[bergy]

I've made the big purchase and am excited about moving up to Panther. Right now I am running 10.2.8 on my year old iBook. I would like to do an archive and install.
Other than backing up important data, does any one have any tips I should consider before I do it .. or is it a no brainer? Thanks ..

[i_wolf]

hmmm... im not trying to be smart... trying to be helpful. But ... I think you would be far better served to back up your existing iBook files folders etc... and then go and do a clean install of Panther when you get it.
Not only is it meant to be slightly faster running than if you had archived and installed since you are getting a clean install... but it also installs a hell of a lot quicker.
i tried an archive and install on a mates machine and i was surprised that it was nearly 5 or 6 times longer to install than just a fresh clean install.
In the mean time, if you are awaiting the arrival of your panther discs from Apple, i reckon you should go and download the x.3.2 update from the apple website www.apple.com/download and have it ready (its over 20 megs) so at least its there and ready when you get panther finally installed and you are not doing software updates all night!
Best of luck. Hope it goes well for you.
rgs i_wolf

[bbales]

I did an archive and install on my 12-in PB and everything went extremely well. There were no difficulties. Internet settings were maintained.

In contrast, I did a clean install on my desktop and while installation went fine, getting everything back up and running and in the right spot has been a pain. I copied stuff back from an external hard drive and have run into numerous permission errors. I'm about to reinstall Photoshop, b/c it's acting strangely.

Unless you have a good reason (I wanted to repartiion my drive, which is why I did the clean istall) I'd do the archive method.

But that's just my 2 cents...

And write down your Internet/network settings!!!

[Simon]

Originally posted by bbales:
In contrast, I did a clean install on my desktop and while installation went fine, getting everything back up and running and in the right spot has been a pain. I copied stuff back from an external hard drive and have run into numerous permission errors.

Permission issues can be solved easily! IMHO backup & clean install is the best option by far: fast, safe and simple.

About the permissions: When you copy back stuff like the user directory from backup all you have to do is set the new user's ownership recursively. So, first copy back and then set ownership right like this:

% sudo ditto -v -rsrcFork /Volumes/Backup/Users/joe_old /Users/joe_new/

% sudo chown -R joe_new:admin /Users/joe_new

Of course joe_old and joe_new can be the same username.

I do this regularly when I have to update a system and it works fine for all documents, settings, etc. (some apps need to be installed and can't just be copied back, but mostly you know which ones and can handle those seperately).

It works best if you install a new system, create a dummy user which you use to log into. Then copy back all the "real" users, set ownership (like above) and log out. Now you can log back in as the "real" user, and delete the dummy user account. Eveything should be the way it was before you backep up. Speaking of which, for backing up I highly recommend CCC.

A more in-depth guide to this procedure I wrote some time ago can be found here.

Good luck.

[echosphere]

I would recommend a clean install.

seriously, even Apple has officially acknowledged that there can be issuues if you do an Archive and Install. I don't have the link, but there was issues with Java 1.4.1 that didn't update properly, so apple had to release a fix for those affected.

Also, Simon, some of things you suggest seems to circumvent the whole reason to do a clean install. Can't say I agree with most of your suggestions.

[Simon]

Originally posted by echosphere:
Also, Simon, some of things you suggest seems to circumvent the whole reason to do a clean install. Can't say I agree with most of your suggestions.

I don't see how.

Unless maybe, the prefs and ~/Library issue. If you look at my more detailed guide you will see that I also talk about only getting back documents, but not the prefs. That's more appropriate for people who are afraid of "damaged" prefs.

Otherwise you still get all the benefits of a clean system w/o the hassle of manually copying back GBs of data in the Finder.

[echosphere]

My apologies Simon. Didn't see that part about prefs in your guide.

Actually had Halo prefs messing up my USBOverdrive prefs. Took me forever to realize what was going on till I trashed them.

[Simon]

Originally posted by echosphere:
My apologies Simon. Didn't see that part about prefs in your guide.

No problem.

I actually normally don't copy back the prefs as a whole but more on a one-by-one basis. Takes more time, but it works. I have basically no problems with my OS X Macs. Especially compared to some of the other bugs, crashes, freezes, KP's etc. I hear about in other threads...

[suthercd]

Unplug all peripherals except your mouse- turn off any login items. Move pref panes and contextual menu items out of their folder. Re-boot and make sure you have a "virgin" boot.

Craig