re-install OS?
On this and other forums I read the advise to do a clean reinstall of the OS to solve many different problems. This seems rather a drastic step to take, but it seems to be suggested fairly often. So, as a windows user who is leaving the dark side and coming over to Apple as soon as Leopard is out, my question is: is it really that easy to reinstall the OS? I've never done that in windows, ever. What happens to the data, settings etc on the HD when you reinstall the OS?
A second question: for you, is the Mac experience about doing reinstalls, fiddling around 'under the hood' repairing permissions, and adjusting things on the terminal level as it seems from reading the forums, or is it about using a well designed, smoothly working interface to do what one wants to do?
Not trying to ruffle any feathers here, but I'm a little scared that my time may be spent asking more knowlegeable folks for their kind help, instead of surfing etc. Or is it only the very few machines that need this kind of in-depth work? Are most of you happily USING your Macs, not 'fixing' them?
Thanks for any responses!
A second question: for you, is the Mac experience about doing reinstalls, fiddling around 'under the hood' repairing permissions, and adjusting things on the terminal level as it seems from reading the forums, or is it about using a well designed, smoothly working interface to do what one wants to do?
Not trying to ruffle any feathers here, but I'm a little scared that my time may be spent asking more knowlegeable folks for their kind help, instead of surfing etc. Or is it only the very few machines that need this kind of in-depth work? Are most of you happily USING your Macs, not 'fixing' them?
Thanks for any responses!
Comments
On this and other forums I read the advise to do a clean reinstall of the OS to solve many different problems. This seems rather a drastic step to take, but it seems to be suggested fairly often. So, as a windows user who is leaving the dark side and coming over to Apple as soon as Leopard is out, my question is: is it really that easy to reinstall the OS? I've never done that in windows, ever. What happens to the data, settings etc on the HD when you reinstall the OS?
A second question: for you, is the Mac experience about doing reinstalls, fiddling around 'under the hood' repairing permissions, and adjusting things on the terminal level as it seems from reading the forums, or is it about using a well designed, smoothly working interface to do what one wants to do?
Not trying to ruffle any feathers here, but I'm a little scared that my time may be spent asking more knowlegeable folks for their kind help, instead of surfing etc. Or is it only the very few machines that need this kind of in-depth work? Are most of you happily USING your Macs, not 'fixing' them?
Thanks for any responses!
Hi,
No fiddling required in Mac OS X. I've only done a few re-installs only one of which was really and all because I'm a fiddler who likes to install lots of applications, hacks etc.
Exactly what happens when you re-install depends on whether you're doing an "Erase and Install" or "Archive and Install". User settings aren't saved in either but can be recovered in the case of the latter. Given how rare re-installs are it's never been a concern to me.
The best thing you can do is post the symptoms of any issues you might suffer here or preferably on Apple Discussions ( http://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa ) where you'll get excellent advice from experienced users.