[JustinHorne]

I basicly like doing a reinstall every few months, just for the heck of it, to keep things running nice and cleanly.

How can I do a reinstall without losing all the OS X updates and program registrations (that is, so I don't have to go through the hassel of re-registring?

If I did an archive and install, would that save all my programs/registrations?
Also, is there a way I can do it so I don't have to re-download the updates?

[Big Mac]

1. An archive and install preserves program registrations.

2. There is no way to avoid having to reapply the updates, but you could save them all to disk and then apply them manually.

[JustinHorne]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

1. An archive and install preserves program registrations.

2. There is no way to avoid having to reapply the updates, but you could save them all to disk and then apply them manually.

Ok, thanks. Where are the updates stored?

[Simon]

Originally Posted by JustinHorne 

I basicly like doing a reinstall every few months, just for the heck of it, to keep things running nice and cleanly.

Do you think the faint possibility of this having any effect at all justifies the effort? After all, this isn't Windows.

[JustinHorne]

Originally Posted by Simon 

Do you think the faint possibility of this having any effect at all justifies the effort? After all, this isn't Windows.

Well...
I run a BUNCH of programs to see if I like them, and I do like cleaning up the system...
Does that REALLY justify it? nah, maybe not, but it's just somehting I do.

[analogika]

Originally Posted by JustinHorne 

Well...
I run a BUNCH of programs to see if I like them, and I do like cleaning up the system...

Just dragging them to the trash or using the "Deinstall" option on those that require an installer ain't good enough for li'l Justin, eh?

Mama's Boy, eh?

[frdmfghtr]

Seeing as how a drag and drop to the trash isn't always 100% effective, I can understand the viewpoint. However, it would be a better idea, IMHO, to go through the library directories and look for .pref files for programs that have been removed, or search for them via Spotlight.

Even uninstallers can leave crap laying around; when I switched from Symantec Antivirus to ClamXav, the Symantec uninstaller left several preference files laying about.

Having said that, it also needs to be said that these stray files don't take up enough space, or do anything else, to justify the time and effort to perform a clean reinstall of the OS.

However, if you like to go through the process, that is your business.

If you manually download the updates from the Apple website, they get stored wherever you want them stored. However, I would use Software Update to get the necessary updates, since you can't forget to download any. When running SA, in the "Updates" menu there is an option to install and keep the update packages. I don't know where they get stored this way as I've never used it. If there is a particular update you don't want to install, you can simply ignore it.

[ghporter]

Leaving the odd preference file is not anywhere near the same thing as the way most Windows programs leave things like entire Registry branches (a few hundred kilobytes versus several megabytes is a VERY different thing). The overwhelming majority of Mac applications are "well behaved" enough that dragging them to the trash is more than just adequate for removing them. Perhaps a thorough search of your Library folders now and then is a good thing to do, but reinstalling the whole OS is overkill (IMO).