Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

MacGallant · Oct 22, 2003, 01:37 PM

When you Archive and Install does the Application and Library folder get replaced too or just the OSX System folder?

I preordered Panther and I'm trying to decide if to upgrade install or to archive and install.
I'm worried that if I archive and install my settings/prefs might get messed up. I especially worried about VPC and JBuilder7 (got JBuilder7 to work on Jaguar thanks to info on the net.)

Upgrade Install sounds like the way to go but alot of people recommend Archive and Install.
Suggestions anyone?

laurenr · Oct 22, 2003, 05:12 PM

From what I have read on this subject, Archive and Install will migrate all your User date (Home folder, network/internet setting) and only those applications that reside within your Home folder:

HD/Users/yourusername/Applications

Correct my anyone, if I am wrong.

wtmcgee · Oct 22, 2003, 05:43 PM

from what i remember (i could be wrong as well) but all that is replaced is the /System folder. i've done an archive and install and my /Applications folder stayed intact. don't remember if /Library is deleted or not though.

Terri · Oct 22, 2003, 05:57 PM

When I've done it a new root Libary was created and it moved some of my libray items into it, but not all.

My Applications folder was left intact, but the Apple apps were replaced.

My home folder was not touched and I had a new folder at the root of my drive with my old root libary and system in it.

All my system settings were also left intact.

MacGallant · Oct 22, 2003, 07:39 PM

I was referring to the Applications folder and the Library folder in the root directory, but thank you to all of you for replying to my question.

diamondsw · Oct 22, 2003, 08:23 PM

Originally posted by Terri:
When I've done it a new root Libary was created and it moved some of my libray items into it, but not all.

My Applications folder was left intact, but the Apple apps were replaced.

My home folder was not touched and I had a new folder at the root of my drive with my old root libary and system in it.

All my system settings were also left intact.

What about the BSD folders like /bin, /usr, etc?

beverson · Oct 22, 2003, 11:09 PM

~/Applications? You may have one, but I'm pretty sure that's not a standard Apple install. Some app or someone must have created that.

Archive and Install creates a brand new system, and migrates your user folders, network settings, non-Apple applications, etc. into the new system (or maybe installs around them -- the specifics of the mechanism are probably not very important). SO, afterwards you will have a /Previous System folder, and inside will be all of the stuff from your old system that was replaced: its own /Applications folder that contains replaced Apple apps (iCal, iMovie, Mail, etc., etc.), its own /System and /Library folders, and everything else, all archived there so you can retrieve anything important that might possibly be in there (I've done several Archive and Installs on multiple machines, and have never had to dig in there for something as far as I can remember, but it's good to keep this around for a while afterwards just in case).

So to answer the original question, the /Applications and /Library folders do get UPDATED, but I don't think they get replaced. So any non-Apple stuff should probably be left alone.

If it's not, it'll be nested in that archived Previous System folder where you can retrieve it.

I'm not sure about BSD folders like /bin and /usr, but I would assume the same to be true for those.

The Mick · Oct 23, 2003, 02:02 AM

What about the shared users folder? I have shared iTunes and iPhoto settings in the /Users/Shared folder with aliases in my two user folders pointing to them. Will this break? Thanks!

adamtki · Oct 23, 2003, 04:09 PM

I would back up and do an archive and install.

I tried to upgrade without the archive and I got the message "There were errors during the installation" or something like that from the installer app. It left my OS in an unusable state. Could boot into it anymore. So I had to copy all my files and perform a clean install. Big waste of time.

RHV · Oct 24, 2003, 02:14 PM

Originally posted by MacGallant:
I was referring to the Applications folder and the Library folder in the root directory, but thank you to all of you for replying to my question.

I've just insalled Panther via Archive and Install, saving network settings and my Home folder. In the folder "Previous Systems", I found both /Applications and /Library.

Though non-Apple apps in /Applications (in Jaguar) may be preserved in the switch (to Panther), to be safe they should probably go into your Home folder.

laurenr · Oct 24, 2003, 04:20 PM

Originally posted by RHV:
I've just insalled Panther via Archive and Install, saving network settings and my Home folder. In the folder "Previous Systems", I found both /Applications and /Library.

Though non-Apple apps in /Applications (in Jaguar) may be preserved in the switch (to Panther), to be safe they should probably go into your Home folder.

That is the EXACT information I was looking for before Panther install!!

Thank you!!!!

stoneage · Oct 24, 2003, 05:22 PM

Is it possible to archive and install AND reformat the H/D? I partitioned with 10.2 and want the space back as I don't use Classic at all anymore. Thanks in advance.

smogscythe · Oct 24, 2003, 08:57 PM

i have all my mail and bookmarks in safari, will archive & install delete those? i want to make sure with mail especially and the address book.

funkboy · Oct 25, 2003, 11:55 AM

Originally posted by smogscythe:
i have all my mail and bookmarks in safari, will archive & install delete those? i want to make sure with mail especially and the address book.

It should leave those untouched, especially since they are Apple-created files. Should be no problem there.

resourcefork · Oct 25, 2003, 01:14 PM

I chose "Archive and Install". However, after booting-up the first time, the Finder didn't work (no menu bar, "flashing" icons on the desktop, couldn't open Finder from the Dock).

The reason in my case was "Silk", the font smoothing haxie. After deleting it, Panther finally worked.

So it seems that also some 3rd party utilities that "mess up" the original Mac OS X system are transferred to the new system.

smogscythe · Oct 25, 2003, 05:31 PM

that's what i figured; thanks.

idyll · Oct 27, 2003, 02:04 AM

Will I use my mp3s in iTunes and photos in iPhoto if I did an archive install? What about emails in Entourage?

MusicalTone · Oct 27, 2003, 03:08 AM

Idyll. None of that is touched by archive and install. It respects all previous applications, email messages, music files, etc. etc. It just does a clean install of the OS and copies the old OS to a Previous Systems folder at root.

I did an achive and install on my 15" 1Ghz PB and no problems. I just had to copy across my fonts from the previous system and a few other bits (had to reinstall FCE to get MPEG2 enncoding back, etc.)

threestain · Oct 27, 2003, 07:52 AM

So basically it should be ok to do an archive and install?

Just to clarify, the previous system contains the applications folder and stuff?

I have an applications folder currently weighing in at 10.6 GB. Will all of this be put into the previous systems folder? If so, I'm going to hard pushed to fit everything in.

I'm too lazy to do a clean install and so on, so am looking for the easy option - upgrade not worth it?

idyll · Oct 27, 2003, 11:27 AM

Thanks MusicalTone. And I hope threestain gets his question answered

threestain · Oct 27, 2003, 08:10 PM

I've just installed old Panthro - with an update, as I didn't have time to back up and format. Do you reckon I should re-install in the near vicinity or just get on and play with it?

madmacgames · Oct 27, 2003, 10:53 PM

can anybody comment on the effect to the BSD files on an Archive & Install??

I have custom configurations/installations of MySQL & PHP that took me some time to get setup correctly. Does anyone if if after an Archive & Install these will still be there, or will I have to re-install them and any other packages I have running on the local apache server (that do not come pre-installed with OS X)?