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Helpful answers
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Jul 15, 2014 9:21 PM in response to babowaby MadMacs0,babowa wrote:
you can automatically bring back all your files, but I'm not sure we want to do this in this situation because you might bring back some of the bad stuff, so I'm going to check on it to see what the best way is to only bring back your stuff including your iTunes.
In my experience the only way to ensure the cruf doesn't return is to not use Migration Assistant as the only choices are Users, Applications and System settings.
I would Finder copy the user files that he knows are good, including the music and photo libraries the OP needs. If he uses MA then all those user LauchAgents, LauchDaemons, etc. will come with it. Then install all third party applications he needs from source (media or download from the developer site or MacUpdate, which is the only site I trust any more). That will probably mean extra time to reset preferences, enter license numbers, userid's and passwords, but I don't know any other way to avoid the current mess.
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Jul 15, 2014 9:30 PM in response to MadMacs0by babowa,I agree - I'm trying to keep it as easy/simple as possible here.....
@ Byron:
I don't remember: do you have your whole G drive in one partition or do you have more than one? Do you remember how to check that? Go to Disk Utility, highlight the G drive and then post a screenshot here please.
The reason I'm asking is that it would be good if you would copy your libraries to the G drive - I'll explain how to do it (it's real easy) and then you can just copy that back later. That would be better because you can just copy the whole thing back when you're done installing the new Mac OS.
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Jul 15, 2014 9:34 PM in response to Apple4Ever556by BDAqua,No need to be sorry really, if everybody knew everything there'd only be need for one person on earth!
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Jul 16, 2014 4:41 AM in response to babowaby Apple4Ever556,I Only have 1 partion right now & i think we have to do this erase today please???
i'll make another partion if you want me to???
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Jul 16, 2014 7:50 AM in response to Apple4Ever556by babowa,Okay Byron, let's make another partition; I will tell you how to do that and make another clone on one and then you'll get instructions a little later on which iTunes folders to drag over to the other one, okay?
Attach your G drive.
Go to Disk Utility and highlight the G drive.
Find the Partition tab in the big window and click on it.
You'll see a drawing of the drive and under Partition layout, pick the number 2.
You can adjust the sizes by dragging the divider up and down (make the one for the clone bigger than what's on your hard drive and the second large enough to hold all your iTunes stuff).
If you highlight one of the partitions you can name it. Name one Mac OS clone and the other iTunes.
Then click on apply.
That will automatically make two partitions.
You should then get two little icons showing on your desktop.
Once you're done with that, go back and use Super Duper to make a clone on the drive partition named 'clone'.
As for the second partition, I think you can just drag the entire iTunes folder over, but I'm not 100% sure - I'm still waiting for confirmation (I asked some other people who know more about iTunes because I never use it). You have to be aware that if you have some rented movies, they may not play later.
Second concern: what do you have in your Movies folder? You may have to drag that one too. Do you have anything in the iMovie app?
And: how about iPhoto? Do you have anything there?
for the iMovie and iPhoto apps, you might be able to use these methods here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2302
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2506
That will put your files on the external G drive and you can then access all of it from there (once you install the new apps, you can direct the app to find the files on the G drive).
You're also supposed to be able to do that with iTunes, but I want to make sure that is the right way - here is the article:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449
I just want to be sure you won't lose any of your stuff, so that's why I'm being extra careful.
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Jul 16, 2014 8:09 AM in response to Apple4Ever556by Limnos,As for iTunes, if you look in your Music folder you will see a folder labeled iTunes. Inside this you should see various files and folders including one called "iTunes Library.itl". Go back to the iTunes folder inside of Music and copy this entire iTunes folder to another drive for safekeeping. It has pretty much everything in your iTunes collection. Now I haven't read all 5+ pages of this topic but I recall mention of a SuperDuper backup earlier. It too should have this entire iTunes folder as part of its backup so you can always restore from there if necessary. This folder may be rather large depending upon how much you have stored in iTunes. I have 200+ GB in mine.
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Jul 16, 2014 8:22 AM in response to Apple4Ever556by turingtest2,With your iTunes library have you ever changed any of the preferences for where it stores things? Normally it stores the database at <User>/Music/iTunes/iTunes Library.itl and the media at <User>/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media, and everything that is added to the library is copied into the media folder.
You can check the setting for the media folder from iTunes > Preferences > Advanced. If all the media is stored in the media folder the library is said to be consolidated. If you have media stored outside of the media folder you can use File > Library > Organize Library > Consolidate Files to consolidate it, assuming there is room for any copies that will need to be made.
As long as the entire iTunes folder is included in the content that you have backed up then when you restore it your iTunes library comes back too. You can make an additional backup of your iTunes library by copying the iTunes folder (and all of its subfolders) to another partition.
You can test that a backup you've made of a library works by holding down Option as you start iTunes. This should give a prompt to choose or create a library. Click choose and browse to the iTunes Library.itl file in the new copy of the iTunes folder, then prove that you can play songs. You can use Get Info > Summary tab to check that iTunes is playing the song from the new partition and not the old one. Close iTunes and then option-start it again to switch back to your original library.
In the unlikely event that something goes wrong I have user tips for recovering content from iPods and iOS devices, but you're not going to need them as long as you check that everything has been backed up first.
tt2
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Jul 16, 2014 12:32 PM in response to babowaby Apple4Ever556,i don't have anything in iPhoto & iMovie but i do you them to Upload My Photo's & Media onto My Mac then I Upload all My Photo's & Media onto Photobucket.com & Facebook.com then I Delete everything on My iMac Computer
& I Made another Partion & i have Mac OS Clone & iTunes Yellow Drives Disks on My Desktop right now
& i'm gonna back up my iMac Computer using SuperDuper again right now
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Jul 16, 2014 12:35 PM in response to turingtest2by Apple4Ever556,No I Never in my life changed anything on where iTunes Stores things, it stores things in a certain folder automattacly when I Buy App's & Music & Music Video's & TV Shows & Movies & etc....
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Jul 16, 2014 12:38 PM in response to Limnosby Apple4Ever556,i always go into that folder called iTunes i see everything i have but i never touch anything unless sometimes I Add & Edit a Music Song & Music Video i got from the internet witch it lets me do all the time & i'm able to put it on My Apple iTunes Playlist on Apple iTunes works fantastic
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Jul 16, 2014 12:59 PM in response to Apple4Ever556by babowa,Sounds great - you did a really good job with the partitioning !!!
So, since I don't use iTunes, listen to what turingtest and Limnos said to do with that, ok.
After you have your clone and the iTunes stuff backed up on the other partition, test your clone (boot into it) and then your iTunes stuff to make sure it all works and then we'll be ready to go with erasing the drive, okay?
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Jul 16, 2014 1:32 PM in response to Apple4Ever556by turingtest2,Apple4Ever556 wrote:
No I Never in my life changed anything on where iTunes Stores things, it stores things in a certain folder automattacly when I Buy App's & Music & Music Video's & TV Shows & Movies & etc....
Again, that sounds great. Your iTunes library will come back when you restore your profile folder from its backup. You can make a security copy of the library by copying the entire iTunes folder to any other drive.
tt2
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Jul 16, 2014 4:28 PM in response to turingtest2by Apple4Ever556,do you want me to Copy The iTunes Folder into My G-Drive that I Have created for My Library???
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Jul 16, 2014 4:31 PM in response to babowaby Apple4Ever556,I Finish with Backing Up My iMac Computer with the G-Drive on SuperDuper
i'm gonna go see if everything works right & i'll be ready to erase the iMac Computer