Timothy Arends1
Level 2
(297 points)
Q: Erase and reinstall procedure?
I noticed that apple phone support generally falls into a standard pattern.
If normal troubleshooting procedures fail, they suggest that you re-download and reinstall the OS. This is obviously a pain unless you have the fastest connection, since Mac OS is around 7 GB.
If this fails to solve the problem, the next suggestion is to do an erase and reinstall, but NOT to use the migration assistant, since this can reinstall the corrupt file the caused your problem in the first place. (This happens so much that it has caused me to question the usefulness of the migration assistant.)
Unfortunately, manually transferring your files from a back up is also tricky, since, if you do it wrong, it can cause permissions issues.
My question is if there is a document that details the erase and reinstall procedure with El Capitan? Thanks.
Mac mini, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4)
John Galt
Level 8
(48,633 points)
Yes: How to reinstall OS X on your Mac - Apple Support.
If something is not clear, write back. It would also be beneficial to describe the reason you need to do that. It might not be necessary.
Migration Assistant, should you elect to use it, will not result in improper permissions.
