mschilling Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 I'd like to be able to reinstall my system without having to backup my home folder and all the prefs, and docs, etc., is there a way to do that by an account setting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hecker Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 Even if it were possible to install on top of an existing account, it's probably not such a good idea since the files would still reside on the target installation drive. A lot of things can go wrong during installation (partition tables breaking, for example). Bottom line: back up your system before re-installing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mschilling Posted October 31, 2008 Author Share Posted October 31, 2008 I understand you there. What made me wonder if this is possible is that at work the techs there install a standard system setup from their hd, and overwright all my personal data. It is aggravating when all your bookmarks, and any file you left are deleted. The techs do give each computer a second partition for people to store their personal files. That gave me the idea to transfer my home folder to the partition and not have to worry about it getting wiped. It's a pita lately when they upgraded to 10.5.5 and then back to 10.5.4 the same week! I guess a time machine backup would work, but I don't think the techs would like me doing that, although it is a valid solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hecker Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 I understand you there. What made me wonder if this is possible is that at work the techs there install a standard system setup from their hd, and overwright all my personal data. It is aggravating when all your bookmarks, and any file you left are deleted. The techs do give each computer a second partition for people to store their personal files. That gave me the idea to transfer my home folder to the partition and not have to worry about it getting wiped. It's a pita lately when they upgraded to 10.5.5 and then back to 10.5.4 the same week! I guess a time machine backup would work, but I don't think the techs would like me doing that, although it is a valid solution. Yes, Time Machine is a good solution. Or you could try SuperDuper if you want to pack only your home directory into one big dmg image file (I recommend using the "sparse image" file type for that). EDIT: Just to be clear: create a sparse image file from within the Disk Utility app if you want to try SuperDuper. You can update this image routinely via the "smart update" function in a matter of minutes and even add compression/encryption to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mschilling Posted October 31, 2008 Author Share Posted October 31, 2008 Still, backing up is just a workaround. I'm not worried about the drive failing. When they reinstall osx, it should not affect my home folder. Moving the home folder in linux to a separate partition is highly recommended, so you can use different distros without worrying about your files. Why would this be not a good idea? It is exactly what I want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hecker Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 Still, backing up is just a workaround. I'm not worried about the drive failing. When they reinstall osx, it should not affect my home folder. Moving the home folder in linux to a separate partition is highly recommended, so you can use different distros without worrying about your files. Why would this be not a good idea? It is exactly what I want. That is indeed possible. I remember reading about it some time ago. I will search for the files and post back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Korrupted Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 You may want to try: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=116491 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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