Hello all 
First off thank you to the community as a whole as, although this is my first time writing, it has been an invaluable resource for myself and the family on all matters Mac over the years.
My apologies if this has been answered elsewhere, I am afraid I am a bitt to long in the tooth and not save enough
although I have found some information online regarding some of the issues below…. I wanted to pull everything into one thread as to confirm if I have everything correct.
Alright so to the issue at hand:
We have had an iMac since 2010 in the house serving as a kind of ‘house’ computer, for anyone to jump on and use, house guests included. As you might imagine it has become cluttered over the years to say the least, and is running a bit slow and I suspect it has probably caught some bugs along the way as well. But it’s a shame to throw/give it away as doubt I could sell it so I figured it is high time to do a clean install.
From what I can tell I split the whole process into several steps, and as I mentioned am not super savvy so please correct me if I got anything (hopefully not everything) wrong.
Step 1: Choosing which OS to install and making a USB Boot Disk
As this is to be a kind of communal computer, all that is required of it is that it runs smoothly, enables one to browse the internet (Firefox preferred), run MS Office, print on our network printer, and that’s about it. I will have to make users for each family member a a guest user though, although I have no idea if that make any difference.
Going by everymac.com I should be able to run up to OS 10.13 High Sierra, and I am guessing that would be the best not to encounter any compatibility issues with MS Office or other apps/programs in the future, however perhaps it will make it run too slow? Perhaps there is a better (older) option to choose?
As far as making a boot disk for an older OS, I understand that I need to go to somewhere this guide and follow the instructions (and download the OS file itself).
Step 2: Backing up files
There isn’t a lot to be backed up, actually most of the stuff on there is just clutter so destined to be deleted, without the exception of some Office documents, and maybe some browser bookmarks. I figure that it would be easier to just shift those files onto an external drive, and then perhaps put them back after the clean install, instead of doing a Time Machine backup, am I correct in thinking this? Or are there significant advantages to doing the Time Machine backup?
Step 3: Doing the clean install
From what I read online, this guide on OX Daily is both correct and up to date, am I right in thinking so?
Step 4: Final touches
After doing the clean install any tips for setting up such a communal computer?
I honestly would prefer to avoid making multiple user accounts, but don’t see a way around this as need to allow family member to keep their files separate/private, and have different email accounts on the mail app.
Thank you in advance for any and all opinions, tips and help overall
First off thank you to the community as a whole as, although this is my first time writing, it has been an invaluable resource for myself and the family on all matters Mac over the years.
My apologies if this has been answered elsewhere, I am afraid I am a bitt to long in the tooth and not save enough
although I have found some information online regarding some of the issues below…. I wanted to pull everything into one thread as to confirm if I have everything correct.
Alright so to the issue at hand:
We have had an iMac since 2010 in the house serving as a kind of ‘house’ computer, for anyone to jump on and use, house guests included. As you might imagine it has become cluttered over the years to say the least, and is running a bit slow and I suspect it has probably caught some bugs along the way as well. But it’s a shame to throw/give it away as doubt I could sell it so I figured it is high time to do a clean install.
From what I can tell I split the whole process into several steps, and as I mentioned am not super savvy so please correct me if I got anything (hopefully not everything) wrong.
Step 1: Choosing which OS to install and making a USB Boot Disk
As this is to be a kind of communal computer, all that is required of it is that it runs smoothly, enables one to browse the internet (Firefox preferred), run MS Office, print on our network printer, and that’s about it. I will have to make users for each family member a a guest user though, although I have no idea if that make any difference.
Going by everymac.com I should be able to run up to OS 10.13 High Sierra, and I am guessing that would be the best not to encounter any compatibility issues with MS Office or other apps/programs in the future, however perhaps it will make it run too slow? Perhaps there is a better (older) option to choose?
As far as making a boot disk for an older OS, I understand that I need to go to somewhere this guide and follow the instructions (and download the OS file itself).
Step 2: Backing up files
There isn’t a lot to be backed up, actually most of the stuff on there is just clutter so destined to be deleted, without the exception of some Office documents, and maybe some browser bookmarks. I figure that it would be easier to just shift those files onto an external drive, and then perhaps put them back after the clean install, instead of doing a Time Machine backup, am I correct in thinking this? Or are there significant advantages to doing the Time Machine backup?
Step 3: Doing the clean install
From what I read online, this guide on OX Daily is both correct and up to date, am I right in thinking so?
Step 4: Final touches
After doing the clean install any tips for setting up such a communal computer?
I honestly would prefer to avoid making multiple user accounts, but don’t see a way around this as need to allow family member to keep their files separate/private, and have different email accounts on the mail app.
Thank you in advance for any and all opinions, tips and help overall
