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Want to improve performance? Clean install ML

I've only had my Retina MBP for like a month now. If there's a performance hit from upgrading a Lion install that's quite fresh itself, then I'll be in for a nice surprise the next time I do a clean install.

Wiping everything and starting fresh is something I do every once in a while. I'm predicting that I'll do a whole shabootal after both Windows 8 and Parallels Desktop 8 are released. (Unless I feel the need to do it sooner for some reason.)
 
I also recommend the clean install. For me, I find it to be the best way to go.

Running a 15" 2010 MBP 2.4GHz i5 and 10.8.0 is much faster than 10.7.4
 
My 2 week old 2012 MBP had many problems after upgrading to ML: noticeably slower boot time, unresponsive clicks, random lags, slower parallels performance, ect

At first I didn't want to do a clean install because I read somewhere on MacRumors that for a Mac system a clean install vs upgrade have little differences, because Mac OS's better optimized than Windows. I decided to do a clean install anyway because I couldn't stand my Mac's performance anymore.

Now all those problems are gone, and my new ML flies. I would definitely recommend a clean install if you have problems after upgrading your Mac OS.

Seems like there is a difference between upgrading and clean install after all even for Mac OS X. Considering the fact that I've used my Mac for only 2 weeks, I shouldn't have littered the OS enough for that many problems.
 
colloc said:
My 2 week old 2012 MBP had many problems after upgrading to ML: noticeably slower boot time, unresponsive clicks, random lags, slower parallels performance, ect

At first I didn't want to do a clean install because I read somewhere on MacRumors that for a Mac system a clean install vs upgrade have little differences, because Mac OS's better optimized than Windows. I decided to do a clean install anyway because I couldn't stand my Mac's performance anymore.

Now all those problems are gone, and my new ML flies. I would definitely recommend a clean install if you have problems after upgrading your Mac OS.

Seems like there is a difference between upgrading and clean install after all even for Mac OS X. Considering the fact that I've used my Mac for only 2 weeks, I shouldn't have littered the OS enough for that many problems.
Click to expand...

Yes I did my girlfriend's MacBook air this morning and she is amazed by the difference in the Fresh install over the upgrade I did on day one, and she hasn't got a clue about anything with an on switch. She said: "when she opens things they don't fly across the screen slowly, it's all quick". An uninformed but real world example
 
Upgrade has been working perfectly fine for me since owing the first Mac in 2007. My old mid-2009 MBP was upgraded from the stock Leopard to SL and never did a clean install. Never experienced any performance issues.
 
Did an upgrade from Lion to ML on this without a problem. It took no time at all, after the installer was downloaded. Also, I noticed that ML had freed some HD space? Since I saw an additional 5-6GB of free space. The login is actually a lot faster now. I have a SSD, so it's fast already, but with ML it's peppier. One thing, I really liked though is that it fixed the logging out issue that I had. It would take me 5 minutes for me turn off my computer via Finder's option. Now, it takes no time at all. I like doing upgrades, clean install is just too much work.

The only time I do clean installs is when I switch drives. I like to reinstall everything, not copy.
 
I noticed significant increases in performance from Lion to Mountain Lion without doing a clean install
 
I did a upgrade to ML on release day, but I am noticing a few areas of sluggishness, so I am tempted to do a clean install but I have only 1 question...
There's a program that I use to record internet radio but is no longer in development so upon clean installing would not be available to me, would I be able to copy the .app and .plist files from upgraded ML to clean install ML???

Any help would be appreciated thanks :)
 
What I will say is regardless of upgrade/clean install, boot and shut down speeds have increased dramatically.

For anyone considering a clean install, the actual install process is much quicker than the upgrade. This is more noticeable on mechanical drives. My clean install took 1/3 of the time of my upgrade on my MacBook Pro with mechanical drive, and 1/2 the time on my girlfriend's MacBook Air with SSD
 
Clean Install is good for maintainence purposes - getting rid of unused/unnecessary items but I've hardly ever seen a significant increase in performance. And weigh that against having to re-install every application you do need....
 
