chimera963 Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 I want to restore my mac to the way it was when i origionally got it from apple, in other words i want to wipe it. i have an external harddrive that will probably hold everything I have on the iMac. Can anyone advise em on how to wipe my mac in stages or something please? I don't want to keep EVERYTHING, i need to delete unwanted junk and stuff. Any help guys? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intersect Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 i would have thort that putting the DVD/cd in your Imac and start it up, then using the diskutility to erase the drive and then install as normal would be the thing todo, i dont have a real mac tho. i only know the above infomaton from using mac os for intel. (knows an apple developer) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera963 Posted October 16, 2005 Author Share Posted October 16, 2005 yes, but the thing is i DONT want to loose all my files i just want to delete a few, but is there like a backup tool in disk utility? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotdog666al Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Chimera963 Also has iLife 05 that came with his Mac, and didn't get a DVD with it on. Doing a fresh install will get rid of these right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cptcaveman2004 Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 I want to restore my mac to the way it was when i origionally got it from apple, in other words i want to wipe it. i have an external harddrive that will probably hold everything I have on the iMac. Can anyone advise em on how to wipe my mac in stages or something please? I don't want to keep EVERYTHING, i need to delete unwanted junk and stuff. Any help guys? 586679305[/snapback] easiest way to do a complete fresh install would be to copy the contents of your home folder (click on your name in finder) to your external drive. do this for other users on the machine too. You can usually copy applications in the same way but some need to be installed like in windows. If you use .mac you can use backup to send a copy of all your email/addresses/documents up to the interweb making it easy to get them back later. Then just use your restore cd/dvd to restore osx and do all the updates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera963 Posted October 16, 2005 Author Share Posted October 16, 2005 if I just drag my home folder and apps folder onto my external hard drive, when i wipe the mac and reinstall osx, cna i just drag the home and apps folder back onto the mac, and replace the existing ones, and everything will b fine and ill keep all my files? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera963 Posted October 16, 2005 Author Share Posted October 16, 2005 (bump) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intersect Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Chimera936 Dont (bump) your thread, it will only reslult in people either not respondng to you or they will take even longer to reply. if you are worried about the Ilife thing, email Apple and ask them, infact that might be the best thing for you to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cptcaveman2004 Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 if I just drag my home folder and apps folder onto my external hard drive, when i wipe the mac and reinstall osx, cna i just drag the home and apps folder back onto the mac, and replace the existing ones, and everything will b fine and ill keep all my files? 586679377[/snapback] yeah usually the important settings are in the Library folder inside your Home Folder (not the one just at the root). Inside here is the settings for mail and address book etc.. if you copy them back, your addresses and mail come back. make sure youve updated to the same or later versions of mail/address book tho incase apple changed the format Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera963 Posted October 16, 2005 Author Share Posted October 16, 2005 Chimera936 Dont (bump) your thread, it will only reslult in people either not respondng to you or they will take even longer to reply. if you are worried about the Ilife thing, email Apple and ask them, infact that might be the best thing for you to do. 586679439[/snapback] ok, sorry about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toastyghost Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 If iLife '05 came with your iMac you won't get a seperate install DVD, because its part of the Tiger/Panther install disc. Just move your home folder over to the external drive (doing the cleanout of unwanted files as you go), then do an Erase and Install of Tiger. Once installed, create a seperate, new Administrator-level user. Don't log in as the new user yet, but copy the files from your backed up home folder into it, overwriting the files already there. Log in as this new user, and delete the one created during the install of Tiger. All of your settings etc will be back as they were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera963 Posted October 27, 2005 Author Share Posted October 27, 2005 its ok, my mac is backed up and it has been taken into repair anyway, because theres problems with it, thanks for the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wicker_man Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 If you also want to keep your mail, it's in the Library folder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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