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tavilach · Aug 12, 2004, 02:17 AM

I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and this may seem very stupid, but bear with me.

I just started using my PowerBook, and my friend was helping me install things and what not, but I played with some things before knowing what they were, and while not a big deal, I'd rather save myself the headache of cleaning up my tracks, and instead just reinstall the OS.

What is the best way to reintsall OS X? Does it reformat in the process? I know that when one installs one version of Windows on top of another, it becomes slower...I don't want that. I just want it to be exactly like it was when I first opened it

.

Thanks, and don't laugh at me!

t4r1q · Aug 12, 2004, 02:48 AM

i'd like to know this too

milkmanchris · Aug 12, 2004, 03:57 AM

Been a new PB user, I was also curious so took the plunge on day 1, all i did was put in the first DVD of the back up set and followed the instructions.

You get the choice of fresh install or achive first, I went with the former and bingo in 30 minutes or so later a new OS installed.

Remember to install the apps you may need from the second DVD, as well as classic support if you need it.

Hope this helps, I am by no means an expert but Airport and a 12" PB has opened a whole new world for me.

ryju · Aug 12, 2004, 09:14 AM

Put the Panther CD in, restart with it, choose "Clean Install" and you're done.

Install Options I believe it's in.

skelotar · Aug 12, 2004, 12:36 PM

No, you won't install "over" anything. What happens is your system files and programs are totally wiped out and reinstalled. Your user directory /home/whateveryourusernameis stays the same.. If you're having a problem with your system then there's probably something wrong in your home directory in some hidden directory..

hidden directorys start with a "."

.... this is from linux experience so I apologize if it doesn't quite track in osx

BTW: You can check your hidden files & folders by doing a "ls -al" from the command prompt.

kafoochy · Aug 12, 2004, 01:21 PM

OS X is pretty resilient and you should be able to play around with everything without problems, as long as you think about what you're tinkering with. Assuming that you don't have many files on your PB, erasing is probably the best thing to do, or doing a clean install. With OS 9, you could install over a copy and create a headache for yourself and I guess XP is still in the stoneage, but this is not the case with OS X. In the future if you have a number of files on your computer and just want to reinstall the system, do an "Archive and Install" which will keep your user's folder and preferences, but reinstall the system. If you're really anal-you can zero out the drive before formatting. This really isn't necessary, but I suppose if you've got the time. When you boot up from the DVD (by holding down the "c" key when starting up) there will be a menu item (you may need to choose your language first) under File I think that will say, "Disk Utility" that will hide the installer, open up Disk Utility and you can select your disk, partition it, and format it any way you want. A few notes, if you will be booting up from the disk, use Mac OS Extended (journaled). If you zero your hard drive realize that this will write a "0" to ever sector on this disc and will take hours!

Oh and don't tell us to not laugh at you. This was one of your first posts that has approached any level of sanity. Maybe its because you actually have a computer and something to possibly worry about (I think numerous people-myself included-told you to not worry until you got the PB) but I hope you can now see that most of your worries were completely unfounded. If you have a question or problem, that's what these forums are for, so you ask them in a non-hysterical way we'll respond and try and help you out. Enjoy the PB.

Sneeper · Aug 12, 2004, 05:00 PM

Until OS X has an uninstaller, I wouldn't call it too resiliant. For drag-and-drop programs that are all one in one folder, it's easy to get rid of them. But for packages that install things in various system locations (like /Library), then it can be a pain to erase all traces of something.

Also, it'd be nice to know what preferences and ~/Library or ~/Document directories are used by an application.

Don't get me wrong, I love OS X, but it'll be greatly improved by an underlying package management system.

Maflynn · Aug 13, 2004, 03:07 AM

Hey tavilach
How are you enjoying your new PB

I'd go with a complete format and clean install. I'd make sure you deselect the languages you don't need. Same goes with the printer device drivers and X11.

Good Luck
Mike

siflippant · Aug 13, 2004, 04:13 AM

Originally posted by tavilach:

What is the best way to reintsall OS X? Does it reformat in the process? I know that when one installs one version of Windows on top of another, it becomes slower...I don't want that. I just want it to be exactly like it was when I first opened it .

It's not winbloze

ryju · Aug 13, 2004, 07:20 AM

Originally posted by skelotar:
No, you won't install "over" anything. What happens is your system files and programs are totally wiped out and reinstalled. Your user directory /home/whateveryourusernameis stays the same.. If you're having a problem with your system then there's probably something wrong in your home directory in some hidden directory..

The only way you will retain your home directory is if you choose the Archive & Install option. If you choose a clean install you will in fact wipe everything before installing.

Hidden files don't really have anything to do with it...

kafoochy · Aug 13, 2004, 09:30 AM

Originally posted by Sneeper:
Until OS X has an uninstaller, I wouldn't call it too resiliant.

Windows' add/remove programs works most of the time but certainly not always. In OS X you can delete any application simply by dragging the folder to the trash. If you want to run an uninstaller, try to run the original installer as some apps give an uninstall option. If you never touch the library folder you'll be fine. The library files are outside of the system and you don't need to remove them, and they should not effect anything else. If you want to delete something go to library->application support and find the name of the application you are deleting. Nothing is hidden and everything is labeled so that it would be hard to mess something up. It's not really a pain and gives the user control. However if you don't feel comfortable deleting, don't delete. If you look at AppleInsider, http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=598 Apple does have a new installer in the wings, but it doesn't sound like it will support uninstall which is fine by me. OS X's lack of uninstall may make it inconvenient for some people, but it is still VERY resilient. If you delete library preference files, most applications will simply rebuild them. I have little doubt you could delete your entire library folder and still run most of your apps (aside from the ones that require licensee keys)