pinkapplemac

Q: Clean Install - Photos Library how to handle

Hello.

 

My software install seems to be the culprit of some things going on with my Mac. A clean install seems to be called for - but I am concerned about Photos.

 

On a Thunderbolt drive I dragged the package over (under 40GB). But it took a long while to copy - just under an hour.

I sync to iCloud Photo Library from Photos on my Mac. I also run two Time Machine drives.

 

What I don't know is if it would be best to put my other data onto the newly installed clean Mac from the drives and then place a version of my Photos from my drive back onto the newly installed software or enable a blank library and download from iCloud to Photos.

What would give me the least convoluted version of my Photos library to reintroduce? I won't be able to use Time Machine as a RESTORE as I don't want to reintroduce the other problems.

 

NOTHING is more important to me than these photos and videos of my son's life.

 

What is the safest solution and most sure?

Thank you all for the continued support.

- H

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Jan 13, 2016 3:22 PM

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Q: Clean Install - Photos Library how to handle

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  • by pinkapplemac,

    pinkapplemac pinkapplemac Jan 14, 2016 9:18 AM in response to pinkapplemac
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 14, 2016 9:18 AM in response to pinkapplemac

    Has anyone done this successfully with iCloud photos download to an empty library?

    Thanks again - so many questions! Everyone is so helpfull.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Jan 14, 2016 9:19 AM in response to pinkapplemac
    Level 9 (50,412 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 14, 2016 9:19 AM in response to pinkapplemac

    Backup the existing files, then you can do whatever you want with them.

  • by pinkapplemac,

    pinkapplemac pinkapplemac Jan 14, 2016 9:25 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 14, 2016 9:25 AM in response to Csound1

    I have - the trouble is i am unsure if the database structure is sound. And was wondering if a download to an empty library from iCloud would then recreate one with the same albums, etc. I don't reintroduce any problems that might be in that back up. And since it would re-sync to iCloud anyway, wondering if the best solution would be one download. Have you done this before?

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Jan 14, 2016 9:28 AM in response to pinkapplemac
    Level 9 (50,412 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 14, 2016 9:28 AM in response to pinkapplemac

    Install Photos but don't migrate the Library, and I have never had to resort to that before.

  • by pinkapplemac,

    pinkapplemac pinkapplemac Jan 14, 2016 9:30 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 14, 2016 9:30 AM in response to Csound1

    Thank you!

    Was hoping someone out there had done this successfully and could report back!

  • by léonie,Solvedanswer

    léonie léonie Jan 14, 2016 10:24 AM in response to pinkapplemac
    Level 10 (106,848 points)
    iLife
    Jan 14, 2016 10:24 AM in response to pinkapplemac
    • To answer your other question:

    Has anyone done this successfully with iCloud photos download to an empty library?

    Thanks again - so many questions! Everyone is so helpfull.

    I have done that to migrate my Photos Library to my other Macs. Downloading from iCloud Photo Library is quicker than copying the library over and than have it sync with iCloud.

     

    But if you are using faces and have many projects in your library this method is lossy.  The faces thumbnails do not sync to iCloud, so you will have to label  the faces again. It will be quicker than the original labelling, because searchable faces tag will sync back from iCloud, but it will still be a lot of work.

    And  your books, calendars, cards will not sync back.  It will be like described here:  Use Photos and iCloud Photo Library on multiple Mac computers - Apple Support

     

     

    Before you go to trouble of a clean install:  Have you tried if completely reinstalling the system by booting into the recovery partition will fix the issues you are experiencing? See this link on how to reinstall from the recovery partition:   OS X: About OS X Recovery

    If your problems are caused by incompatible software you installed, you would just reintroduce the problems, if you reinstall your software after the clean install. This can easily happen, if you do not know what the culprit is.

  • by pinkapplemac,

    pinkapplemac pinkapplemac Jan 14, 2016 10:24 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 14, 2016 10:24 AM in response to léonie

    Hello and thank you so much! I have had to re-synch before and it was painful. And my internet speed is kinda bad so I do know where I can camp out and download faster if I do that route. I don't use faces and my projects are only sending files to print from the Apple Print services, so no terrible loss there - however it is my entire son's life of ten years and a year's worth of organization that I back to two time machine drives and copies the package over to an external drive outside of time machine.

     

    I did want to ensure all my album structure would be just as it is on iCloud.com! Looks like if I have to do this, that would be the way to go.

