Backing up apps?

z3roforc3z3roforc3
Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
Hi, i'm new to the whole mac thing so excuse me if this is a completely stupid question!



I have a mac mini running OS X I bough 2nd hand last weekend. It has an OS X upgrade DVD with it (from memory I think it's running 10.2.xxx and the DVD is 10.4) which I would like to use. I would also like to use the 'format the HDD' option and start from a fresh install so I know exactly what files etc are on it.

The only problem with this is I want to keep the applications and don't have install media for some. Seeing how macs work can I just make a copy of the contents of the applications folder to CD/external HDD and then copy them back once the upgrade/format is complete?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    ragingloogieragingloogie Posts: 426member
    hey... im a semi-vet of the ac process, and for backing up software, especially if it takes up a lot of room... then a good investment of what i want to make is that of an external hard drive... they're nice... 200GB is plenty if your just backing up pictures, music, certain software... thats what i want to get. b/c i have a lot of pictures and music that i'd like to throw on the external hdd when i upgrade, ext... thats what i reccommend... or blank cd's if you dont want to spend money for the external hdd or cant afford or something
  • Reply 2 of 7
    z3roforc3z3roforc3 Posts: 17member
    Yeah, I have a 200Gb external HDD - I would need a whole lot of CD's to back up all my data!



    Am I right in thinking I can copy the contents of the applications folder straight off, rebuild the mac, and copy it back and the apps will work?
  • Reply 3 of 7
    akheron01akheron01 Posts: 152member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Z3roForc3

    Yeah, I have a 200Gb external HDD - I would need a whole lot of CD's to back up all my data!



    Am I right in thinking I can copy the contents of the applications folder straight off, rebuild the mac, and copy it back and the apps will work?



    Absolutely, at least for the most part, every once in a while a developer tries to do things the "windows way" and installs a bunch of extra crap that the program needs, but 99% of mac programs are simply drag n' drop.
  • Reply 4 of 7
    z3roforc3z3roforc3 Posts: 17member
    Excellent, i'm beginning to realise why people love their macs so much!



    Cheers for the help.
  • Reply 5 of 7
    akheron01akheron01 Posts: 152member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Z3roForc3

    Excellent, i'm beginning to realise why people love their macs so much!



    Cheers for the help.



    Good for you, maybe you can help shed some light on why Windows users always seem so adamant that they hate macs and never want to use one? The business at which I am the IT director is full of PC people that thought macs sucked and since the standard issue computer here is an iBook they all keep saying they'll never use windows again.
  • Reply 6 of 7
    akheron01akheron01 Posts: 152member
    And I'd like to add, one of our employees, prior to ever having used a mac ONCE, denounced them as, and I quote, "pieces of junk." Now she's going to buy her own
  • Reply 7 of 7
    z3roforc3z3roforc3 Posts: 17member
    I think it's a complete lack of education combined with word of mouth.



    I am very competent with a PC, i'm a network admin/user support type guy and have no fear of pulling a PC to bits, rebuilding one, formatting and re-installing Windows (a regular occurrance!) etc but really had no idea about macs - I didnt know if they were upgradeable, if you had to have a one button mouse, if any software documents were compatable etc etc, what hardware/software support there was and so on. I would guess most users are the same, combine this with a little "my mate said macs are junk" and soon every uneducated PC owner believes macs are useless.



    Lucky for me I had enough of Windows and had a play on a friends power book and so took the decision to move my home machine to a mac
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