Backing up before reinstalling OS 10.3

[igorveni]

I am looking at reinstalling my OS 10.3
Last time I did that, I had a helluva time importing my iTunes and iPhoto files and other settings I had.
Now, what is the easiest way to backup everything and reinstall and then importing all my settings.

PB G4 17"
OS 10.3 512 Ram 80 GB 1.33GHz

[dobby]

Copy your home dir (/Users/whateveryournameis) and then restore it once re-installed.
This should take care of iTunes etc.

Dobby.

[Karl Kuehn]

Why not just do an archive install? The problem with simply copying /Users is that the uid's change change and you will get weird permissions problems.

If you let the installer do this work for you, then you are taken care of.

[igorveni]

Originally posted by Karl Kuehn
Why not just do an archive install? The problem with simply copying /Users is that the uid's change change and you will get weird permissions problems.

If you let the installer do this work for you, then you are taken care of.
What is an archive instal?

[Merovingian]

Originally posted by igorveni
What is an archive instal?

When you boot up on the CD itself and start choosing options for installing Panther, down the bottom of the main window is a button called Customize or Options..., or something — I can't remember its title exactly...

Clicking it brings up a dialogue box with a few options for installing. You want the one called Archive and Install. There are brief descriptions of each, in this dialogue box.

Simply choose it, click OK, and continue installation... m. :)

[GreggWSmith]

I don't think it would allow you to do the archive, install if you are reinstalling to a earlier release of 10.3? I am not positive but I would imagine it could cause a problem.