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immsav · May 21, 2003, 04:56 PM

So in a few days I'm making the move to the real world of work from the (um...) fake world of college, and I'm thinking about making a fresh start with my iBook. Specifically, I'm considering wiping the HD clean and reinstalling X, my favorite apps, music, etc.

Of course, I've got heaps of questions about this:

1. Should I really go through with it? Actually, I just want to get rid of all the miscellaneous documents, shareware, and sundry crap I've saved all over my hard disk... What are my alternatives to reformat, reinstall?

2. Where are the files I want to back up? Obviously, I want to back up my email messages, bookmarks, preferences.... Where are these files located?

3. How do I reformat the HD and reinstall OS X? I can do this blindfolded on a Windows box (and I have done it more than I care to recall), but I'm a little unsure about how to go about the task on my Apple beauty.

4. Once I get clean, how can I stay clean? How do you stay clean? I can manage downloaded files and ripped music, but what about those hacks and apps that hide themselves on my computer? If they're not in my Applications folder, I don't know where they are!

Can anyone help me return my 'Book to its pristine, organized state?

Thanks,

Jacob Patton

::maroma:: · May 21, 2003, 06:01 PM

Before I offer my advice, I should let you know that I am pretty anal when it comes to doing things like this. I tend to spend extra money and do extra steps to ensure I have a smooth backup, reformat, and install. I have wiped my drive and reinstalled for each major OS X release (10.x). I like to experience the new stuff with a clean slate (so as to eliminate a lot of the troubles most people have when upgrading.)

What I do first is go through my drive and delete anything that I either don't need or can easily replace. Second, I gather all of the apps I need to install (installers for the apps) as well as any shareware or haxies that I want. I burn them to CDs so that I can just install like crazy when the time comes. Third, I clone my entire drive (not my Mp3 collection though) to an external (or internal) drive. This way, I still have my old system virtually intact and can pull whatever I need out of it later. Next, I boot from the OS X install CD and reformat the drive using Disk Utility. I also zero out the data, so as the ensure a very clean disk. Then I install the OS, and get it updated to the current version using Software Update. Then I reinstall all of my apps, and pull over the files I need from the old backed up system.

Once I have all my apps and files on my drive and the way I want them, I Repair Permissions and run fsck -y. I then have a really clean and fresh install with all my customized apps and haxies. I also tend to not pull over my prefs for things like Mail or Safari. I like to rebuild those prefs from scratch so that there aren't any anomolies that come over with the old prefs.

So there you have it, my anal retentive way of wiping and installing anew. I realize that not everyone has the option to clone to another drive and burn to CDs, but like I said, I tend to spend extra money and go through extra steps to ensure a smooth transition.

Hope this helps, good luck!!

BTW - I attribute my virtually trouble-free experience with OS X thus far to this method. I haven't experienced any real problems with any of my X installs. Whereas I've seen a lot of posts about very odd problems that I tend to attribute to the long term use and the piling up of the little things (like haxies and shareware stuff) coming back to haunt them.

philzilla · May 21, 2003, 06:16 PM

my tip: use your Home dir. it makes things much easier to backup

anoetic · May 21, 2003, 06:38 PM

You can use this experience to create a catalog of files and folders to backup on a regular basis. Go through the programs you use on a regular basis and see if their are any files associated with the program you may need -- iCal calendars, Stickies database, Email messages, Virtual PC Drive Images, Addressbook, Addressbook photographs, Bookmarks. You may want to check out the Apple backup utility at the very least it will allow you to get a very thorough backup or file list of Apple associated programs.

OpenStep · May 21, 2003, 06:57 PM

Originally posted by philzilla:
my tip: use your Home dir. it makes things much easier to backup

Throw your valuable stuff in your home folder and do a single backup of that.

allap · May 21, 2003, 07:38 PM

what does "fsck -y" do? some sort of disk defragmenter?

wulf · May 21, 2003, 07:47 PM

Originally posted by allap:
what does "fsck -y" do? some sort of disk defragmenter?

1 open Terminal

2 type: man fsck

3 read

::maroma:: · May 21, 2003, 11:31 PM

Originally posted by allap:
what does "fsck -y" do? some sort of disk defragmenter?

