Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition

Four Kinds of Installation

The Mac OS X installer can perform a number of different installations. For example, it can put a copy of Mac OS X 10.4 onto a hard drive that currently has:

• Nothing on it. If you one day have to erase your hard drive completely—because it's completely hosed, or, less drastically, because you've bought a new, empty external hard drive—this is how to do it. See "Erase & Install," later in this appendix, for a step-by-step guide.

• Mac OS 9 on the hard drive. Also see "The Basic Installation" below for a step-by-step explanation.

• Mac OS X 10.0 through 10.3. The 10.4 installer can turn your older copy of Mac OS X into the 10.4 version, in the process maintaining all of your older preferences, fonts, documents, accounts, and so on. See "The Upgrade Installation" on Section A.4.

  On the other hand, a substantial body of evidence (specifically, hundreds of moaning Mac fans online) points to the wisdom of performing a clean install, described next, rather than an upgrade installation. (Apple calls this the "Archive & Install" option.) A clean installation provides a healthier, more glitch-proof copy of 10.4. See "The Clean Install" on Section A.5.

  WORKAROUND WORKSHOP: The Tiger "Up to Date" Upgrade isk

  When you buy Tiger from a store, you get the installer described on these pages—the one capable of performing either an Upgrade installation or an "Archive and Install" (that is, a clean install).

  You may have received a different DVD, however, thanks to Apple's Software ...