OS X (Apple)

I've moved this thread to the OS X sub-forum (with redirect).

There are some other options listed in the Apple Support page if you haven't read / tried them.

(and use cp -rp as methyl suggests - good catch)

Can I back up my system before a fresh install ?. When I booted from the OS mac CD I could see all my files and applications that I need really bad !.

You mean you don't have a backup ?

If you have storage available to make a backup, then do.

You could make a copy with, for one, ditto.

lool Scottn I feel bad already and yes no backup i just need a 30 GB or more storage which I don't have and I can't afford. Thx Scottn for your help man. I won't give up ...what a great hands on exercise for my UNIX class !

Ditto will copy directory structures while cp will copy files. However, this can be easily remedied by simply installing OS X 10.6 again. You can do a non destructive overlay of the OS.

You could also rsync it to preserve all attributes after you mount the file system as read/write.

As a rule of thumb, you never really want to modify anything in the /System folder.

loool I learn the hard way at the end, I thank disk utility for letting me creating a new partition within the disk, making a new image of my old partition that it doesn't boot, installing a fresh copy of snow leopard over the old partition, and at the end of the installation a window pop up asking me if I wanted to transfer my info to the new installation from the new partition it doesn't get better than this. What do you mean by a non destructive overlay ? can you explain how you do that ?

By default OS X 10.6 installer does not format the HD, instead it always does an overlay of the OS unless you pop open disk utility first and erase the hard drive.