[X4U] iMac dead?

[Christopher Collins]

On 16/01/2008, at 1:54 AM, Mary C. Youra wrote:

>
> On Jan 14, 2008, at 11:18 PM, Christopher Collins wrote:
>
>> If one assumes that the hard disk is failing as you suggest, then  
>> just installing Leopard will not resolve that problem.
>
> No no, Christopher--I'd been prepared for that, but the hard disk  
> appears to be okay, at least, according to Diskwarrior,  
> SMARTReporter and the Mac shop.

on a PC I could give you a program to verify the stability of the HDD,  
but I haven't found an equivalent for the Mac yet. Only a new switcher  
to Mac OS X. It sounds like the disk might be ok tho.

>
>> <snip>
>> If the hard disk isn't failing, then why not just do a complete  
>> "erase and install"? I would have tried that long before now.
>
> Before I took it to the Mac shop, we had tried to do that, and got  
> as far as Erase, as far as we knew. At that point, however, the  
> volume didn't show up as available, so we were unable to Install.  
> That's when I took it to the shop, thinking it was the hard drive,  
> but they say it's not. The invoice says they repaired the  
> crosslinked files and directories, and reinstalled the os.  I can't  
> tell what kind of OS reinstall (I can't tell what kind--the invoice  
> says only "reinstall" and there is no "Previous" folder the way  
> there is with an Archive and Install).

If they did an install, I'm thinking that they did an upgrade install  
over what is there. There is a similar trick under XP. Fix any disk  
problems and then install over the top to rewrite all the broken  
files. It sounds as if the repair bought back far more than was  
wanted, which can happen. Does it matter? Not really.
>
>
>> You appear to be spending more time than is necessary or sensible  
>> trying to avoid doing a clean install.
>> Copy the data off the drive, install your boot cd. reboot and do an  
>> "erase and install"
>> Then you can restore your data and applications.
>
> I'm really not trying to avoid a clean install--it's just that, as  
> you suggest, I need to copy the data and applications first, and  
> there are things I don't want to copy, like the previously deleted  
> users who were restored by the Mac shop. I don't want them in a  
> clone of the drive, but I do want all the applications. I use  
> SuperDuper for my own computer. Is there something else you would  
> suggest for this?

SuperDuper I've heard is very very good. The couple of times I have  
done it I have used Carbon Copy Cloner. I believe they are much of a  
muchness, six of one - a half dozen of the other. It really doesn't  
matter if you clone the whole disk (even with the data and users you  
don't want)  and copy it to the new one. You can be selective when you  
move the apps and data back. Although, I would suggest downloading the  
latest version of the apps and installing those to get any new bug  
fixes etc.
>
>
>> Much simpler, and in the end the best option if your hard disk is  
>> not faulty.
>> If the hard disk is faulty, then you will need to replace it and  
>> then do an "erase and install" anyways.
>
> This makes sense. My only question now is what will we be  
> installing--Tiger or Leopard. Why go to the time and effort of Erase  
> and Install of 10.4 and then running the combo updater for 10.4.11,  
> if soon she's installing Leopard?
>


The other thing is to boot off the CD, either Tiger or Leopard and go  
into Disk Utility from the menu and make sure you can see and create a  
partition there. Then you should be able to run your install.

Leopard is great. Tiger is great. You have Tiger disks I assume, so  
why not do the install with those and check that everything is working  
correctly? Don't bother upgrading anything or moving your data and  
apps back. Just install it to make sure everything is working  
correctly. Then if all is OK and nothing is showing up as silly or not  
right, you can purchase Leopard and do a complete erase and install.  
And then move your data and apps back from the cloned drive. Just  
ignore the data and users you don't want!