Maybe it's about time for a clean install

[hal]

but I really don't wanna...

I remember a clean install used to be the norm for every software or hardware upgrade. But it's been YEARS since I've done a clean install on my macs.

I've had my 2.8ghz quad tower for about two years and the boot RAID in there was simply moved untouched from another tower. And before that, I moved hard drives several times and just copied the boot drive over.

My laptop is even more remarkable. I've probably owned 6-7 different laptops in the past three years, constantly changing the hard drives, but haven't done a clean install for a LONG time. Migration assistant sometimes, but always bringing EVERYTHING over.

This is a testament to two things - the remarkable flexibility of Mac OS (and migration assistant) and my remarkable laziness.

The laptop is still running perfectly. It's a simple setup and not used for heavy lifting.

The desktop has a ZILLION various software installs - later removed (perhaps completely, perhaps not) or just left there. There are probably a dozen login items. I can see a quirk or two due to all of this, but nothing that forces me to stop at the nearest convenient place for a complete overhaul.

I've been expecting to do that clean install for my next tower, but I just can't quite find that deal when I have cash in hand.

If I had tried to work like this during the OS 9 days, I would have been brought to my knees years ago. OS X makes me lazy...

[rjmacs]

Ya got a spare HD? How many pieces of software with draconian licensing (i.e., really a pain to reinstall)? Do you have lots and lots and lots of programs with lots of customization that you actually use?

I was in a similar spot with my G5 dualie, and took a long hard look at how many programs i really, truly use on a regular basis. The list wasn't short, but it was probably 25% at most of what i had installed. I didn't have tons of draconian licensing mess, and i did have installers for most of what i use.

The tower was feeling a little sluggish, and i thought: maybe it's not just the G5-ness. I'm a guy who takes care of his drives, cleans caches now and then, runs DW if things get wonky. I don't overmedicate, but neither do i expect everything to run perfectly forever without attention. OSX is good (running 10.5.8), but it's not impervious. Ultimately what prompted the experiment was that MobileMe just wouldn't sync any more, and though it would work with a fresh user account, migrating settings migrated the problem.

So I grabbed another drive (technically slower than the boot i was using), formatted, did a fresh system install, and slowly went about adding the programs i really use. Didn't encounter any big losses or problems, though some programs required tinkering to keep settings, etc. I did have to copy some preferences manually, and i've got a complete backup of the old boot volume "just in case." Long story short: my system is much zippier, i'm able to do all the stuff i want to, and i haven't hit any snags. It took some effort, but it was worth it. MobileMe syncs perfectly, and overall the machine seems more responsive, etc. FWIW, i have the same # of login items as before, and generally keep the same # of apps running concurrently as previously.

So, my experience says: do it as an experiment. Don't commit until you know it works. Keep a working backup. Go with real-life activity instead of theoretical 'maximum flexibility.' And then do what works for you.

[Jimmypoo]

I do what Curly would do. He would blast.