Courtesy of Bob Levitus
Running fsck -y

tooki · May 22, 2003, 12:47 AM

Or just eschew fsck (aka Disk First Aid) and use a real disk utility (read: DiskWarrior).

tooki

midwinter · May 22, 2003, 01:16 AM

Why do you wanto do this? I mean, if you want symbolic value, wouldn't it be easier to do some laundry or something?

Mastrap · May 22, 2003, 02:39 AM

Zeroing data as preparation for a fresh install is a waste of time.
It won't be any 'cleaner' than a freshly formatted drive. Zeroing a drive doesn't miraculously 'clean' it, it just writes random data. Data in itself doesn't have different degrees of cleanliness once a drive has been reformatted.

JB72 · May 22, 2003, 04:35 AM

Welcome Jacob. You're in the right place, and there's nutin' like a clean OS X. GL.

SMacTech · May 22, 2003, 08:44 AM

Originally posted by Mastrap:
Zeroing a drive doesn't miraculously 'clean' it, it just writes random data.

As I have always understood it, zeroing a drive does exactly that, not random characters, but _nil values to each sector. I have used a Disk Editor and verified that it indeed does zero the data, not randomize it.

MacGorilla · May 22, 2003, 08:53 AM

A clean install now and then is good. hel,ps keep the computer nice and spiffy.

immsav · May 22, 2003, 09:37 AM

Thanks for all of your replies. I think that a clean drive and a fresh install is the way to go; I'll appreciate the fresh start...

So my next important question is where can I find all of my email, address, calendar, etc. data to back up? Is there a utility that will back up all of this stuff automatically, or is there a site that lists the filenames and locations of this data?

-Jacob

mishap · May 22, 2003, 10:17 AM

Originally posted by immsav:
Thanks for all of your replies. I think that a clean drive and a fresh install is the way to go; I'll appreciate the fresh start...

So my next important question is where can I find all of my email, address, calendar, etc. data to back up? Is there a utility that will back up all of this stuff automatically, or is there a site that lists the filenames and locations of this data?

-Jacob

There is always Apple Backup

dfiler · May 22, 2003, 10:24 AM

Out of curiosity, why perform a wipe and clean install? In my humble experience, re-installations quite frequently result in lost time and data. I'm sure you're quite competent and will properly back everything up, but it is still possible to leave something behind.

Maybe I'm just getting old

but since adopting support duty on a number of my company's machines I've grown wary of non-critical maintenance. I don't even install updates unless they fix a problem that we are having or patch a serious security hole.

Reinstall for piece of mind? Over the years, I've adopted the opposite strategy... piece of mind from not meddling.

mishap · May 22, 2003, 10:25 PM

Originally posted by dfiler:
Out of curiosity, why perform a wipe and clean install? In my humble experience, re-installations quite frequently result in lost time and data. I'm sure you're quite competent and will properly back everything up, but it is still possible to leave something behind.

Maybe I'm just getting old but since adopting support duty on a number of my company's machines I've grown wary of non-critical maintenance. I don't even install updates unless they fix a problem that we are having or patch a serious security hole.

Reinstall for piece of mind? Over the years, I've adopted the opposite strategy... piece of mind from not meddling.

but reinstalling something is like spring cleaning... throwing everything non essential out of your apartment. it just feels nice.... after you are done to know that everything is clean

i think it's fun... usually do it every 3 months to each of my machines

Mastrap · May 23, 2003, 02:02 AM

Originally posted by mishap:
There is always Apple Backup

There is that but it requires a full .mac membership which I always thought was a rip-off. As long as you make sure to keep everything nice and tidy in your /user/ directory this will see you through most backup needs. I copy my /documents/ directory once a week to a backup drive.

DeathMan · May 24, 2003, 01:55 AM

Unless you have some really secret stuff on there that you have to get rid of, zeroing is a waste of time, and is just extra wear and tear on your drive (has to read every bit, and write to half of them (give or take)

If you're running mysql or anything from fink, make sure you backup your databases and/or /sw dir.

Also, if you have anything in your webserver dir (not your home dir one) you should back that up. I lost a bunch of crap doing that. I've since make a softlink to my home dir one. Now I just have to make sure to backup my msyql dbs. Its so easy to forget these things.