Reinstall OS - keep serials - Migration Assistant

Before you do a reinstall, try running Applejack.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/applejack/

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10334620-263.html?tag=mfiredir

Follow the prompts. Just type in *applejack Auto* and let it run its sequence of tasks. As caches are being rebuilt, the first boot after running AJ will be slow, and you may need several restarts to see an improvement.

In Snow Leopard, you can choose to do a reinstall, which should leave everything in place and give you new system files. Then you update using the 10.6.6 Combo from Apple Downloads.

I second the applejack recommendation (just saved my bacon this very morning, in fact...) However, I don't use "auto" -- the #4 on the menu is to check preferences, and lots and lots of apps apparently use non-standard tweaks to their preferences files, so using it just makes trouble. Also, the first guy on the menu is fsck, and if I get an error I want to be able to run it over and over again until it fscks clean, and if you've automatically moved on you miss the chance.

This morning I launched applejack on a computer that wouldn't boot.
-- chose 1) (the fsck). Got a boatload of errors, which it said it fixed
-- chose 1) again. Got two more errors, which it said it fixed
-- chose 1) yet again. This time it passed clean!
-- chose 2) (fix permissions)
-- chose 3) cleared system cache. Then selected each user and cleared those caches.
-- chose 5) clears virtual memory.

Computer still wouldn't boot, but when I popped in a new disk, the old disk -- having passed fsck -- was available to use in migration assistant.

By cloning your old drive onto the new one, you brought over hardware drivers that have nothing to do with the new Mac, and by way of that, didn't get those installed that should. That would be the cause of most of your problems.

Here's one way to fix it.

1) Backup, backup, backup first.

2) Put the OS X install disk in the drive your new Mac came with and boot to it.

3) Install Snow Leopard, making sure to choose the option to keep your current settings. This will retain all of your third party apps and other non OS files.

4) Once the initial install is done, apply all available updates.

cathy fasano: However, I don't use "auto"....

Yeah, I know, but I suspected a deep cache cleaning might be needed, which you won't get in any other mode besides Auto.

Hey everyone!

I was reading this thread and I went ahead and ran AppleJack, everything went fine in the Auto Mode I guess, except now I can't load the facebook page in Safari, is weird because it seems to be the only page that won't load properly, I only see the facebook logo and the grey little frame around the page, but no content.

Any idea? 😟

Nevermind! I +Reset Safari...+ and everything came back again.

:P