Help me prepare for a complete reinstall of OS X

February 1, 2013 9:37 AM

I need to do a complete reinstall of OS X on my iMac, and I'm looking for advice on how to back up to make sure that I don't accidentally lose anything in the reinstall process. I'm running Lion 10.7.4, and I have an external drive doing Time Machine backups. What should I check before going back to square one? And do I need to do anything special with apps that required online activation (I'm thinking specifically of Microsoft Office or Adobe Creative Suite)?
posted by philosophygeek to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

I've done a nuke and reinstall a couple of times, using both a Time Machine volume and a clone of my HD using Super Duper! This is generally consistent with my backup policy--I use both Time Machine and SD! in conjunction.

That said, both operated the same way when I went to re-install--I wiped the main HD and then Migration Assistant moved files from the Time Machine volume (which it recognized as an archive) and the external HD (which it treated as another Mac).

Everything moved exactly into place. No problems. Good luck!
posted by Admiral Haddock at 9:44 AM on February 1, 2013

And I should add that everything that an authentication code (or DRM linked to the computer(s)) worked fine afterwards. YMMV, but the Migration Assistant made Computer 2 work exactly like Computer 1 each time I did it.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 9:48 AM on February 1, 2013

One caveat. Some people exclude certain categories from their Time Machine in order to save space. Check your Time Machine preferences to be sure that everything is being backed up. E.G. I do not back up Apps which I have CDs or DVDs or lately that have been purchased in the Cloud. If it all goes to hell I know I will have a bit more work to restore everything, but that is OK since I only have a 500Gb time Machine.
posted by Gungho at 1:23 PM on February 1, 2013