Got my panther, and i want to keep my files

B

blackoutspy

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I have panther now, i gave in a purchased the nice black matte box. But my delema now is, how can i install it while keeping my music, maya scenes and other personal files from being deleted, while still making a clean install. The only way i can think of is put them off site somewhere. I've also heard a few people say "archive" as if it was an option in the installer. Could anyone explain to me what this actually does? Also, after/before i install panther, i plan to partition, so i don't have this problem again. How could i do this? and what is a good size for the partitions.
 
You have 3 options when you install (watch for the 'options' button at the screen where you choose the drive to install)

1. Upgrade - installs Panther to upgrade your present OS X version to Panther, should not affect any files an folders, it just upgrades your present OS X - and usually is safe to simply upgrade.
2. Archive and install - Moves your system files and apps to a 'previous system' folder, installs Panther, and can import your old settings into your new install - the equivalent of a clean install, but sometimes the best option is:
3. Erase - your drive will be erased, anything that is not backed up will be gone forever.
(note) If you really want to change your partitions, or add more partitions, then you also will lose anything that is not backed up. (The partition process will erase EVERYTHING)

Before doing either 1 or 2, boot to the Panther Install CD
At the first screen, choose Disk Utility (from the Installer menu)
select your volume, and click on the Repair Disk button. when that completes, and some errors are found and repaired, Click repair again, until no errors are found. Then click on the Repair Permissions button. when that completes, then Quit the Disk Utility and continue on with the Panther Installer, choosing the option that suits your situation. Good Luck!
 
How big hard drive do you have? And how much space there is free? If you do the upgrade, it will probably take 1,5-2 GB space depending on what you install (if you install all languages as default it will take 3-400 MB more space, then additional installations like X11 or developers tools will add some more).
If space is no problem, upgrade sound like the one for you.
But please run the Disk Utility / Repair Disk untill it runs fine without errors - and backup your data if you can (burn to CDs or DVDs) - just in case.
 
thats really helpful information. Especially the part about running disk repair until there are no errors, i wouldn't have done that. But, by pure randomness i got an external hard drive for my birth day, so im just going to do option 3, clean everything out, add some partitions, and put all my crap on my firewire. Thanks for all the info :D
 
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