Clean install

[ratass]

If I do a clean install of mountain lion on my Macbook pro.
all is backed up with time machine now if I do a clean install and when all in stalled can I just get back all my files etc from the time machine back up and will I all so be able to get all my emails and email settings please help if you can

 

[JTToft]

Short answer: yes.

A Time Machine backup includes everything: files, e-mails, settings, etc.

 

[ratass]

Short answer: yes.

A Time Machine backup includes everything: files, e-mails, settings, etc.

will that not include the OS so that after doing a new install it will just put my old OS with the upgrade back or is it just all accept the os??
thank you for your help so far.

 

[AppleNewton]

will that not include the OS so that after doing a new install it will just put my old OS with the upgrade back or is it just all accept the os??
thank you for your help so far.

Well when you perform a time machine restore is putting your user data in place of the OS you just installed essentially.
Not sure how many problems you'll run into restoring to an older OS than the most recent one you backed-up with but you can always perform a migration as well if necessary.

 

[robgendreau]

If you are confused by the clean installation process, do yourself a favor and don't do it. Install ML via the instructions Apple provides. That works for most everyone with no problems whatsoever. If you do run into problems then you can investigate how to erase your entire drive and then reinstall and migrate or reinstall from a backup that you know works.

 

[JTToft]

will that not include the OS so that after doing a new install it will just put my old OS with the upgrade back or is it just all accept the os??
thank you for your help so far.

- A Time Machine backup includes your OS, but if you do a clean install and then restore from Time Machine, it is intelligent enough to not simply restore the old OS in place of the newly installed.

I recently performed a clean Mountain Lion install and a Time Machine restore after that. It's very easy and very trouble-free.

If you are confused by the clean installation process, do yourself a favor and don't do it. Install ML via the instructions Apple provides. That works for most everyone with no problems whatsoever. If you do run into problems then you can investigate how to erase your entire drive and then reinstall and migrate or reinstall from a backup that you know works.

- A clean install is no harder to perform and is no less likely to work without problems than an upgrade...

 

[Oldmanmac]

Not wanting to reinstall all the programs and items like 1-click in Safari to this website, I want to fix some quirky behavior. Wouldn't doing a clean install be the way? Basically, just a new finder/system is what I want.

 

[Weaselboy]

- A clean install is no harder to perform and is no less likely to work without problems than an upgrade...

I don't want to get into a whole debate about what is better, clean or update... but there is absolutely no way a clean install is "no harder to perform" than an upgrade. A true clean install requires wiping the entire drive then installing the OS and afterward manually reinstalling all your apps and reconfiguring all the app settings as well as the OS settings... vs. a couple clicks and a reboot for an upgrade. From the way you are talking about restoring from a Time Machine backup I suspect you did not do a true clean install.

For a new user unfamiliar with Macs and OS X a true clean install is a lot of work and can be very confusing.

 

[ixodes]

I don't want to get into a whole debate about what is better, clean or update... but there is absolutely no way a clean install is "no harder to perform" than an upgrade. A true clean install requires wiping the entire drive then installing the OS and afterward manually reinstalling all your apps and reconfiguring all the app settings as well as the OS settings... vs. a couple clicks and a reboot for an upgrade. From the way you are talking about restoring from a Time Machine backup I suspect you did not do a true clean install.

For a new user unfamiliar with Macs and OS X a true clean install is a lot of work and can be very confusing.

Well said, you've explained it in the best way possible.

The major reason I always do a clean install (and I'm not trying to convince anyone to choose clean install) is simply because it's a good investment of my time.

I use my computer for so many hours at work and home, doing so many varied tasks and operations, it's easy to end up with some garbage left over that I've missed. Stuff I wouldn't want on a new upgraded OS.

 

[JTToft]

I don't want to get into a whole debate about what is better, clean or update... but there is absolutely no way a clean install is "no harder to perform" than an upgrade. A true clean install requires wiping the entire drive then installing the OS and afterward manually reinstalling all your apps and reconfiguring all the app settings as well as the OS settings... vs. a couple clicks and a reboot for an upgrade. From the way you are talking about restoring from a Time Machine backup I suspect you did not do a true clean install.

