How to Properly Migrate With a Clean Install to OS X Mountain Lion (From Lion/SL)

[BeatCrazy]

1. You will want to use Migration Assistant. But this will bring over all the old "junk" you mentioned.

2. Only if you want system settings brought over. If you want to reset them all, you can uncheck it.

3. You can just pop the new blank drive in then option key boot to your Time Machine backup and format the drive then restore all from the Time Machine backup disk. No need to redownload the OS.

The only true way to get and entirely "clean" install is to install the OS new then manually reinstall every app and setting. If you are not familiar with OS X, this can be quite a chore. IMO, if you current system is working okay, I would just restore it then you can manually look around and delete old things you don't need any longer.

Thank you.

Yeah, I don't think I wanted to reinstall every app and setting. I've got it working so well right now, I just don't think I'm up for that kind of headache. I don't get panics/crashes etc. Was trying to get as clean as I could, without turning it into a two-day project.

Last question.. when you say use the option key to boot via Time Machine, when/how exactly would I do this? I figured I would use Command+R to pull down Mountain Lion, then restore from TM backup, i.e. Step e here.

Seems like its better to get a brand new ML download from the internet, then dump Time Machine backup onto it? Versus automatic re-image from existing Time Machine backup.

Also, will my machine have trouble finding my Time Machine via NFS share (NAS) when I first get going again?

 

[Weaselboy]

Last question.. when you say use the option key to boot via Time Machine, when/how exactly would I do this? I figured I would use Command+R to pull down Mountain Lion, then restore from TM backup, i.e. Step e here.

Seems like its better to get a brand new ML download from the internet, then dump Time Machine backup onto it? Versus automatic re-image from existing Time Machine backup.

Also, will my machine have trouble finding my Time Machine via NFS share (NAS) when I first get going again?

I was assuming your Time Machine backup disk was on a local USB disk. Yu can boot from that and restore and get the same end result as if you redownloaded the OS then imported everything with Migration Assistant. There really is not benefit to redownloading the OS.

So you are saying your only Time Machine backup is on a NAS? If that is the case, you will not be able to boot from it, and will have to reinstall the OS like you said, then pull everything back in with Migration Assistant, which should be able to see the NAS TN backup.

 

[BeatCrazy]

I was assuming your Time Machine backup disk was on a local USB disk. Yu can boot from that and restore and get the same end result as if you redownloaded the OS then imported everything with Migration Assistant. There really is not benefit to redownloading the OS.

So you are saying your only Time Machine backup is on a NAS? If that is the case, you will not be able to boot from it, and will have to reinstall the OS like you said, then pull everything back in with Migration Assistant, which should be able to see the NAS TN backup.

I could easily make a second Time Machine back to a USB attached HDD, and not use the NAS version.

With that in mind, which is the preferred method?

 

[Weaselboy]

I could easily make a second Time Machine back to a USB attached HDD, and not use the NAS version.

With that in mind, which is the preferred method?

Yes, if you have a USB disk laying around, that would make everything MUCH faster and easier. Just make a new TM backup to the USB disk, pop the SSD in and boot to the TM disk. Then format and restore. Done.

 

[BeatCrazy]

Yes, if you have a USB disk laying around, that would make everything MUCH faster and easier. Just make a new TM backup to the USB disk, pop the SSD in and boot to the TM disk. Then format and restore. Done.

Great, I will use that approach. Do I just hold down the Option key while booting?

 

[Weaselboy]

Great, I will use that approach. Do I just hold down the Option key while booting?

Yep... that will bring up a screen with boot options and you will see the TM disk.

 

[BeatCrazy]

Yep... that will bring up a screen with boot options and you will see the TM disk.

Seems simple enough. However I'm surprised to hear that there is no benefit to a fresh install of ML via download (Command+R) upon initial bootup with new drive? With Windows, a fresh OS was always preferred

 

[Weaselboy]

Seems simple enough. However I'm surprised to hear that there is no benefit to a fresh install of ML via download (Command+R) upon initial bootup with new drive? With Windows, a fresh OS was always preferred

With OS X there is no central registry of settings like in Windows. So in OS X if you reinstall the OS, then use Migration Assistant to import everything, all those settings/apps/data etc get imported back in and you are pretty much right back where you were (for better or worse ).

For there to be any benefit at all in OS X, you would have to install the OS fresh, then manually go through and reinstall/configure every single app and setting. That would be a true fresh install and would theoretically fix any issues caused by say a corrupted setting or a bad app. install. Unless you are having real problems with the system, it is normally not worth all this hassle.

 

[BeatCrazy]

With OS X there is no central registry of settings like in Windows. So in OS X if you reinstall the OS, then use Migration Assistant to import everything, all those settings/apps/data etc get imported back in and you are pretty much right back where you were (for better or worse ).

For there to be any benefit at all in OS X, you would have to install the OS fresh, then manually go through and reinstall/configure every single app and setting. That would be a true fresh install and would theoretically fix any issues caused by say a corrupted setting or a bad app. install. Unless you are having real problems with the system, it is normally not worth all this hassle.

Ha, learn something new every day! Thanks again for your explanations and advice.

 

[Jon-PDX]

I'm still learning OSX (came from 20+ years of windows) so I apologize if the following is what you have been talking about in the last few posts or will not work on a Mac Mini.

