Thank you to all the people that wrote to me about my MacBook meltdown yesterday after installing Mac OS 10.4.6 and the MacBook Pro Firmware update. PowerPage reader Bill Elkus wrote about one of the best suggestions that I’ve received:
Before I install any system update, I make a bootable backup using Synchronize Pro X from Qdea. Then if I don’t like the update, I just boot off the external hard drive and overwrite my internal hard drive with the prior image. It takes perhaps ten minutes because it only writes the changes (most of the time is spent finding the changes).
I use Synchronize Pro X religiously at least once a day and it has saved me more then a dozen times over the five years I have owned various versions of the application. Rather than chase down some corrupted preference file, I just revert to an earlier state of my Mac. If I have done substantial work in the mean time, I can usually keep that too since Synchronize Pro X has an option to show you what it is going to change before overwriting anything and it allows you to selectively remove any particular file or files from the process.
Heed this advice fair reader and learn from my mistake.
Rob Kolter wrote How to Avoid a MacBook Meltdown – Part II on 12 April 2006.
Thank you to all the people that wrote to me about my MacBook meltdown yesterday after installing Mac OS 10.4.6 and the MacBook Pro Firmware update. PowerPage reader Bill Elkus wrote about one of the best suggestions that I’ve received:
Before I install any system update, I make a bootable backup using Synchronize Pro X from Qdea. Then if I don’t like the update, I just boot off the external hard drive and overwrite my internal hard drive with the prior image. It takes perhaps ten minutes because it only writes the changes (most of the time is spent finding the changes).
I use Synchronize Pro X religiously at least once a day and it has saved me more then a dozen times over the five years I have owned various versions of the application. Rather than chase down some corrupted preference file, I just revert to an earlier state of my Mac. If I have done substantial work in the mean time, I can usually keep that too since Synchronize Pro X has an option to show you what it is going to change before overwriting anything and it allows you to selectively remove any particular file or files from the process.
Heed this advice fair reader and learn from my mistake.
Rob Kolter wrote How to Avoid a MacBook Meltdown – Part II on 12 April 2006.
