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I've got the clean install blues

leekohler

leekohler

macrumors G5
Original poster
Dec 22, 2004
14,164
26
Chicago, Illinois
Oh God! I'm doing a clean install on my PM G5 and I just hate it! It needed to be done though. I've never done one on this computer and it's a little over a year old. It was starting to act strangely- apps quitting for no reason or just not responding like they should. I have a heavy weekend of video editing coming up, so I really needed to do it. It just drives me nuts! :)

I've been at it since 6:30 and I have at least another hour to go. Ugh. I'm sure I'm not alone.
 
Ahh get'em to usually around this time of year. Sorta like spring cleaning. I may skip this year because I'm getting a new system soon and I just did it around Christmas.

So what's taking the longest? Back-up or restoring everything like it was?
 
i'm feeling that its about time to the same with my iMac. it just helps to clean up all the junk floating around.
 
Well, I started backing up last week. I got all that done on Monday. It's just been all the reinstalling system software, then the online updates, entering serial numbers, etc. It's just never fun.
 
Yeah, it's a pain in the arse.

One of these days what I should do is a clean install, then install all of my software and junk, and then make an image of the drive. If anything ever gets hosed and I need to do a reinstall, I can just restore the image.
 
So many gluttons for punishment about. Never ceases to amaze.

I hate to say it, but you guys are walking, talking advertisements for Windows.
 
IJ Reilly said:
So many gluttons for punishment about. Never ceases to amaze.

I hate to say it, but you guys are walking, talking advertisements for Windows.
Click to expand...

thing is, i like doing it. forces me to clean house. but i'm an organizing freak at times.
 
IJ Reilly said:
So many gluttons for punishment about. Never ceases to amaze.

I hate to say it, but you guys are walking, talking advertisements for Windows.
Click to expand...

That's where you're wrong IJ. I just saw all my app startup times go WAY down. I should have done this when I got it. This thing was fast before, but now it's rocking. You can repair permissions all you want, but there isn't anything better for a computer than a clean install. I'm happier than a pig in s*** right now.

I do this about once a year on both my machines- the difference is amazing. FCP starts up in a mere few seconds, CS3 is even better.
 
leekohler said:
That's where you're wrong IJ. I just saw all my app startup times go WAY down. I should have done this when I got it. This thing was fast before, but now it's rocking. You can repair permissions all you want, but there isn't anything better for a computer than a clean install. I'm happier than a pig in s*** right now.

I do this about once a year on both my machines- the difference is amazing. FCP starts up in a mere few seconds, CS3 is even better.
Click to expand...

I never repair permissions, and I never reinstall OSX. Never! The Mac I use every day, all day, it's seven years old -- incrementally upgraded from OS9 to Tiger. An iMac G4, nearly five years old now I guess. A PowerBook G4 about four years old. (That's my newest Mac.) No reinstalls on any of them, ever. No problems.

It's easier, faster and safer to find out what's wrong, and fix it. I can't imagine reinstalling once a year.

Nermal said:
Necessary: After replacing the hard drive in my MBP. I still haven't restored everything :(
Click to expand...

Now, that's a good reason for a clean install. Just about the only one.
 
IJ Reilly said:
It's easier, faster and safer to find out what's wrong, and fix it. I can't imagine reinstalling once a year.
Click to expand...

If that works for you, fine. This works for me. Take it easy my friend. :) I had problems I couldn't solve, and it made me back up my files. After cleaning off all my files and having over 110 gigs of free disc space on a 160 gig drive, it was still acting up. I think something was wrong with the factory install from the beginning.

Just out of curiosity, what is it you use to find out what's wrong? A lot of people advise clean installs in these forums. Are you keeping a secret? ;)
 
leekohler said:
I think something was wrong with the factory install from the beginning.
Click to expand...

I had an interesting problem a few years ago, and if I recall correctly there was a problem with upgrading factory-installed 10.3.0 to 10.3.2 (without going via 10.3.1) where it wouldn't mount any disk images after installation. The problem didn't affect self installations of 10.3.0, only the factory install.
 
IJ Reilly said:
Then don't do it. I've never reinstalled OSX, even once. It's almost never necessary.
Click to expand...

Me neither. All I do is repair permissions all the time:D

My dad has had his iMac G4 for 5 years now, and it has been fine without having to do clean installs:)
 
leekohler said:
If that works for you, fine. This works for me. Take it easy my friend. :) I had problems I couldn't solve, and it made me back up my files. After cleaning off all my files and having over 110 gigs of free disc space on a 160 gig drive, it was still acting up. I think something was wrong with the factory install from the beginning.

Just out of curiosity, what is it you use to find out what's wrong? A lot of people advise clean installs in these forums. Are you keeping a secret? ;)
Click to expand...

Hey, you're the one singing the clean install blues -- just trying to help. ;)

No secrets at all. I talk people down from the clean install ledge all the time. It's difficult to advise you now, since you've already hauled out the heavy artillery and blasted away -- and I also don't know what you tried to solve your issues beforehand.

Sometimes a simple restart is all you need, to delete virtual memory swap files. Checking the drive (I prefer fsck) is a good second step. It depends on the symptoms.
 
i agree with lee. i find my annual clean install makes the machine run faster and smoother with less beachballing, etc. its also a great way to get rid of all the extra random crap i have downloaded, etc. usually takes me an afternoon and another day of finding random settings to adjust, etc. well worth it in my opinion. i am not saying that these are not issues that could potentially be solved on a piecemeal basis without a clean install, but i prefer it that way.

i am due for one soon actually.
 
IJ Reilly What do you do when there is a major upgrade i.ie Tiger - Leopard

I plan on doing a clean install when upgrading to Leopard.
 
aricher said:
Once you have all apps installed you should clone your hard drive using carbon copy cloner. I've done this and can easily do a super fast "clean install" should anything go awry.
Click to expand...

you know, i've never thought of that. so you're a genius in my book. thanks for that tip. it'll be one of the first things i do when i re-install next time.
 
I've been thinking about doing a clean install for some time on my iMac. I think I'll wait until Leapord comes out though, but I really need to start backing up everything. On another note, I've also noticed that the dvd player is skipping/freezing sometimes- I think something may be wrong with the drive. :(
 
IJ Reilly said:
Hey, you're the one singing the clean install blues -- just trying to help. ;)

No secrets at all. I talk people down from the clean install ledge all the time. It's difficult to advise you now, since you've already hauled out the heavy artillery and blasted away -- and I also don't know what you tried to solve your issues beforehand.

Sometimes a simple restart is all you need, to delete virtual memory swap files. Checking the drive (I prefer fsck) is a good second step. It depends on the symptoms.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

If an unfixable problem arises, then do a clean install. Otherwise, there isn't much point. Restarting your system helps, too.
 
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