Reinstalling Or Updating OS X

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If you have recently updated to a particular version of OS X and are experiencing problems, or you have other broader problems that other troubleshooting hasn't been able to solve, you can reinstall the current version of OS X. Here's a few steps to do this as cleanly as possible. This is also the recommended procedure for anytime you are updating OS X in incremental updates (i.e. updating from 10.4.7 to 10.4.8).

If you are installing a new version of OS X (like going from OS X 10.4 Tiger to OS X 10.5 Leopard) then skip forward to Installing New OSX Version.

1. Repair permissions on your main hard drive as outlined above.

2. Go to apple.com/support/downloads

3. Do a search for and download the OS X update you are looking for. Include the word "combo" in the search. For example: 10.4.11 combo update. Although many search results may be returned, only look for the combo updater for your OS version.

There are usually two flavors of updates, one called "update" and the other called "combo". The combo updater has provided more users with success and less reports of problems in the past.

Additionally, there may be two versions of each update, those for PPC (Power PC Macs) or Intel (Intel Macs).

4. Disconnect all FireWire peripherals like hard drives and cameras. (This is important as many users have reported losing connection or being able to "see" FireWire peripherals when they left their devices connected to the computer during the update.)

5. Install the combo updater.

6. Repair permissions after the update.