[Ti] reformatting question

[Dennis Fazio]

--On Tuesday, January 27, 2004 11:33 AM -0800 T Molnar <tam at em.ca> wrote:

[...]
>
> 1. Is it better to reinstall all 3rd party app software separately or can I
> clone this tibook drive (i have cross over internet cable) on my Emac and
> drag applications  back over from my Emac once I have a new system?

It's better to reinstall since some apps may place files in various places. 
Most of your installs will be simple drags to the Application folder.
>
> 2.  Even if I install totally new 3rd party app's how do I go about
> bringing things like my files in Imovie, iphoto, mail etc...back on to my
> tibook from my Emac.  Can I drag particular folders back to the tibook
> which will have all the source files for these things?

These should all be in your home directory. You should back that up 
completely before reformatting and then restore it. All your application and 
system preferences are stored there.
>
> I am particularly worried about losing all my email address info, other
> things I can burn to dvd I suppose and cd as needed.

That should all be in your home directory folder.
>
> 3.  I have a lot of app's that are downloads with passwords, is it possible
> to drag specific folders over that will keep the passwords intact so I
> don't have to re input them all.  I have a lot.

Not sure what this means. If you mean you need a password to download the 
application again, you should have a record of that so you can download again 
and reinstall.


Reinstalling Panther is a very big and time consuming job if you have a lot 
of applications and customizations. To ease the pain in the future:

1. Get an external firewire disk for backup. Consider it mandatory and part 
of the cost of your system. One of the portable bus-powered ones are really 
nice and recommended, but you can get a desktop model with more storage for 
less $$ that will work just as well. Some day down the road your internal 
disk will crash and become completely unusable and all your data will be 
forever unavailable. Count on it.

2. Partition your internal disk (and external backup disk) into System and 
Home Directory volumes. You'll need 8GB minimum and preferably 12 or more 
depending upon the number of Apps you have.  That way you can reformat the 
System volume and reinstall if necessary without touching your home directory 
files. 12GB or more will also give you room to do a future archive and 
install for 10.4, etc. Additionally, the separate partitions allow you to 
mess with your home directory volume without having to reinstall the system. 
I use NetInfo to reset my home directory location, but there are other ways 
like symbolic links which may or may not work as well.

3. When you have a stable OS working with all Applications configured and 
running OK, make a clone on your firewire disk. Then, you can reformat your 
system volume and clone back the working system. No need to reinstall again. 
I use the commercial Tri-backup, but Carbon Copy Cloner and several other 
freeware/shareware choices work well also. Test your clone by booting from it 
after creation.

4. NEVER EVER update your OS or install apps that mess with the system 
(kernel extensions, etc.) without first cloning it to the external disk. If 
the update screws up your system, wipe it and clone back the previous working 
version. No need to reinstall again.


The key here is get yourself in a position that you never have to reinstall 
again. Backup or clone your well-running system prior to any significant 
changes and run for a while to verify good operation before making another 
clone and significant change. If you have any doubts that your system is 
causing intermittant problems, it's a one-hour or less job to wipe and 
restore from backup to verify if that was the case, rather than a whole day 
or weekend slogging through downloads, CDs and installs.  I've been there 
many times; don't want to go there again. Good luck.

-- 
Dennis Fazio
dfz at mac.com