Data Backup for reinstall

**gavh** · May 14th, 2003, 04:10 AM

Hi Guys,

Hope I've posted to the right forum.

Due to the fact that my hard drive is nearly full, I need to tidy it up. However the best solution all round is to frag the HD and reinstall for the following reasons: I never use Classic or OS9 so bye-bye to you and I have installed and uninstalled so many apps I have completely lost track of them (names and locations), their requirements (do I need X11 (working), version dependencies etc.) and the whole drive would just take far too long to audit, if at all. I need to know what data you'd backup and where it's stored. I know I could just copy my entire Home but that needs a good clean too; from the hidden files to the app data left in it's library. I'm only really worried about the more usual Apple programme data:

Safari - Bookmarks
Mail - Mail, Account settings and Filters
IE - Scrapbook, found this to be ~/Library/Preferences/Explorer/Internet Scrapbook
iCal - Calenders, found this to be ~/Library/Calenders
iTunes - iTunes, found this to be ~/Music/iTunes
Address Book - The Whole Thing

But am I forgetting anything? And of course where is it? I know that all of these are fairly obvious to find in the Library but they are just too important to guess and get wrong. The 3rd party confirmation matching my guess will be a big help. It will also be used when I get my recently ordered Zip Drive to be used for backup.

From now on I'll be taking better care of my limited space HD and keeping better track of what I download and/or install.

Thanks in advance for the help.

**fryke** · May 14th, 2003, 05:03 AM

Your homefolder, basically. But _do_ take a look at OmniDiskSweeper. It's pay-ware, but the free demo helps you a lot in finding stuff you don't really need anymore. You can get the demo at http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnidisksweeper/ (and also read more about the application).

**Urbansory** · May 14th, 2003, 11:18 AM

Go into Application support in the root/Library/Aplication Support

There are a few things you might need, and quicktime plug-ins you added will be in the root/Library as well

Other than that, the Home folder and those items all i needed, and i went through that a number of times, so i learned the hard way after forgetting some things that were in the Application Support.

**edX** · May 14th, 2003, 02:45 PM

having just gone thru a reformat and reinstall that wasn't really of my choosing, i would recommend that you be sure to back up your library and users folders along with all your apps. i would take the time to be sure that i had all my serial numbers for any apps purchased over the net that i don't own an original disk for as well. be sure you have all your internet connection info written down somewhere just to be on the safe side. in other words, i'd cover everything of value to me from at least 2 angles. i didn't do this and i still don't have everything back the way i want it as a result. i would also be sure you keep a copy of your os 9 in its current state on a CD. you never know when it might come in handy, even if you haven't used it for a while. better to be prepared than have regrets. there are numerous threads from people who thought they would no longer need it, that are then having problems getting it reinstalled. along with this, be sure you install the os 9 drivers on the HD when you reformat. they don't hurt anything by being there if you don't use them.

**Arden** · May 14th, 2003, 05:34 PM

• If it says "Preferences," you can be sure you need it.
• Export as much as you can, like all your addresses, all your bookmarks, etc. For iTunes, save all the tunes in your Home folder, plus the files labeled something like "iTunes Library."
• Anything you have installed in your system that you want to keep you should "audit" (I like that... it's a very good description) and back up. Examples include desktop pictures, themes, System Preferences panels, and more.

Hope this helps. Let us know how you come out of this when you're done.