Erase and Install question

sledgehammersledgehammer
Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
I didn't get Panther for Christmas, so I immediately ordered from Apple and it should be here on or about Monday.



My question is, if I do a totally clean install, that is, back up my data, erase my main drive and install 10.3 what will I have to reset and put back? Applications, obviously, as well as the stuff in my home directory, and I know there will be a few general settings to reset: networking, stuff like that. Will there be anything I'm probably not thinking of.



And also, probably more importantly, are the benefits of doing this enough to bother doing as opposed to just archiving and installing.



Final, small question: what is the latest version number of 10.3?



Thanks,

SH

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    Save yourself a lot of time and trouble and do an easy install.
  • Reply 2 of 5
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Scott

    Save yourself a lot of time and trouble and do an easy install.



    save yourself a lot of time and trouble...



    return panther and exchange your TiBook for an AlBook!!!!



    comes with panther preinstalled!!
  • Reply 3 of 5
    sledgehammersledgehammer Posts: 505member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Paul

    save yourself a lot of time and trouble...



    return panther and exchange your TiBook for an AlBook!!!!



    comes with panther preinstalled!!



    I wish
  • Reply 4 of 5
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    This is a good question actually, I'm about to make the leap too, after the 10.3.2 12" PB fan debacle dust settles. here's my list so far of things I have to back up:



    Stickies (copy the database file, that'll work right?)



    AIM (logs)



    Address Book (Exported as a vCard)



    How would I back up my Mail mailboxes so I can import all my old messages which I want to keep in to the Panther Mail?



    Other than that, I just copied all the apps I want to keep and folders of data in to my home Folder, and I'm doing an Archive and Install.
  • Reply 5 of 5
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    The easy way to prepare for clean install:



    * Backup your applications that you don't want to have to download again.

    * Backup each user's home folder.

    * Backup the root Library folder.



    That literally takes care of just about everything.



    As you are backing up, though, you can narrow it down. Say, for example, that the only things you need to keep from your home folder are your documents and your e-mail files. You don't mind setting everything else back manually, Just keep the ~/Documents, ~/Library/Mail, and ~/Library/Preferences folders then. When you install the new system, drop the Mail folder (and its "com.apple.mail.plist" preferences file) into the right place, it'll pick up right where you left it. No problemo. You may have to reenter the password for your mail server, but everything else should work fine.



    When I make backups, I manually prune through my whole ~/Library folder, deleting anything that doesn't contain "essential" data for an app. It may take an hour to decide what all to trash, but I think it's worth it. It gives the new install that fresh, clean feeling when apps are run for the first time while keeping just what I need.



    This is definitely one place where Mac OS X has an advantage over Windows. I can't imagine what I'd have to hunt down in cryptic file names and the registry to make as "easy" backup of Outlook.



    Aquatic: The Stickies database is the only thing it really uses. As for Mail, see my carefully-crafted example above.
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