- Alright, I may have oversimplified things, but you are distorting the truth. You are not required to manually reinstall all your applications or reconfigure settings after an OS installation. Where are you getting this? A Time Machine restore takes care of that just fine.

The only thing that is different when performing a clean install compared to an upgrade is that you need to format the hard drive, which involves, if I remember correctly, exactly four mouse clicks and takes just a couple of seconds.

And by the way: Restoring data, applications and settings from a Time Machine backup after doing the OS install is an entirely different process and has nothing at all to do with the OS installation.

 

[Weaselboy]

- Alright, I may have oversimplified things, but you are distorting the truth. You are not required to manually reinstall all your applications or reconfigure settings after an OS installation. Where are you getting this? A Time Machine restore takes care of that just fine.

The only thing that is different when performing a clean install compared to an upgrade is that you need to format the hard drive, which involves, if I remember correctly, exactly four mouse clicks and takes just a couple of seconds.

And by the way: Restoring data, applications and settings from a Time Machine backup after doing the OS install is an entirely different process and has nothing at all to do with the OS installation.

Our disagreement stems from the fact that what you are describing is not a clean install. If you are restoring from Time Machine that is not a clean install. A true clean install is as I described. I am not distorting anything.

The whole point of a true clean install is it gets rid of any cruft or bad configuration issues you may have. If you have those problems and restore from Time Machine you have just reimported whatever trouble you had back into the new install, hence it is not a true clean install.

 

[MisterMe]

- Alright, I may have oversimplified things, but you are distorting the truth. ...

Nonsense. Clean install is not intended to be a routine upgrade procedure. It is a procedure that is intended to fix vexing problems that cannot be fixed any other way.

I suppose that it is lost on you that restoring everything from backup may also restore the problem that the Clean Install was suppose to fix in the first place.

The bottom line is that Clean Install as an upgrade procedure is a waste of time. If it requires only a hard drive format and four additional mouse clicks, then it requires one format and four additional mouse clicks too many.

 

[JTToft]

Our disagreement stems from the fact that what you are describing is not a clean install. If you are restoring from Time Machine that is not a clean install. A true clean install is as I described. I am not distorting anything.

- No, our disagreement stems from the fact that you are talking about a clean installation of everything, whereas I am only talking about the operating system, because that was what the OP ("ratass") asked about.

I suppose that it is lost on you that restoring everything from backup may also restore the problem that the Clean Install was suppose to fix in the first place.

- I do not appreciate the condescending tone. I am well aware of the different aspects of installing an operating system as well as restoring from a backup.
It is not lost on me that restoring a backup may also restore various problems that one may have. I have never claimed otherwise, and this aspect was never a part of the discussion or a part of "ratass"'s questions, so I don't know why you are bringing this up.

 

[Weaselboy]

- No, our disagreement stems from the fact that you are talking about a clean installation of everything, whereas I am only talking about the operating system, because that was what the OP ("ratass") asked about.



- I do not appreciate the condescending tone. I am well aware of the different aspects of installing an operating system as well as restoring from a backup.
It is not lost on me that restoring a backup may also restore various problems that one may have. I have never claimed otherwise, and this aspect was never a part of the discussion or a part of "ratass"'s questions, so I don't know why you are bringing this up.

I'm sorry and I am not trying to be argumentative, but you are describing is not a clean install. The previous poster was trying to make the same point.

 

[JTToft]

I'm sorry and I am not trying to be argumentative, but you are describing is not a clean install.

- Again, the issue is that we are speaking with different definitions of the term "clean install" in mind. The OP and I have been using it to mean merely an installation of the operating system from a clean slate, and by that definition what I am describing is a clean install. You have been using it to mean an installation of the operating system from a clean slate plus installation of all software and configuration of all settings from scratch.

 

[Weaselboy]

I understand that. What both you and the op have described is not a clean install by the commonly accepted meaning of the term and has none of the benefits of a clean install.

 

[leonw]

I don't want to get into a whole debate about what is better, clean or update... but there is absolutely no way a clean install is "no harder to perform" than an upgrade. A true clean install requires wiping the entire drive then installing the OS and afterward manually reinstalling all your apps and reconfiguring all the app settings as well as the OS settings... vs. a couple clicks and a reboot for an upgrade. From the way you are talking about restoring from a Time Machine backup I suspect you did not do a true clean install.

