Running a consulting business with my friend, Bob "Dr. Mac" LeVitus, can lead to a few strange nights! Since I live in the eastern time zone, our friends in the Pacific time zone are just getting to their personal computers about the time that I am getting ready for bed! Of course, since our Skype telephone number has a 408 area code, it can really confuse everyone!

The truth is that I may head up the stairs around 10 in the evening, but that does not mean that I put away my computer till a few hours later. I just love the convenience of a MacBook Pro, a good wireless network and Skype! I do some of my best reading and writing curled up in my bed. Of course, my husband is totally tied to paper, but who needs to hold paper to read and write these days!

Last night my computer began ringing (via Skype) at about 11:30. I had been playing telephone tag with a client all day, and we finally got a chance to connect. Our client had recently moved from a Power Mac G4 as his "main" computer to a Power Mac G5. He began the process by doing an "Archive and Install" to upgrade to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard on the G5. There had been a few problems, but he thought he had corrected them. Then he used the Migration Assistant to move his files to the G5. One thing led to another and it was time to call for help!

The point of this blog post is to help you determine when it is all right to simply install a new operating system right over the old one, when an "Archive and Install" is a better plan, and when it is time to do the "dirty deed," or as Macintosh consultants often call it, a "nuke and pave." (In Apple, Inc. terms, when it is time erase the hard drive and install a new operating system.)

Back in October, when Leopard was released, Bob and I tried all three of the different methods, and our results were surprising!

My computer was fairly new and I don't run a lot of third party software that "enhances" the Mac experience, so I repaired permissions with Disk Utility while still in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. Then I started my computer up off the the new Leopard DVD, ran the First Aid part of Disk Utility to make sure there were no hidden directory problems and then installed Leopard right on top of my old version of Tiger.

Now, for any of you who are Mac geeks, I can just see you shaking your heads and thinking that Pat is such a fool, but I did it this way since I knew that many Mac users would do exactly the same thing. (I do hope they repaired permissions and ran First Aid!) It worked out just fine! I had NO problems and went right to work learning about this new big cat, Leopard. So, yes, in the right circumstances, you can perform what is commonly called a "dirty install."

Bob did basically the same preparation with Disk Utility, and then he used the "Archive and Install" installation procedure. He was not so lucky! Although he thought that all of those third-party start-up items were up-to-date and okay, they caused him nothing but trouble! Probably, the moral of that story is that disabling start-up items is not a bad idea when your are going to do an archive and install. Then introduce them slowly so that you can make sure there are no conflicts with the new operating system.

My husband's computer, a PowerBook G4, was the third candidate for the upgrade. It was turning 4 years old, and it had been my computer until I had upgraded about a year and a half ago to my MacBook Pro. It has been quite some time since I had done any real maintenance work on it, the hard drive was pretty full, and there had been lots of software upgrades since it had last had the drive reformatted. It was also having a few problems that I was not sure were really gone.

Even though it would require much more work, that computer deserved – no, NEEDED a fresh start! I knew Ron would appreciate all the cruft being removed so that its 80 GB hard drive was as empty as possible and all the programs would be registered to him, and it would finally really be HIS computer instead of a hand-me-down with my name lurking in odd places. I installed all the applications from the CDs or disk images and I made sure to apply all the updates. Then I brought only his photos, music, documents, calendar, address book, and email back onto the computer.

It's now been a few months. I am not sure how Bob's computer has fared, but around here, Ron's computer is the most organized and has the fewest little issues cropping up. I know he appreciates having just the things he uses installed instead of all the programs that I have on my computer. And because everything was fresh and up-to-date, his small hard drive seems larger and he spends less time asking me to fix problems.

As for my computer, it could stand a good housecleaning! There a programs that I am no longer actively using. I really should archive some of my older documents and email, and I need to pare down my music and photo libraries. When did Steve say that Mac OS X 10.6 would be out?

As for the title of this blog post, do you remember the chorus from Kenny Rogers's song, The Gambler?

You got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when youre sittin at the table.
Therell be time enough for countin when the dealins done.

Those words come to me sometimes when am trying to decide the best course of action in upgrading a computer!

Pat

Don McAllister of ScreenCastsOnline stays very busy producing his weekly screencast. Last week's episode was a tutorial on VectorDesigner, a piece of software included in the January MacHeist bundle. I bought the bundle, downloaded the software and filed away my new serial numbers, then got busy with all of my current projects.

I own Adobe Illustrator. I can't say I use it much, but I occasionally work with a client who needs help and I can usually figure out what is wrong or I can point them to a good resource for help. The learning curve for Illustrator is so steep, that I just never use it for my own projects.

However, I certainly need a tool to help me produce vector graphics easily – and oh, yes, I need a quick tutorial to get me going. Don's latest screencast has caused me to take a fresh look at VectorDesigner. His tutorial is easy to follow and in less than 30 minutes, I now feel ready to tackle a project or two.