     

    I had assistance reinstalling 10.10.5 in August when the new Photos revealed that iPhoto was corrupt (an initial import of 25k pics into iPhoto from a Genuis and then a force quit when it took longer than his allotted hour - coming from PC land I didn't know that later that would be an issue) as part of things to do to solve the problem. What happens is that my Mac sees to be slower on most any task than others and I seem to need to reindex my hard drive every month - every time i back up to Time Machine the "About this Mac" reports correct space used, just allotted incorrectly (for example, it shows just now after working and running TM, 20.11 GB of apps - before the last back up last night it was 20 GB and I only have less than 9 GB of apps - mostly native MAC ones). I've not installed any software or browsers, sans Malwayrebytes for Mac and DasiyDisk. When Daisy took five minutes to run rather than 10 or so seconds even the developers at Daisy thought I may have a hardware issue. Apple diagnostics say no. So, they can only fall back on software. And offered a clean version of my OS.

     

    I will read those links and have a peek - thank you so very much for your kind reply!!

  • by léonie,Helpful

    léonie léonie Jan 14, 2016 11:05 AM in response to pinkapplemac
    Level 10 (106,848 points)
    iLife
    Jan 14, 2016 11:05 AM in response to pinkapplemac
    every time i back up to Time Machine the "About this Mac" reports correct space used, just allotted incorrectly (for example, it shows just now after working and running TM, 20.11 GB of apps - before the last back up last night it was 20 GB and I only have less than 9 GB of apps - mostly native MAC ones)

    I would not worry about the "About this Mac" storage reports, they are not very accurate.

     

    What happens is that my Mac sees to be slower on most any task than others and I seem to need to reindex my hard drive every month

    How much free storage do you have?  Slowness can be caused by a system drive that is running out of storage.

    But I'd ask in the Yosemite forum.  Our system experts over there might be able to find the problem by looking at your Console error messages or similar.

  • by pinkapplemac,

    pinkapplemac pinkapplemac Jan 14, 2016 11:10 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 14, 2016 11:10 AM in response to léonie

    Oh, I have lots of room. I have about 346 GB left on a 500 GB platter disk.

    I only have 4 GB RAM - but Apple swears that will be more than plenty for El Capitan that I have put off installing because I felt sure the RAM might not be enough. Console. See? I have never even opened that - I am such a new user!

     

    Thanks again! Happy New Year to you!

    Holly

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Jan 14, 2016 11:48 AM in response to pinkapplemac
    Level 10 (106,848 points)
    iLife
    Jan 14, 2016 11:48 AM in response to pinkapplemac
    I only have 4 GB RAM - but Apple swears that will be more than plenty for El Capitan

    It is enough to run El Capitan, but applications need memory too.

    I found that the applications that I am using are all profiting for more RAM, i.e. Photos, iMovie, GarageBAnd. And Safari is also hogging memory. To get an idea, if your Mac would profit from more RAM you can launch the Activity Viewer.  It is a utility in the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder.

    If you click the "Memory" tab you will see how much memory the processes are using.

     

    I hope Csound1 is still following this discussion.  He is more of a system expert than I am.

     

    Happy New Year to you too, Holly! 

  • by pinkapplemac,

    pinkapplemac pinkapplemac Jan 14, 2016 12:30 PM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 14, 2016 12:30 PM in response to léonie

    Perhaps I'll upgrade at a authorized Apple location - under Apple Care for a wee longer.

    If they clean install, would you recommend I have them place El Cap on the drive then?

     

    And thanks again!

    Gosh, the things I have learned that I didn't even know I needed to know (she says while typing on a PC that won't allow me to "this helped me" click. )

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Jan 14, 2016 12:49 PM in response to pinkapplemac
    Level 10 (106,848 points)
    iLife
    Jan 14, 2016 12:49 PM in response to pinkapplemac
    If they clean install, would you recommend I have them place El Cap on the drive then?

    If you want to use the Photos for Mac application, then yes, upgrade to el Capitan. The Photos for Mac application has been considerably improved compared to the Yosemite version.

    (she says while typing on a PC that won't allow me to "this helped me" click. )

    Thank you -  don't worry -  you have already given me all Helpfuls and Solved awards you are allowed.   

    There are only two "Helpful" clicks and one "Solved" per discussion.

  • by pinkapplemac,

    pinkapplemac pinkapplemac Jan 14, 2016 1:00 PM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 14, 2016 1:00 PM in response to léonie

    YOU SEE that's helpful!

     

    I love Photos! iPhoto gave me fits.

     

    What I did learn the hard way was that my pics were gobbled up in a database (hear that PC in me?).  Not sure I love that and I'm certain if I asked my Mac to export them, it would blow up on 12,000 images and videos.

     

    (But iCloud allows me to download precious ones to my son's computer and upload from anywhere to my library. And NOW thanks to you and your advice I do not fear so much a migration to another Mac or an install. That document didn't support a WEP internet for my Mid - 2012 so I'm not entirely sure how we did it before (by we I mean me and the tech who helped repair my iPhoto mess).