Imac - How Do I Start Again From Scratch

[ThaiLife]

My iMac has been running for 5 years non stop and now its starting to show the spinning beach ball on a regular basis , ive done the maintenance things ( inc Drive Genius / Disk Warrior Etc / repair / Verify etc ) but the problem still exists , I do regular Time Machine backups , and currently run 10.6.8 but at the moment I do not want to upgrade to Lion. So I thought it was now time to start again from scratch . I am wondering what's the best way to go about this , and what happens to all the paid applications Ive currently got . If I just re install from Time Machine then may be I will just return to the same problems I'm now having , is there any simple way I can start from scratch using the original CD's that came with the iMac and some how reinstall the paid applications ive collected over the years . As ive never done this before Any advice would be most welcome :jap:

[VerbalKint]

It is unlikely that you will have the same problems if you do a clean install and restore from Time Machine.

(it won't put back all the prefs files from unused software etc.)

It is usefull to install only the language files and printer drivers that you really need, they take a lot of space on your HD.

What I do at least once a year:

Back up all my files, address book files, bookmarks, emails etc manually. (a lot of it through Mobile Me)

Do a clean install (wipe the harddrive) reinstall all the software from scratch, that speeds the machine up a lot.

I keep files like music, photographs etc on external harddrives and only system and applications on the internal HD that saves a lot of time.

[ThaiLife]

It is unlikely that you will have the same problems if you do a clean install and restore from Time Machine.

(it won't put back all the prefs files from unused software etc.)

It is usefull to install only the language files and printer drivers that you really need, they take a lot of space on your HD.

What I do at least once a year:

Back up all my files, address book files, bookmarks, emails etc manually. (a lot of it through Mobile Me)

Do a clean install (wipe the harddrive) reinstall all the software from scratch, that speeds the machine up a lot.

I keep files like music, photographs etc on external harddrives and only system and applications on the internal HD that saves a lot of time.

Hi and thanks for the comments

I was just assuming that if I did a clean install from time machine , I would get back the exact same

configuration and possibly the same issue causing the spinning beach ball in the first place .

Your yearly routine sounds a good idea , just a few questions ..

1. Back up all my files, address book files, bookmarks, emails etc manually

I don't have mobile me , so how would I go about manually backing up these things and to where

2. Do a clean install (wipe the harddrive)

Whats the best way to wipe the hard drive

3. reinstall all the software from scratch

Here's my problem , most of my paid applications were installed a long time ago and ive forgot

their serial numbers

4. I keep files like music, photographs etc on external harddrives and only system and applications on

the internal HD that saves a lot of time.

I'm now going to do that after I get this problem sorted .

Many Thanks

[ThaiLife]

It is unlikely that you will have the same problems if you do a clean install and restore from Time Machine.

(it won't put back all the prefs files from unused software etc.)

It is usefull to install only the language files and printer drivers that you really need, they take a lot of space on your HD.

What I do at least once a year:

Back up all my files, address book files, bookmarks, emails etc manually. (a lot of it through Mobile Me)

Do a clean install (wipe the harddrive) reinstall all the software from scratch, that speeds the machine up a lot.

I keep files like music, photographs etc on external harddrives and only system and applications on the internal HD that saves a lot of time.

Hi and thanks for the comments

I was just assuming that if I did a clean install from time machine , I would get back the exact same

configuration and possibly the same issue causing the spinning beach ball in the first place .

Your yearly routine sounds a good idea , just a few questions ..

1. Back up all my files, address book files, bookmarks, emails etc manually

I don't have mobile me , so how would I go about manually backing up these things and to where

2. Do a clean install (wipe the harddrive)

Whats the best way to wipe the hard drive

3. reinstall all the software from scratch

Here's my problem , most of my paid applications were installed a long time ago and ive forgot

their serial numbers

4. I keep files like music, photographs etc on external harddrives and only system and applications on

the internal HD that saves a lot of time.

I'm now going to do that after I get this problem sorted .

Many Thanks

All now sorted - Thanks :jap: