I am thinking to do a clean install to clean up things and am wondering if erasing all settings would be just as good?
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Has anyone used the "Erase all settings" feature?
- Thread starter VitoBotta
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The erase all contents and settings that is now in the System Preferences will wipe the read/write Macintosh HD data partition and preserve the System (read only) partition much like it does on iOS.
The difference with performing a clean install (where I presume you’d wipe the entire disk from disk utility before reinstalling macOS) is that a clean install would write a new System partition as well.
We have quite a few lesson Macs at work which have to be wiped after a certain time and the erase all contents and settings is of course much faster than manually clean installing them all. Works very well.
The difference with performing a clean install (where I presume you’d wipe the entire disk from disk utility before reinstalling macOS) is that a clean install would write a new System partition as well.
We have quite a few lesson Macs at work which have to be wiped after a certain time and the erase all contents and settings is of course much faster than manually clean installing them all. Works very well.
I gave this a whirl with nothing to lose and it has worked a charm. I understand that with my new Mac things are somewhat different as to OS , settings security, what is stored where etc. etc.
I had a read of some excellent articles before doing this to better understand what Mac are able and what this does.
eclecticlight.co
Caveat. I had a pretty bad experience with migration assistant coming up from an earlier Mac. Several (4 or so) re install and migration assistant from time machine still left a clunky M1 that was about to attempt an orbit of the Earth via the immediate window. This worked for me, though I would not have bothered unless it was a mess.
I did back everything up though, even libraries as the lot goes. I figured I can drag back what I may need but so far not bothered.
It was also quick.
I had a read of some excellent articles before doing this to better understand what Mac are able and what this does.
Erase All Contents and Settings: prepare your Mac for disposal and more
Passing your Mac on to a new owner has got much easier and more reliable in Monterey – so long as it has got a T2 or M1 series chip.
eclecticlight.co
Caveat. I had a pretty bad experience with migration assistant coming up from an earlier Mac. Several (4 or so) re install and migration assistant from time machine still left a clunky M1 that was about to attempt an orbit of the Earth via the immediate window. This worked for me, though I would not have bothered unless it was a mess.
I did back everything up though, even libraries as the lot goes. I figured I can drag back what I may need but so far not bothered.
It was also quick.
I had to re sync my photos library with the cloud that was on an external drive, that takes a lot of time. It is not something I would have done had my computer not been a mare. All my cloud stuff needed to be re signed in, all my settings and prefs were gone, software needed to be re downloaded, I am on unlimited broad band so not an issue, just time to sort out.
Again, if my puter was working OK, I would not have done it.
Again, if my puter was working OK, I would not have done it.