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Correct procedure for erase and restore

Hello -


Problems too numerous to mention! Crazy behavior from my laptop, so I decided to erase the hard drive and reinstall the OS. Shouldn't this solve most problems, other than those caused by hardware? Windows are opening and closing on their own, the dock hides and remains hidden even when the mouse is placed at the bottom of the screen, my third monitor has ceased to function, etc. I backed up to Time Machine. Then booted to command-R, chose disc utility, and clicked on erase. Reinstalled the OS, which seemed to go smoothly. I then rebooted while holding shift. Chose restore from latest TM backup. I don't know how this works, is it restoring the entire hard drive, including the system files that I just downloaded from Apple? Once I did the time machine restore, all my files returned, along with all the crazy activity. Logically in my mind if I reinstalled the OS and then just my data and apps from time machine, I shouldn't experience the same issues, right? Did I do this incorrectly? Help!! Thank you.

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Sep 15, 2013 12:29 AM

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3 replies

Sep 15, 2013 1:40 PM in response to Spideriffic

Do a backup, using either Time Machine or a cloning program, to ensure files/data can be recovered. Two backups are better than one.


Try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. If Back-to-My Mac is selected in System Preferences, the Guest account will not work. The intent is to see if it is specific to one account or a system wide problem. This account can be deleted later.


Isolating an issue by using another user account


If the problem is still there, try booting into the Safe Mode. Disconnect all peripherals except those needed for the test. Shut down the computer and then power it back up. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. When you reboot normally, the initial reboot may be slower than normal. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application uninstaller. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don't do them all at once.

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Correct procedure for erase and restore

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