We're talking unix here, not Windows. Things that don't get explicitly started, don't load anything and just sit there taking up disk space. That's not going to make your computer slower, unless you are running out of space.

Restoring applications just puts stuff in /Applications, and that doesn't slow anything down.

Restoring documents, just puts stuff in your home directory, with the exclusion of ~/Library. That doesn't slow anything down either.

Restoring settings puts back ~/Library, which can cause things to go slower, but it will be application specific problems that cause it. Suggest checking ~/Library/Preferences and ~/Library/LaunchAgents

Essentially, if your computer is running like crap with OS X, blowing away the contents of ~/Library or creating a new user account will 99 out of a 100 times fix your problems.

The only reason I see for a clean install is when you have so much crap floating around doing a clean install is going to be quicker than to clean up manually. Otherwise, it is just between the ears. But that's ok too.
 
Upgrade vs Clean Install

I agree that using a june 2011 release macbook pro last year and doing the upgrade from SL to Lion it definitely reduced performance. It was terrible. I did the mountain Lion update on day one this year using a retina display macbook pro with a SSD and the upgrade time was phenomenal! It took less that 20 minutes! And after restarting for the very first time, it was a bit of a delay for opening up all of the applications; however, after restarting AGAIN, everything opens up and runs just as quick as before the upgrade. The one thins ive noticed though is that since doing the upgrade and installing the patch for power nap, when i've awoken my computer from sleep there's been a few seconds of a delay before i can enter my password and get back to the desktop, but when i do get to the desktop things run quick.

I'd still be interested and maybe performing a clean install, just to see if it BOOST performance, because where I stand, its basically asa fast as it was before. So how do you do a clean install?
 
Lvivske said:
I can't imagine a single legit technical reason a computer would run slower due to an upgrade, or conversely, faster on a clean install

The logic just isnt there.
Click to expand...

I agree. You don't even have to upgrade to test it. A clean install of your current OS will make your system run faster (at least in Windows).
 
majjams said:
So how do you do a clean install?
Click to expand...

Format your hard drive and install from a USB drive. Plus there's a sticky at the top of this forum.

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Lvivske said:
I can't imagine a single legit technical reason a computer would run slower due to an upgrade, or conversely, faster on a clean install.
Click to expand...

kappaknight said:
I agree.
Click to expand...

kappaknight said:
A clean install of your current OS will make your system run faster (at least in Windows).
Click to expand...

Since this is not a Windows site, what do you really believe? :D
 
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Well OK: no benchmarks yet proving the clean install method is faster.

It's like buying a new car because you're getting no traction on your old one; sure, your problem is solved, but new tires would have fixed it...you didn't need to buy the whole car just to get the tires.

If your Mac has problems, diagnose those and fix them. Sure, things like restarting, pulling the plug, reinstalling everything all over, etc may work, but they are working by accident. Better to fix the specific problem if you can, that way you avoid migrating it back after a clean install, or running that same buggy process again, or having some other incompatibility.

Since everyone has a backup when they upgrade (right??), you can try the Apple way, and then try to fix it if there are problems. If you can't fix it, you can still reformat and start all over. But it will save you some time if you at least try the standard install. And if you're a clone user, you can run the new system for quite a while and have your old one to fall back on in the meantime.

Like others have mentioned, we see many people here who screw up "clean" installs, which after all involve erasing at least one copy of all your stuff.
 
My experience is that the only discernible difference between an upgrade and a clean install is that the clean install takes significantly more effort to perform.

Don't believe the hype.

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Lvivske said:
I can't imagine a single legit technical reason a computer would run slower due to an upgrade, or conversely, faster on a clean install
Click to expand...

Disk fragmentation is the primary reason. A clean install on a formatted drive puts the most commonly accessed data on the inner part of the physical disk, where the linear read speed is highest. It also places the system files directly next to each other, physically, allowing faster read speeds since the drive head does not have to move far.

Obviously, this does not apply to SSD based computers, but it doesn't take much imagination to come up with a single reason.
 
Can anybody say that a clean install fixes UI lag or safari scroll lag, or that stuff? If so, I will definitely do a clean install!
thanks
 
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