What should I back up?

[macguymike]

I'm going to be sending my PBG4 12" off to Apple to have the combo drive replaced. The odd thing is that the AppleCare tech I spoke to said that Apple might decide they need to wipe my hard drive and that it would cost $50 for them to back it up for me.

Why the heck would they need to erase my hard drive to replace the optical drive??

Anyway, I'm not paying them to do it. So, I'm interested in suggestions on what all I should be backing up (including stuff like bookmarks, my Mail, etc.) and where to find those files.

Thanks!

 

[mc68k]

/Library (system prefs)
/Users (user prefs)
any apps you would't want to reinstall

then just boot into 9 and drag your old folders onto the new ones when u get it back (no permissions in 9). i did clean install recently this way and everything came back up with only a few minor changes.

 

[macguymike]

I can't boot into 9. Also, by Library I'm guessing you mean the one not in the Users folder, right?

Originally posted by mc68k
/Library (system prefs)
/Users (user prefs)
any apps you would't want to reinstall

then just boot into 9 ...

 

[mc68k]

Originally posted by macguymike
I can't boot into 9. Also, by Library I'm guessing you mean the one not in the Users folder, right?

you are correct. these are the only system files that change (/Lib /Users /Apps).

if u have to do it in X, then it's a lot harder if you don't know Unix well. I was just trying to come up with an easy solution.

 

[macguymike]

Unfortunately its not my choice about booting in 9... Apple made that decision for me.

Thanks for your help.

 

[macguymike]

Also, do I really need to back up my whole Library folder? It's almost 1,000MB.

 

[mnkeybsness]

you really only need to update the following in the library folder:

address book
preference panes
preferences
user pictures (optional)

and it's good to back up the entire library from your users folder...the rest of your users folder is to your discretion

 

[macguymike]

Cool. I wasn't looking forward to having to split that whole folder on two CDs. Thanks.

Originally posted by mnkeybsness
you really only need to update the following in the library folder:

address book
preference panes
preferences
user pictures (optional)

and it's good to back up the entire library from your users folder...the rest of your users folder is to your discretion

 

[macguymike]

Okay.. now its telling me I can't read some of the files in Users/(myname)/Library.

I tried fixing the Permissions to all Read/Write and applying to everything inside but it still gives me the same message.