Need some help/assistance with setting up my Macbook Air (again)
March 2, 2016 7:23 AM Subscribe
Looking for some assistance/guidance in setting up my MacBook Air to my old settings after a factory reset/format.
I have a MacBook Air that I purchased about two years ago for a contract that I do. I have a desktop at home that I use for personal and miscellaneous stuff, but I use my MacBook strictly for work purposes (client meetings, presentations, client files, etc).
I bought this MacBook from a large big book store and I purchased their 3 year extended warranty plan (not Apple Care). A couple of weeks ago, I had an issue with my computer and brought it in to have it looked at. They did some diagnostics on it and said that something was acting up and they would have to open it up and fix it, etc (this would be at no cost to me). They did ask me beforehand if there was any ‘data’ on it that would need backing up. Of course, this is where I made a mistake; I said that since all of my client files are on Dropbox, nothing needs to be backed up. So a couple of days later, my computer is ready to be picked up, and when I brought it home and read their diagnostic report on what they fixed, they also noted that they reset everything to factor settings.
This is not that big of a deal for me, again, I didn’t have ANY client files on this that I lost (all still on Dropbox), and I didn’t have any music, pictures or anything else on it that I lost, so no issues there.
I did have some apps on it that I used (VLC, Skype, etc) and I also purchased Office for Mac and had that installed as well (now all of that is gone). Also, all of my settings that I set up (minor stuff like background color, screen saver, etc) is gone, and I had some decent Safari bookmarks that I used for work purposes that are now gone (and I can’t remember what they are).
Also, when I set up my computer, it brought me up through the set-up procedure, when set me up with my iTunes store account (which I don’t mind). However, when I set this up when I initially bought it (I called Apple – I don’t live anywhere near an Apple store) and since I was within the first 90 days, the Apple staff help set up my computer for me (we gave my laptop a password log in, that was different from my iTunes log in), etc. And now, all of my iphone and ipad bookmarks (home/personal ones) are on my MacBook Air (which I would like to keep them separate from my work ones).
Is there any way settings and desktop (and find out what applications or software I had installed on the system, as I can’t even remember what I had installed). And can someone guide me through setting up the iTunes or iCloud settings so I can get it back to the way that it was (I was pleased at sharing my calendar and Reminders across devises), but not bookmarks, photos, etc.
Thanks in Advance!
I have a MacBook Air that I purchased about two years ago for a contract that I do. I have a desktop at home that I use for personal and miscellaneous stuff, but I use my MacBook strictly for work purposes (client meetings, presentations, client files, etc).
I bought this MacBook from a large big book store and I purchased their 3 year extended warranty plan (not Apple Care). A couple of weeks ago, I had an issue with my computer and brought it in to have it looked at. They did some diagnostics on it and said that something was acting up and they would have to open it up and fix it, etc (this would be at no cost to me). They did ask me beforehand if there was any ‘data’ on it that would need backing up. Of course, this is where I made a mistake; I said that since all of my client files are on Dropbox, nothing needs to be backed up. So a couple of days later, my computer is ready to be picked up, and when I brought it home and read their diagnostic report on what they fixed, they also noted that they reset everything to factor settings.
This is not that big of a deal for me, again, I didn’t have ANY client files on this that I lost (all still on Dropbox), and I didn’t have any music, pictures or anything else on it that I lost, so no issues there.
I did have some apps on it that I used (VLC, Skype, etc) and I also purchased Office for Mac and had that installed as well (now all of that is gone). Also, all of my settings that I set up (minor stuff like background color, screen saver, etc) is gone, and I had some decent Safari bookmarks that I used for work purposes that are now gone (and I can’t remember what they are).
Also, when I set up my computer, it brought me up through the set-up procedure, when set me up with my iTunes store account (which I don’t mind). However, when I set this up when I initially bought it (I called Apple – I don’t live anywhere near an Apple store) and since I was within the first 90 days, the Apple staff help set up my computer for me (we gave my laptop a password log in, that was different from my iTunes log in), etc. And now, all of my iphone and ipad bookmarks (home/personal ones) are on my MacBook Air (which I would like to keep them separate from my work ones).