Be sure to check out the ScreenCastsOnline shownote if you want to buy a copy of VectorDesigner as Don has secured a $10 discount for his listeners.

There is a new MacHeist bundle. Check out the details at the web site and be sure to look for more tutorials at ScreenCastsOnline!.

Have you ever noticed that any time a group of people get together with common interests and needs, they tend to form a group or association or club -- or something that brings people with like interests or problems together? Just think about it. We have networks of television and radio stations, newspaper groups, trade associations, and even Macintosh User Groups.

In this New Media era, there are many formal and informal groups forming. There are now many podcasting and blogging networks. Groups of New Media content producers work together to promote their products, learn from each other and share tips and success stories.

Back in the fall, Chuck Joiner contacted some of his blogging and podcasting friends and suggested that we form a media group, MacLevelTen.

We got together at Macworld in January to get to know each other, share in a podcast or two, and we even had a meet-up to give us a chance to meet and share time with our listeners and readers.

We are a very diverse group! And we produce quite a variety of products. I would like to share a bit more about each of us and make sure you know about our ventures. Chuck usually lists us in alphabetical order, so I will do the same.

First there is me. I am the only woman in the group (also the only grandmother!). At the moment, I produce this blog, write articles for user group publications and appear on other people's podcasts. Of course, I also work with Bob LeVitus, and I am on the Executive Board of my user group, Washington Apple Pi – and that keeps me pretty busy! However, I am working on plans to add a podcast with both audio and video content in the near future.

Chuck Joiner, is our jack-of-all-trades! He works in the insurance industry by day and spends the rest of his day and night producing podcasts and blogs for all of us! He began posting the User Group Report over a dozen years ago and soon began producing The MUG Center web site. He is was the first president of the Apple User Group Advisory Board. He continues to add new blogs and podcasts each year. He is actively producing MacNotables, MacVoices, the MUG Center, and Talking WordPress His latest venture is MacJury, which is so new that it just got listed in the iTunes Music Store. A little-known secret about Chuck is that he is a Metalhead! You just would not believe the music that pours out of his iPod!

Next is Don McAllister. Don is one of the few podcasters who makes his living from what he produces! He produces both a free feed and a weekly premium subscription based podcast, ScreenCasts Online that seeks to teach us more about our Macintosh computers and the programs and devices we use with them. He will also be doing a presentation at the New Media Expo this summer. Don lives in Liverpool, UK, providing an international perspective and that of the father of two teens.

Jay Nelson makes his living producing a newsletter, Design Tools Monthly which, for over 15 years, has been invaluable for the design professional. Together with Jeff Gamet, Jay also produces the Design Tools Weekly podcast. Jay lives in Colorado and also writes for many of the best-regarded publications in the creative space.

So far, we have a woman, a Metalhead, a Brit, and a creative. All of us are in the over-thirty crowd, so we have some perspectives that are missing. Dan Pourhadi certainly fills some of that hole! He is a college student in the Chicago area. He still faces to the side on his driver's license and he tries to keep the rest of us from being "lame." In between classes and podcast appearances, Dan writes for MacUser, Macworld, IPhone Central, MacAddict, MacDirectory, TidBITS, Macteens, Macsimum News, Chicago’s Daily Herald newspaper, and Northwest Passages, as well as numerous Mac User Group newsletters across the world. He was a tech editor for the Leopard edition of Mac OS X: The Missing Manual.

Last, but never least, is Steve Sande. He is a Mac consultant, software requirements engineering instructor, and he runs Podbus.com, a web/podcast hosting company. He’s written books on the iPod and iWeb for Take Control Books, and has also authored online help systems for a number of popular Macintosh software products. Steve is also our WordPress guru and is often on the road, teaching and consulting.

Each of the MacLevelTen participants produce great content, but it's difficult to stay on top of all the new podcasts, videos and blog postings. However, I keep pretty close tabs on what is being produced, so I plan to add a post when I see new content that might appeal to my readers. Check back often!

Pat

It's always fun to be a part of a new project!

Chuck Joiner ( MacNotables, MacVoices, The MUG Center, etc.) has just started a new podcast, MacJury, and I was honored to be a guest on the first show. Along with several of the other members of MacLevelTen, we discussed lots of topics. Most notable were BlueRay, Apple TV and Twitter.

The mix of guests made for interesting conversation. As the only woman (and a grandmother too), my perspective is sometimes different from that of the guys. Having Dan Pourhadi there to give the college-age perspective, Don McAllister for the European perspective and Jay Nelson to represent the creative market along with Chuck's leadership, I think our thoughts and opinions made for a well-rounded presentation. I hope to be invited back participate in future shows!