[reemas]

i wanted to wipe my hard drive clean and install a fresh copy of os x 10.3.5 on my powerbook (1.5ghz 15").

i have several apps that i do not know how to "back up" or retain vital files of, so i thought i'd post here.

how do i save all the data in:
mail
iphoto
safari

any suggestions to make re importing the data after the format would be mosst appreciated.

[Detrius]

what kind of medium are you backing up onto?

If you retain your home directory intact, then those apps should be fine.

[yukon]

Most everything is in your home folder, maybe back up your /library as well in case you've installed system things (or just look through it).

I've done this a few times, and every time I notice .app files that seem to break and give errors (-32, -34, or -36 ISTR) when copied on uncorrupted drives, it's very annoying ;-). I'll be doing this soon (as soon as mac SATA controllers support NCQ, or 10.4, whichever comes first), anyone know why that happens?

[reemas]

im thinking about backing it up to dvd-r discs as well as my new WD hard drive. i basically want to wipe my powerbook's drive clean, and reinstall my apps and reload all my important data, like mail, bookmarks, etc etc.

if i back up my home directory, do i just copy it over the new one? that seems like i'l run into problems later. i just want select data back, (safari info, iphoto, mail, address book)

[yukon]

I used to back up to CDRW, admittedly it wasn't very reliable....after a few burns, I began to notice actual burns on the media (dark spots, spots of data loss ;-). I don't know about the reliability of DVD-R, but you might want to concider a remote-network backup or a firewire drive. I never lose files, but I'm also kinda crazy about it ;-)

Importing, hmm. I belive mail.app has an import function, I'm sure it can import mail.app mailboxes. I don't use iPhoto. Safari, what, bookmarks? Clearing out Safari might be a good idea from a privacy point of view, the bookmarks should be in a seperate file you can just move in later to your new user folder.

I've had no problems moving old files into a new user. I didn't copy the whole thing over as a new user, I simply copied over the preferences and program folders that I knew had settings I wanted to keep, like ~/library/mail. Better to clear out old stuff anyway. Before you reinstall, you might want to try "moving" to a new user, make a new name , copy your stuff over to it so you know how to do it, and have the old user still there in case of a mistake.

[Detrius]

Originally posted by reemas:
im thinking about backing it up to dvd-r discs as well as my new WD hard drive. i basically want to wipe my powerbook's drive clean, and reinstall my apps and reload all my important data, like mail, bookmarks, etc etc.

if i back up my home directory, do i just copy it over the new one? that seems like i'l run into problems later. i just want select data back, (safari info, iphoto, mail, address book)

What I would recommend is use Carbon Copy Cloner to image your entire drive over to your new WD hard drive. Then, selectively copy stuff back. That way, if you miss something you need, you still have it on the WD.

[Dr. Smoke]

Hi, reemas.

I agree with the advice that you duplicate your current hard drive to your new WD drive, which I am presuming here is a FireWire Drive.

Carbon Copy Cloner is OK, but if you want to really implement a comprehensive backup and recovery solution -- a good idea for all personal computer users -- I recommend Dantz's Retrospect Desktop Backup for Mac. This is the state-of-the-art in Mac backup and recovery. It is at the heart of my comprehensive Backup and Recovery solution.

For example: Retrospect can perform incremental backups, scheduled backups, scripted backups, backup to any media (nice for archiving completed projects to DVD), and more. Incremental backups, and the ability to archive to any media are worth the difference and the price.

Assuming you duplicate or clone your current hard drive, here are some tips for moving things from the duplicate to the new startup disk you're building.

1. Set up accounts on the new drive with the same names and passwords as on the old drive, then copy the data from the contents of the Home folders on the old drive to the corresponding folders on the corresponding accounts on the new drive. For example, copy the contents of the Documents folder from a given account's Home folder on the duplicate to the Documents folder within the Home folder of this account on the new startup disk.

2. Where it gets tricky is in dealing with the Home > Library folder for each account on the old drive. Files to copy from the Home > Library folder of accounts on the old to the Home > Library folders of accounts on the new drive can include:

- Application Support, particularly the Address Book folder therein.
- Calendars
- Cookies
- Favorites
- Fonts (Copy the contents here: any fonts you have installed herein)
- Mail
- Keychains (note: this may be problematic)
- Safari
- Spelling
- StickiesDatabase (if you use Stickies)

Good luck with your new system!

Note that some of the information above is from the Moving to a New Mac chapter of my book, Troubleshooting Mac® OS X, Second Edition.

[reemas]

wow thanks for one of the most excellent comprehensive replies!!