Hi all,
Is there a way to achieve an "archive and install" in OS X Yosemite whereupon everything from your previous installation is placed in a separate folder, thus resulting in a completely fresh OS X installation but without having to erase your drive? Or, would you need to erase the drive, reinstall a fresh copy of OS X, then migrate data from a Time Machine backup?
Selecting reinstall does just that. Its the default. It reinstall the os while saving your files. To really erase you have to use disk utility to first erase the partition then install.
Reinstalling OS X Without Erasing the Drive
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Reinstalling OS X Without Erasing the Drive
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility and press the Continue button. After Disk Utility loads select the Macintosh HD entry from the the left side list. Click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If Disk Utility reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit Disk Utility and return to the main menu.
Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.
Alternatively, see:
Reinstall OS X Without Erasing the Drive
Choose the version you have installed now:
OS X Mavericks- Reinstall OS X
OS X Mountain Lion- Reinstall OS X
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet
if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.
My understanding is that selecting "reinstall" simply installs all necessary files overtop of the old files. The "archive and install" option offered in earlier versions of Mac OS X acted similarly, but first moved everything else to an "old" folder. This made it possible to selectively copy things over to the new install (e.g. your iTunes library) without having to copy them from another drive, while at the same time ensuring that your installation is fresh.
I was just wondering if there's any method for doing this in Yosemite. Both behaviours are useful for different situations, and I was curious whether there are any options to explore here. If not, migrating data from a TM backup isn't a big deal.
Those troubleshooting steps are indeed very useful as a general rule of thumb, but are not the behaviour I am looking for (e.g. "archive and install". they certainly are useful to keep in mind when considering options for reinstalling OS X, though.
Same thing as the Yosemite reinstall except it's all behind the scenes now and handled automatically. Actually, there is no difference now except it doesn't require user interaction beyond reinstalling OVER an existing system or erasing and then reinstalling. A plus is that it's now a little faster.
For sure,I understand what you are saying and I would agree that an old school "archive and install" is typically not necessary and that the newer behaviour is usually much more transparent and convenient.
But I still think an archive and install could be useful in certain situations, basically if you're going to erase your disk anyway. This way, you'd have an "old" folder where you could selectively move certain items over to the newly installed OS, say your iTunes library and a couple mailboxes. However, you would still be starting out entirely from scratch and wouldn't have to migrate everything. It's kind of like selectively restoring from a Time Machine backup, but not having to wait for the data to copy over. This might sound ridiculous, but I still think it's a useful option to have.
Would it be ill-advised to simulate this behaviour? For example, if a user tried to boot up from a recovery drive, move the contents of the Macintosh HD to an "old" folder using the Terminal, then run the OS X installer, do you think the behaviour would work as I described, or would this be too prone to problems? Has anyone ever tried to do this?
Just like Erase and Install, you can Archive and Install manually. Back up your system before you install. Then, you have your archive in the backup.
Indeed. But if you have, say, 100 gigabytes worth of iTunes content, then there would be an investment in time to wait for all 100 gigabytes worth of data to copy from your Time Machine backup back to your HD. But with an "archive and install", "moving" that music folder from the isolated "old" folder to a folder in a new user account within the fresh OS, should take no time at all.
Like I said, not a big deal if this can't be done.
Yes, but it is a whole lot safer. Even "moving" files could result in data loss, especially at such a large size. A move still needs to modify the directory structure.
Is there a way to simulate an "archive and install" in OS X Yosemite?
