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Upgrade=Archive and Install?


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Upgrade=Archive and Install?
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Banana
is the next Chiquita
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
 
2006-02-10, 00:38

Due to my work's nature, I've been giving out some basic tech support. Someone came with a G4 iMac, claiming that all personal data were lost.

After questions, it turns out that this person reinstalled OS (I'm still unclear why it had to be re-installed as I'm told it was working fine prior to reinstallation).

I then went through the installation process to show how it worked; I told about "archive and install", but when we got to where we should choose this; I only got single button which said to "upgrade" and clicking this only takes us to actual installation process. Advanced options dind't give similar options. Seem strange to me that there wasn't anything to indicate whether personal data should be archived or not.

I've also done PRAM, disk permissions and repair.

I told them the best thing they could do is to either get disk warrior or pay a techie to recover the data, which I'm reasonably sure is still there; just that the directory isn't there or something like that and not to add or write over the hard drive in the meanwhile.

So did they forget to put in archive and install for the 10.3 (or whatever it was that came with G4), or did upgrade=archive and install?

If latter, then what could have caused all the personal data loss?
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BlueRabbit
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: San Francisco, CA
 
2006-02-10, 02:27

Archive-and-install has definitely been around since at least 10.2, if I'm not mistaken. If he reinstalled the OS, that leads me to believe that he did an erase-and-install. If you try to install OS X (say, 10.3) on a hard drive with a higher version (say, 10.3.6), then the upgrade option shouldn't work, and he probably did an erase-and-install (doesn't sound like he did an archive-and-install).

The best option would be to get him to restore his data from his backups. But if that doesn't work, I'd go with DiskWarrior.
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Banana
is the next Chiquita
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
 
2006-02-10, 10:40

But there wasn't any option for archiving or erasing. There was simply one button, "Upgrade", no more. Not even in advanced options.

And we're talking about the CDs that came with iMac; they simply *thought* it was a upgrade, not a system restore.

And no, there's no backups, so Disk Warrior is the only way.
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Banana
is the next Chiquita
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
 
2006-02-10, 18:46

Am I the only one who asks questions that cannot be answered?
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BlueRabbit
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: San Francisco, CA
 
2006-02-11, 03:43

Looks like the Genius Bar may need to use the red phone...
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BarracksSi
BANNED
I am worthless beyond hope.
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Washington, DC
 
2006-02-12, 03:22

I don't have the OS discs with me, but I think the archive-and-install-installer is elsewhere on the disc.

It'll be over a month before I'll be back home, though, so I can't fully answer.
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curiousuburb
Antimatter Man
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: that interweb thing
 
2006-02-12, 07:30

Questions it would help to know:

Was it the original OS disk shipped with the iMac G4 (if so... might have been Jaguar, or Panther)?

Which version(s) of the OS ? Did they start from 10.3 and are now 10.2.x? (This might answer the other questions by process of deduction)

Some machines were bought just around intro time, and were installed with the older OS, but came with an 'upgrade' CD/DVD to rev them to the newer OS which was shipping and default installed soon after. These OS upgrade discs usually did not offer all installer options, IIRC. Nothing to be done about it.

If we're talking about the full retail box of Panther/Jaguar/whatever, then those installers are fully functional.

More detail from you usually == more accurate help from the GB.
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Banana
is the next Chiquita
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
 
2006-02-12, 09:46

Yes, it was the original discs that shipped with the units. They just thought it was a upgrade discs.

Rats, I didn't ask them if they used an actual upgrade disc, but AFAICS, they thought this discs had Tiger on it, didn't buy a retail of Tiger, told me that they used this very discs to "upgrade".

As to the system version, my memory says I saw "10.1.3", but I'm not 100% sure on that.

I'll try to get more details and be back.

Nonetheless, that bit about newer OS shipped with G4 iMac may be the clincher.
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