My OS X 10.4.11 is in a mess. I'm hoping someone can help me.

Question

Level 1

1 points

My OS X 10.4.11 is in a mess. I'm hoping someone can help me.

I called Apple Support and talked to a technician about upgrading to 10.5 (Leopard). I told her I had a lot of important folders and applications that were put in the trash by mistake by CleanApp. Since CleanApp said they could not help me look at these paths and manually copy my files from the trash to the proper directories, I proceeded to do it myself. CleanApp couldn't get over the fact that I was the first and only customer who managed to destroy a system using CleanApp. Oh well, that was two years ago and I know the files and applications are put in the wrong place, but somehow I've been able to operate my iMac Intel Core Duo for 2 years after that disaster. The above botched cleaning is not the predicament I'm in now.

My question to Apple Support was this: If I upgraded to 10.5, would any of the problems such as misplaced files and apps, etc. in Tiger 10.4.11 interfere with the upgrade. She said I needed a fresh start. She told me to put in my Install discs that came with my computer and download them. This would give me the fresh start as it would bring my software back to where it was when I bought my iMac. I bought my iMac April of 2006, so I was downloading Mac OS Version 10.4.4. The process had started and I was asked to put in disc 2 of my original Installation discs.

This took place almost 4 days ago. My screen is locked up tight. The Mac OS X Installer stops with 2 minutes remaining and it can't finish copying the disc. I've put in the disc several times, and it always stops with 2 minutes remaining. My problem is that I can't get out of this screen. I've tried to Force Quit, I've redone several times the instructions I was given to install my original version, which was to put the StartUp disc in, then shut computer off, turn computer on again, hold down the option key. From there I got to Utilities at which time I pressed Re-Install. At this point, I started wondering about what I was doing. I thought it was weird that I wanted to upgrade to the Leopard, and instead I was downloading 10.4.4. Instead of moving on up, I was going back in time.

In my efforts of trying to exit the OS X Installer screen, I've deleted everything that was in my keychain. My keychain had locked up for some unknown reason, so I was given the option of putting it back to Default thinking that would help me get around. Now I know what the keychain is for. I have a System Administrator making all the moves, and I don't know its password.

By the way, I got here by pulling up the log of the installer and pressing print, then preview. When Preview is in the tool bar, I'm able to escape. I have honestly tried everything imaginable to quit the OS X Installer. It insists on finishing the installation. It can't go the extra 2 minutes. Can anyone tell me how to quit this page. I don't have a dock, just a blue page with the Mac OS X Installer on it.

Sincerely,

Miss.Moo

iMac, Mac OS X (10.4.11), Using Frontier High Speed Internet

Posted on Oct 25, 2012 5:44 PM

Reply

Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

238,979 points

Oct 25, 2012 6:29 PM in response to Miss Moo

Hello Miss Moo,

If I upgraded to 10.5, would any of the problems such as misplaced files and apps, etc. in Tiger 10.4.11 interfere with the upgrade.

If it's Apple Apps, like Safari, Mail, etc., then there will be new versions to replace all the missing files/components.

The Mac OS X Installer stops with 2 minutes remaining and it can't finish copying the disc.

How much free space is on your Hard Drive?

"Try Disk Utility

1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.

2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu at the top of the screen. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)

Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.

3. Click the First Aid tab.

4. Select your Mac OS X volume.

5. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214

Were any errors reported?

That second Disc thing happens frequently, the best way around it is to do a Custom install, and eliminate enough Printer Drivers, Languages, Fonts, and Applications you don't need... then it may skip #2 altogether.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1442

Reply

Answer 2

Oct 26, 2012 3:23 AM in response to Miss Moo

In future please do not:

1 - use third party utilities such as CleanApp unless you know what you are doing

2 - delete or move any special files

If I upgraded to 10.5, would any of the problems such as misplaced files and apps, etc. in Tiger 10.4.11 interfere with the upgrade.

You should have been advised that they would and that the only sensible solution was to backup the whole disk to an external drive and install either Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard from scratch after erasing the internal drive. With luck you could manually recover most of your data from the backup disk.

I suspect that, if possible, this is still the best thing to do. Do you have important files on the Mac which have not been backed up to an external disk? If so do you have a way to back them up now so that you can safely erase the internal disk?

Reply