Is there any way settings and desktop (and find out what applications or software I had installed on the system, as I can’t even remember what I had installed). And can someone guide me through setting up the iTunes or iCloud settings so I can get it back to the way that it was (I was pleased at sharing my calendar and Reminders across devises), but not bookmarks, photos, etc.
Thanks in Advance!
I think one of the reasons you aren't getting suggestions is there's a lot to unpack here and you're kind of using your Mac differently than most. But I'll go through your post line by line and give you answers best I can.
My first suggestions would be to get a Time Machine backup going. Who cares if your files are in Dropbox? You still have a lot of customizations and applications you probably would rather not lose again. Myself? I don't mind reinstalling the OS or applications, so I forgo those in my backup. But you still need a backup.
Next, if you want to keep work and personal separate, then do this. Create an Apple ID that is used just for work purposes and work uses (you can still join them as family so you don't have to buy apps and music twice).
It sounds like you are back into the laptop with a new account, correct?
Is there any way settings and desktop (and find out what applications or software I had installed on the system, as I can’t even remember what I had installed).
You can't if you have no backup and the applications were installed from the web or from disc. If you do have a backup just jump into that and look in your Applications folder. If you bought them from the App Store you can log in there and get anything you paid for again. There is a "Purchased" tab. Otherwise it's a matter of hunting them down one by one. You should create a document to store all your license information in going forward.
Also, all of my settings that I set up (minor stuff like background color, screen saver, etc) is gone, and I had some decent Safari bookmarks that I used for work purposes that are now gone (and I can’t remember what they are).
Same idea. Without a backup no way to tell.
But going forward you can manage this sort of thing. System Preferences > iCloud
Or what brianogilvie said.
posted by cjorgensen at 12:51 PM on March 2, 2016
My first suggestions would be to get a Time Machine backup going. Who cares if your files are in Dropbox? You still have a lot of customizations and applications you probably would rather not lose again. Myself? I don't mind reinstalling the OS or applications, so I forgo those in my backup. But you still need a backup.
Next, if you want to keep work and personal separate, then do this. Create an Apple ID that is used just for work purposes and work uses (you can still join them as family so you don't have to buy apps and music twice).
It sounds like you are back into the laptop with a new account, correct?
Is there any way settings and desktop (and find out what applications or software I had installed on the system, as I can’t even remember what I had installed).
You can't if you have no backup and the applications were installed from the web or from disc. If you do have a backup just jump into that and look in your Applications folder. If you bought them from the App Store you can log in there and get anything you paid for again. There is a "Purchased" tab. Otherwise it's a matter of hunting them down one by one. You should create a document to store all your license information in going forward.
Also, all of my settings that I set up (minor stuff like background color, screen saver, etc) is gone, and I had some decent Safari bookmarks that I used for work purposes that are now gone (and I can’t remember what they are).
Same idea. Without a backup no way to tell.
But going forward you can manage this sort of thing. System Preferences > iCloud
Or what brianogilvie said.
posted by cjorgensen at 12:51 PM on March 2, 2016
This thread is closed to new comments.
As for applications: If you bought them through the Mac App Store, you can open the App Store, click on the "Purchased" tab, and then re-download the apps.
For non-App-Store apps, unless you kept a list of them, I can't think of any easy way to find out what you used to have on the computer. If you purchased them online, and you save your old email, you could do a search in Mail for license key and see whether that turns up anything. Otherwise, I would reinstall MS Office (if you still have the license key and installation software), download Skype, and then download each app as you remember that you need it. If you purchased apps online from the publisher, they should be able to send you a replacement license key.
Finally, I would suggest getting an external hard drive, creating an encrypted partition on it, and then using Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper to maintain an up-to-date mirror of the hard drive. Even if you keep all your client files on Dropbox, having a bootable mirror of the whole drive lets you recover from disaster very quickly.
Good luck!
posted by brianogilvie at 12:47 PM on March 2, 2016 [1 favorite]