[Ti] reformatting question

[T Molnar]

Denis,
thanks for the advice,
makes sense.
cheers,
tim
On Jan 27, 2004, at 2:53 PM, Dennis Fazio wrote:

> --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.