Preparing for a complete, clean re-install of OS X
October 11, 2015 3:08 PM Subscribe
I'd like to completely wipe my late 2010-era Macbook Air and do a fresh reinstall of OS X and all the applications I use. What steps should I take to make sure I retain everything I want?
There are certain obvious things, of course, like a list of all my current apps, an export of my browser bookmarks, and a backup of all my documents. But there are also little things that are easier to forget, like, say, a list of all my Greasemonkey scripts.
Needless to say, I want to try to restore everything as close as possible to how I have it set up now, so how can I best prepare? What things should I be thinking of? And what tools can help me? Thanks so much for your help.
There are certain obvious things, of course, like a list of all my current apps, an export of my browser bookmarks, and a backup of all my documents. But there are also little things that are easier to forget, like, say, a list of all my Greasemonkey scripts.
Needless to say, I want to try to restore everything as close as possible to how I have it set up now, so how can I best prepare? What things should I be thinking of? And what tools can help me? Thanks so much for your help.
correct. once the backup proves bootable, while booted, wipe the machine, and install. then reboot the machine using the internal drive with the backup connected. Then just use Migration Assistant, unless you would prefer to do reinstalls.
posted by mwhybark at 4:58 PM on October 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by mwhybark at 4:58 PM on October 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Seconding James.
Also, should work just as well, and in fact I've never needed my carbon copy cloner backup (but I do one before every major install, old habit), just use Time Machine - the setup process of OS X post install will ask if you want to restore from Time Machine. Not infallible, but very convenient.
posted by mjb at 4:58 PM on October 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also, should work just as well, and in fact I've never needed my carbon copy cloner backup (but I do one before every major install, old habit), just use Time Machine - the setup process of OS X post install will ask if you want to restore from Time Machine. Not infallible, but very convenient.
posted by mjb at 4:58 PM on October 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks for all the ideas, everyone! I went ahead and purchased SuperDuper—an extensive review on MacWorld made it sound very similar to CarbonCopy Cloner, except it was a bit cheaper, and I knew I didn't need any fancy features. I'm currently creating a bootable backup on my Time Capsule.
mwhybark: " once the backup proves bootable, while booted, wipe the machine, and install. then reboot the machine using the internal drive with the backup connected. "
Just to clarify, the steps are:
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 6:37 PM on October 11, 2015
mwhybark: " once the backup proves bootable, while booted, wipe the machine, and install. then reboot the machine using the internal drive with the backup connected. "
Just to clarify, the steps are:
- 1) Make bootable backup.
2) Boot from backup.
3) Wipe internal hard drive.
4) Boot from internal hard drive ... this is where I'm confused. If I've wiped the disk, how can I boot from it?
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 6:37 PM on October 11, 2015
What version of the OS is on the old drive? Anything newer than 10.7 should have a hidden recovery partition. Hold down option at boot, then use it to re-install your OS. You might want to google "re-install from recovery partition Mac OS 10.whatever" & read up on it to make sure you follow the concept and that it will work with your Mac.
Otherwise, you might have to download the installer to your backup & run it from there. I don't guess Apple has provided physical media like a DVD since 10.6.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:55 PM on October 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Otherwise, you might have to download the installer to your backup & run it from there. I don't guess Apple has provided physical media like a DVD since 10.6.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:55 PM on October 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
You can also reinstall Mac OS X using no local disk (just the Internet).
posted by gorcha at 12:44 AM on October 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by gorcha at 12:44 AM on October 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
I made the mistake of assuming that my 1password had synced all my passwords before doing my wipe and reinstall. It didn't and I lost tons of passwords. If you use a password program, make sure you run a sync first!
You might want to take this opportunity to upgrade your hard drive to an SSD, like this guy. A new SSD can really breathe life into an old machine.
Some programs, like older versions of Photoshop, require an uninstall on your old machine before you ca reinstall on a new machine. That can be a huge hassle if you forget.
posted by slogger at 6:10 AM on October 12, 2015
You might want to take this opportunity to upgrade your hard drive to an SSD, like this guy. A new SSD can really breathe life into an old machine.
Some programs, like older versions of Photoshop, require an uninstall on your old machine before you ca reinstall on a new machine. That can be a huge hassle if you forget.
posted by slogger at 6:10 AM on October 12, 2015
I have relied on yodangson's answer to my previous question multiple times to ensure I was able to restore my iTunes library and iPhone backups.
posted by kidbritish at 8:45 AM on October 12, 2015
posted by kidbritish at 8:45 AM on October 12, 2015
Make sure you put your backup in more than one place. Sometimes one fails.
posted by cjorgensen at 10:35 AM on October 12, 2015
posted by cjorgensen at 10:35 AM on October 12, 2015
sorry for the delay, Conrad, I'm on the road.
as noted above, extra backups are always good.
Just to clarify, the steps are:
1) Make bootable backup. 2) Boot from backup. 3) Wipe internal hard drive. 4) Boot from internal hard drive ... this is where I'm confused. If I've wiped the disk, how can I boot from it?
You're missing a step.
mwhybark: " once the backup proves bootable, while booted, wipe the machine, and install. then reboot the machine using the internal drive with the backup connected. "
you stay booted from the external disk, and use that to install to the wiped internal disk (via apple's installer thingy you have downloaded from the store). Come to think of it, you might be able to do this while running the installer from and booted from the internal drive by locating and using any in-installer drive formatting tools. They used to be in there, but I haven't dug around for them in an apple installer for years.
posted by mwhybark at 9:34 PM on October 12, 2015
as noted above, extra backups are always good.
Just to clarify, the steps are:
1) Make bootable backup. 2) Boot from backup. 3) Wipe internal hard drive. 4) Boot from internal hard drive ... this is where I'm confused. If I've wiped the disk, how can I boot from it?
You're missing a step.
mwhybark: " once the backup proves bootable, while booted, wipe the machine, and install. then reboot the machine using the internal drive with the backup connected. "
you stay booted from the external disk, and use that to install to the wiped internal disk (via apple's installer thingy you have downloaded from the store). Come to think of it, you might be able to do this while running the installer from and booted from the internal drive by locating and using any in-installer drive formatting tools. They used to be in there, but I haven't dug around for them in an apple installer for years.
posted by mwhybark at 9:34 PM on October 12, 2015
Response by poster: So I followed mwhybark's instructions, and I am very glad in particular that I made sure the backup "proved bootable," because I don't think there's actually any way to boot from a network-connected Time Capsule (though I tried mightily). Instead, I wound up creating a bootable backup on a spare USB drive I fortunately had lying around.
Then, after a lot of huffing and puffing, I was finally able to do a clean install of Yosemite. A bunch more work and I got most of my apps re-installed. Copying over my data was a breeze. And doing the bootable backup was key because I wanted to roll back from El Capitan (ugh) to Yosemite, and you can't downgrade OSes using Migration Assistant.
Thanks again for the help!
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 9:07 PM on November 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
Then, after a lot of huffing and puffing, I was finally able to do a clean install of Yosemite. A bunch more work and I got most of my apps re-installed. Copying over my data was a breeze. And doing the bootable backup was key because I wanted to roll back from El Capitan (ugh) to Yosemite, and you can't downgrade OSes using Migration Assistant.
Thanks again for the help!
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 9:07 PM on November 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by James Scott-Brown at 3:39 PM on October 11, 2015 [6 favorites]