When I added an SSD to my MacPro I renamed my original drive to Old Mac HD, installed my SSD, booted to the original drive, and then used the Disk Utility "Restore" function to copy everything from the old drive to the SSD.

It was like making an image of the old drive on the new one and hardly took any time at all to copy all the data over.

I was not sure it would work since the drives were not the same size but when I re-booted to the SSD it was just as if I had booted to the original drive.....but faster. Everything (OS, app's, setting, even all my email) was exactly the same. So I set the SSD as the boot drive and never looked back.

Would that not also work on the Mini instead of having to use Migration Assistant to import everything from Time Machine?

I'm probably missing something important but it's been over 2 months and it seems to work just fine.

Jon...

 

[captndave]

thanks

there is no better or more concise discussion of this. thanks again stevejobsfan I'm going to do another clean install of lion w/o migration assistant. I refer back to this thread each time.

 

[rgbworld]

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Biggest thing I miss is WindowShade X. I purchased WindowMizer, but it does not work in most apps. I will never understand why the Mac OS removed double-clicking window title bars to collapse in place - there simply is not substitute.

I do not know why Apple removed the feature either, and with the demise of WindowShade, WindowMizer is the best alternative.

WindowMizer 2.0 is now available from http://www.rgbworld.com and fixes many issues. It works with all applications except Adobe Photoshop AFAIK. Please upgrade to version 2 and provide feedback. As the developer, I have addressed all known issues to date. Many people are very pleased with WindowMizer as a replacement for WindowShade.

This Apple Discussion has more details:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/21402479?ac_cid=tw123456#21402479

 

[rocoloco]

please shed some light on me, I already have ML on my mac since the update, now I want to reinstall it to have a fresh new ML, because when updating it I didn't do the clean install.

So now can I just reinstall it or should also follow this guide for migrating?

tnx

 

[Weaselboy]

please shed some light on me, I already have ML on my mac since the update, now I want to reinstall it to have a fresh new ML, because when updating it I didn't do the clean install.

So now can I just reinstall it or should also follow this guide for migrating?

tnx

If you want a true "clean install", you will need to follow this guide.

 

[rocoloco]

thanks,
but i wonder, can be "migrating" from ML to ML really the same?

 

[Weaselboy]

thanks,
but i wonder, can be "migrating" from ML to ML really the same?

You mean using Migration Assistant to move from ML to ML. That will certainly work, but it not a true "clean install" because potentially left over settings and files can still be moved over. The idea of a clean install is to do it all manually so that absolutely nothing old gets moved over.

That said, unless you are having some specific problem with the existing install you hope to fix with a clean install, there is not likely to be any real benefit from it. It can also be a lot of work, particularly is your are unfamiliar with OS X.

 

[rocoloco]

You mean using Migration Assistant to move from ML to ML. That will certainly work, but it not a true "clean install" because potentially left over settings and files can still be moved over. The idea of a clean install is to do it all manually so that absolutely nothing old gets moved over.

That said, unless you are having some specific problem with the existing install you hope to fix with a clean install, there is not likely to be any real benefit from it. It can also be a lot of work, particularly is your are unfamiliar with OS X.

umm not migration assistant, I am just having some issues with mail, have a lot of garbage on my air and since the upgrade there is a small window that is popping up and disappearing very fast after turning the mac on and sometimes while I watch movies, that is why i want to do a manual clean install with this guide.

so if now I download 10.8.3 installer and do the clean install things gonna go normal?

 

[Weaselboy]

umm not migration assistant, I am just having some issues with mail, have a lot of garbage on my air and since the upgrade there is a small window that is popping up and disappearing very fast after turning the mac on and sometimes while I watch movies, that is why i want to do a manual clean install with this guide.

Try turning off firewall briefly and see if that stops the popup. There is a setting that makes a window popup to ask permission to connect and sometimes it results in that window you are describing.

so if now I download 10.8.3 installer and do the clean install things gonna go normal?

Hard to say. It could be a setting you have and it may be there even with a clean install if you set things the same way again.

 

[rocoloco]

i dont think it's a setting, after I upgraded L to ML, there it was, window pops up and disappears so fast I can't even read what it says. Lion was working perfectly.

doesn't fresh or clean install mean, that os will be like brand new and fresh from the start?

 

[Weaselboy]

i dont think it's a setting, after I upgraded L to ML, there it was, window pops up and disappears so fast I can't even read what it says. Lion was working perfectly.

doesn't fresh or clean install mean, that os will be like brand new and fresh from the start?

Yes, that's the idea. All I am saying is if it some setting or an app you installed, it may still be there when you put the app/setting back.

 

[rocoloco]

cool, thanks, i will try to do clean one

 

[rocoloco]

and i already ran into some trouble.

when trying to complete step 9, when i want to restore it says:

Restore Failure
Could not restore - Resource busy

what is this?

 

[deve009]

Finally found the answer!!!

http://www.macworld.com/article/1161069/make_a_bootable_lion_installer.html

 

[macalec]

Does anyone know how to "Archive and Install" on Mountain Lion?


Thanks

 

[Weaselboy]

Does anyone know how to "Archive and Install" on Mountain Lion?


Thanks

The old "archive and install" is gone since Snow Leopard. ML now does essentially what and archive and install was but does not save the old version.