Applications from SuperDuper to new install... ??

[afteryouwho]

I have a corrupted system on my computer and must do a clean install of Snow Leopard.

Instead of copying/restoring from my Backup, I need to manually reinstall all my programs, docs, etc. I can do this from my SD backup but am not sure if I copy the Applications folder if they will actually install.

Can anyone advise me on this before I do it?

I know that I do not want to old system folder to install again.

Thanks.

[sjk]

What specific actions to suggest would depend on things like how your system is corrupted, whether or not the backup is or suspected to also be corrupted, and how old the backup is.

Originally Posted by afteryouwho

… but am not sure if I copy the Applications folder if they will actually install.

Most probably will, especially ones originally installed with simple drag/drop. But more complex ones (e.g. Adobe apps) that have extra components outside the /Applications folder (e.g. under /Library) would likely need to be reinstalled from scratch (e.g. by rerunning their custom installers).

After doing a clean install I'd never copy at least any Apple apps from a backup /Applications folder. And I'd normally prefer to do an inventory of which apps are really necessary to reinstall and do it manually.

I'm short on time to fully explain this so maybe Dave or someone else can help you come up with a good recovery strategy.

[dnanian]

I think this is a really bad idea, but if you need to do an erase-and-install, you should migrate from the backup using the steps in this FAQ entry.

[sjk]

Originally Posted by dnanian

…, you should migrate from the backup …

Good suggestion. Thanks for the reminder.

[afteryouwho]

Originally Posted by dnanian

I think this is a really bad idea, but if you need to do an erase-and-install, you should migrate from the backup using the steps in this FAQ entry.

this is what I did originally on the new machine. And it would seem that the corruption "migrated" from my backup. So I am left with no other option than to do a clean install and start from scratch.

That leaves me with my original question: will my backup application folder install my programs? I suspect not; I will have to do a new install of the apps as suggested by sjk. Will probably clean up my computer in any case.

Thanks for the help.

[dnanian]

I've never run into a situation where I wasn't able to determine the cause of a problem like this - a total erase is pretty radical surgery given the likely size of the 'tumor'... but, up to you!