Whats the process for erasing disk, reinstalling Mac OS and restoring data and apps

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I was told by the Apple genius bar that my OS was messed up and is slowing down my macbook. I was told to erase the disk, reinstall the OS and restore the apps and data from my Time Machine.

I'm pretty sure I know how to erase the disk and reinstall the OS but when it comes to restoring from the Time Machine, what exactly do I restore? I can restore all my major folders on my hard disk (users, Applications, Library etc.) but if I restore the System folder won't that overwrite the OS I just installed?

Secondly, I'm assuming all my apps will be reinstalled once I restore and that I won't have to reinstall those manually. Is that correct?

JMH

Posted 2014-10-01T18:26:13.873

Reputation: 13

Answers

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If you're not comfortable doing a fresh install, you might consider getting another appointment with the Genius Bar. That said, it's not that complicated. Mashable has a pretty good overview for Mavericks, but the process is similar for the more recent OS X releases.

Once your machine is freshly rebuilt, create the same username you used on your previous install and you should be able to restore your personal files from a viable Time Machine backup. If you want to be extra cautious, you could create a temporary user, like 'admin' and restore all your original users and data as you like.

MMB

Posted 2014-10-01T18:26:13.873

Reputation: 506

Link rot possible,. Please add whatever is in that link to the post (assuming you have the rights to copy it) – Hennes – 2014-10-01T23:27:54.200

It was pretty simple. After the reinstall of the OS (Mavericks) it asked me if I wanted to restore Apps and Data and gave me an option to restore from Time Machine. Didn't have to set up usernames and all that. They were preserved. – JMH – 2014-10-02T16:31:16.557

Asked: 2014-10-01T18:26:13.873

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Active: 2014-10-01T23:31:47.740