[Sargiel]

I've just ordered a Mac OS X Leopard after having been running Tiger exclusively till now.

I'm going with a clean install but am wondering if there is a viable method to save my data from Mail/Safari and import it to a fresh 10.5 installation ?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

[Hansi]

Archive & Install will install a fresh system folder but keep all your data.

[Sargiel]

Cool - thanks for the quick response.

[Sargiel]

I went with a clean install in the end which was mostly troublefree (besides the time investment): -

1) Ensure you've the license codes for all your programs & shareware recorded.

2) Backup all your personal data

3) Save safari bookmarks (~/Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plist & ~/Library/Application Support/Safari to be safe)

4) Save Mail folder and preference files (com.apple.mail.plist & com.apple.mail.searchhistory.plist)

I had a bit of bother getting rid of my bootcamp partition. I had to backdate the date on the bootcamp beta utility to enable it for use and then use the software to remove the partition and restart. However that didn't get rid of the partition itself. So in the end I had to delete the partition icon as well and restarted to find it completely gone and the space available for my leopard install.

Aside from that all is well and I'm busy reinstalling all my wonderful games

[teflon]

a much easier route would have been to use disk utility, as found on the leopard install DVD, and reformatted the entire drive, wiping out all its contents in one fell swoop.

also, I would always recommend doing a complete HDD clone (carbon copy cloner is good) and then either use the migration assistant, or use it as a temporary vault and take what you need/want from it.

[Sargiel]

Hmm it's true

My backup process was limited by what I had available - so it consisted of a combination of using the HDD space of an ibook plus a few DVD's for the shortfall. I'm planning on getting some kind of large external drive to use moving forward so I can take advantage of easier options!

[teflon]

youre in the UK, so I can give you a few reference points to look at.
From now on you can use Time Machine, but it might also be worth looking at using Carbon Copy Cloner or Superduper on a regular basis, in which case, get one large external for the TM, and then a secondary smaller drive for CCC/SD.

depending on what machine youre using (MB? MBP? iMac?), and your usage, my recommendations would change.
Basically, if youve got FW800 on your machine, use it (file transfers are way in excess of USB2, making TM backups much faster). Even if you dont, I personally think that its worth looking to FW400 (in tandem with USB2) despite Apple making it redundant on their latest machines.

Anyway, im blathering a bit.
My ideal drive for the right here right now is this one. Its big, its got USB2, FW800 (and an included FW400 cable) and eSATA, and its cost effective at £111.
If you dont want to stretch beyond the £100 mark, dont mind about the interface much, or dont think youll ever use 1TB of space, then for £65 you can get a WD 500GB drive which only has FW400 instead of FW800, but still has eSATA. (you can get it with just USB2 for £60, but the £5 is well worth it in this instance).

i wont go on about a secondary drive, cos its not vital, and would only really be used in a dire situation, whilst TM should have you covered anyway.