For a new user unfamiliar with Macs and OS X a true clean install is a lot of work and can be very confusing.

sorry for taking this up again but I didn't want to start a new thread on this topic.
I'm planning to make a timemachine backup of my new mba as soon as it arrives from the applestore. It will be the first thing I'll do (after setting it up) and use this backup of a clean machine in the future as a kind of 'clean install' backup with iLife and iWorks installed on it. Nothing else.
I have a very poor internetconnection so I want to be independent of that when doing a normal clean install where you have to be connected.
I've tried to make a usb flashdrive of Mavericks as described somewhere else on this forum but I didn't succeed. Obviously doing something wrong but don't know what.
My idea is then in the future to erase my harddrive and restore from my initial 'clean install' backup.
Will this work or am I doing things very complicated?

 

[Weaselboy]

sorry for taking this up again but I didn't want to start a new thread on this topic.
I'm planning to make a timemachine backup of my new mba as soon as it arrives from the applestore. It will be the first thing I'll do (after setting it up) and use this backup of a clean machine in the future as a kind of 'clean install' backup with iLife and iWorks installed on it. Nothing else.
I have a very poor internetconnection so I want to be independent of that when doing a normal clean install where you have to be connected.
I've tried to make a usb flashdrive of Mavericks as described somewhere else on this forum but I didn't succeed. Obviously doing something wrong but don't know what.
My idea is then in the future to erase my harddrive and restore from my initial 'clean install' backup.
Will this work or am I doing things very complicated?

That will work just fine and is a very good idea. I would just make your account when you get the machine, then login to the App Store and "claim" and install your free iLife and iWorks apps. Maybe run software update also to make sure the OS is up to date. Then make your Time Machine backup to an external drive and put it away somewhere.

If your machine ever dies or you want to get back to that original setup, you can option key boot to that Time Machine backup disk and format the internal drive then restore everything back. This would put the OS and everything back on a new, blank drive without having to reinstall the OS.

 

[Bruno09]

Why use Time Machine for that ?

I would rather clone the HD.

(with Carbon Copy Cloner, which will also clone the Recovery partition).

 

[Weaselboy]

Why use Time Machine for that ?

Why not? TM is free and included with the OS and does exactly what is needed here.

The only thing CCC adds is the ability to actually operate from the external.

 

[Bruno09]

Yes sure Time Machine can do it.

However I would choose to clone with CCC (free demo 30 days).

The only thing CCC adds is the ability to actually operate from the external.

Which is a great "plus".

 

[leonw]

That will work just fine and is a very good idea. I would just make your account when you get the machine, then login to the App Store and "claim" and install your free iLife and iWorks apps. Maybe run software update also to make sure the OS is up to date. Then make your Time Machine backup to an external drive and put it away somewhere.

If your machine ever dies or you want to get back to that original setup, you can option key boot to that Time Machine backup disk and format the internal drive then restore everything back. This would put the OS and everything back on a new, blank drive without having to reinstall the OS.

thanks for the replies.
I like to keep it simple but will have a look into this CCC.
If I understood correctly this CCC will make a bootable backup on my external drive something timemachine doesn't do?? I thought timemachine also makes a backup of the OS.
I don't get the point why/when I should need that but I could always make a bootable copy of my 'clean' mba with ccc in the 30days free trial period.

 

[Weaselboy]

thanks for the replies.
I like to keep it simple but will have a look into this CCC.
If I understood correctly this CCC will make a bootable backup on my external drive something timemachine doesn't do?? I thought timemachine also makes a backup of the OS.
I don't get the point why/when I should need that but I could always make a bootable copy of my 'clean' mba with ccc in the 30days free trial period.

Time Machine does backup the OS. If you want an image of the drive so you can restore that back to your Mac at some later point, Time Machine and CCC do the exact same thing.

The only thing CCC does that TM does not is CCC makes the external image in a format that you can actually boot to and run the computer from the disk in an external enclosure if that is something you feel you need. Otherwise, just to restore back like it was, they are the same.