By definition, a clean install is fresh, so restoring previously installed apps and configurations goes against the point. I'd do the install, then re-download all the apps. Yes, you'll need to log in again if the app requires it, and set up your preferences again, but that is the price of a clean install. Of course, you can restore documents and other files, as those are stored in your own folder structure anyway, but anything bound specifically to an app should not be restored, but rather replaced with a fresh copy. Fortunately, getting your apps back is as easy as opening the App Store, going to the purchase tab, and downloading what you want. That said, apps that you got elsewhere will be different; you'll need to be sure you have any license keys or other information, not to mention the installers themselves, before you start the re-install process.
Doing a clean install of an OS is pretty easy, assuming you have a recovery partition (most newer Macs do automatically). If you don't, or if you had to, say, replace your hard drive and so are starting with a totally blank unit, you'll need to make a USB installer. For that, you'll need a thumb drive at least 8GB in size, a working Mac to format and install Mavericks onto the thumb drive, and a copy of Mavericks (free from the App Store). If you do have a recovery partition, hold cmd-r while booting. I'd say hold it for ten or twenty seconds, then release it. Once the machine boots, which shouldn't take long as you are booting into the recovery area and not the normal Mac OS, hit cmd-f5 to turn VoiceOver on. Then: 1. Choose the Disk Utility option in the table, and hit the Continue button. 2. Once in Disk Utility, choose your Macintosh HD partition in the disks table, select the Erase radio button, and erase the partition. You might want to erase the entire hard drive instead, but that's up to you. If you do, be sure to re-add the Macintosh HD partition before you exit Disk Utility. 3. Press cmd-q to exit Disk Utility once your drive is ready, then choose "Install OS X Mavericks" (or whatever OS your Mac has) from the table, hit the continue button, and follow the prompts from there. If you don't have a recovery partition, create a USB installer (tutorials are all over Google, and are better than what I can do). If your Mac still works, plug in the drive, open System Preferences > Startup Disk, and choose your installer drive as the startup disk instead of your normal internal drive, and restart. If the Mac doesn't work, hold down the option key as you boot the Mac, and use the arrow keys to select your installer drive (you'll probably need sighted help for this, as the boot sequence cannot speak). After you are in your drive, start VoiceOver and proceed according to the recovery partition steps above. On Jul 14, 2014, at 5:43 AM, Krister Ekstrom <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello, > This ground has been covered loads and loads of time so please excuse me for > covering it yet again. The only excuse i have is that at the time this topic > was up, i didn't have an interest in doing this, however now i have so this > is my question: > How do i do a clean install of an operating system on the mac? More > specifically, what should i do to get a clean installation and then get the > apps i have with their respective settings back on the machine minus possible > old system settings that maybe could cause damage to the installation or the > system? > All help appreciated. > /Krister > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- Have a great day, Alex Hall [email protected] -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
