Once done reboot holding down "alt" and pick usb and off you go.....

 

[deviant]

the easier way is copy/paste terminal

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app --nointeraction

where usb drive name is Untitled. done.

 

[SR 7]

is there a higher risk of disk crashing or losing items via clean install?
Not sure what the purpose is that makes it more beneficial

 

[SandboxGeneral]

the easier way is copy/paste terminal

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app --nointeraction

where usb drive name is Untitled. done.

I did that with an external USB 3 connection and a Samsung 830 SSD, just so I could have the installer if I need it.

is there a higher risk of disk crashing or losing items via clean install?
Not sure what the purpose is that makes it more beneficial

There is no more, or less, risk for a disk crash doing an upgrade or a clean install. If there is a problem with the disk, it will be present regardless of how you install OS X.

 

[Brian Y]

The "Clean Install" is almost a religious rite in the OS X world. For some reason, people who trust Apple engineers to be able to write an operating system don't trust them to be able to write a system updater. I don't understand it. I came into OS X at 10.0 and haven't done a clean install since.

I've hopped back and forth between the PB and DP tracks and will still be doing a simple update. If it ain't broke...

I used to be a believer of this, until I was bored one day and tested it for myself. I installed 10.9 in a VM, clean install. I then installed 10.6 in a second VM, and upgraded it all the way to 10.9. The clean installed vm was noticeably more responsive, even though I hadn't actually done anything with the other one other than upgrade the OS.

----------

how do you do a fresh install? You delete everything thats scary?

Not really. I can do a clean install of my machines in maybe an hour or so, excluding actual installation time.