Resetting Leopard

Question

Resetting Leopard

Hello,
I've had my MacBook for nearly 2 years now and I have a lot of rubbish on here. I am starting college in September and feel I should clear up my computer. I have over 1000 Photo Booth photos and a ton of other junk. However, if I reset my computer, will I lose my music and photos? If I put them on a CD, will I be able to access them again and put them back on if I want to?

Thanks in advance.

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.7)

Posted on Jul 27, 2009 5:32 AM

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Answer 1

gumsie

Level 4

2,179 points

Jul 27, 2009 5:40 AM in response to James Lightfoot

Depends what you mean by reset. If you really, really want it to be fresh, archive everything in your home and shared folders to a back up and then re-install the OS using the erase and install option. Then reinstate everything that's not rubbish.

By the way this means you'll have to set up all your passwords, network connections, iTunes accounts etc etc.

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Answer 2

Jul 27, 2009 5:45 AM in response to James Lightfoot

Thanks for your quick reply.

Would it be okay to put all my files on a USB drive and then put all the stuff I want back on once I've reset the computer?

That's a very good point about iTunes and internet connection. Will I be able to just sign back into my iTunes account and pick up the Wireless internet in my house?

Thanks again.

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Answer 3

Jul 27, 2009 7:00 AM in response to James Lightfoot

Hi James Lightfoot;

I think if you are referring to doing an Erase & Install when you say "reset", you will actually be causing yourself much more work then is necessary.

On a computer using Windows this is necessary periodically to do that because so much of the stuff on the disk is hidden.

With OS X everything it available to you so if you want to clean things up you can. You simple delete it.

There is hardly ever any need to do an Erase & Install. I have yet to do one on either of my Macs and I have been running them for years.

If you want some help in find out what is using disk space on your Mac I would suggest you download OmniDiskSweep. It is fast and accurate and will tell where the space is being used on your system.

Allan

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Answer 4

gumsie

Level 4

2,179 points

Jul 27, 2009 7:25 AM in response to James Lightfoot

James Lightfoot wrote:
Thanks for your quick reply.

Would it be okay to put all my files on a USB drive and then put all the stuff I want back on once I've reset the computer?

Yes, but will everything you have fit on one? Get yourself a USB/Firewire HD too if you can.

That's a very good point about iTunes and internet connection. Will I be able to just sign back into my iTunes account and pick up the Wireless internet in my house?

Yes, you just need to have the details to hand.

Remember though, Allan has suggested an erase and install is unnecessary. He could be right and you would certainly learn nothing about how you came into your situation if you did so. Having said that your computers may well feel snappier when 'clean', even if it's exactly the same. This feel good factor in itself can be worth a lot.

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Answer 5

baltwo

Level 9

62,362 points

Jul 27, 2009 6:03 PM in response to Allan Eckert

In addition to Allan's sage advice, the following articles have some good tips:

Freeing space on your Mac OS X startup disk
Freeing Up Hard Disk Space

Running maintenance routines is critical to keeping the drive clear of unneccesary files:

http://www.macworld.com/2005/01/features/preventmacdisasters/index.php
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/maintscripts.html

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