Can you give me some guidance to the actual installation procedure?
Certainly, below I have concentrated on MacOS 8 as the main example. Don't worry, System 7.0 to 7.5x has the same installer as the MacOS 8 Alternative installer program, minus some text screens and an option to update the disk driver. Anyway, just follow the instructions below, and all should be well.
I've included pictures with these instructions to show you (in loading order) what windows that'll appear, and so that you know what to expect:
1) Bootup from either a high density floppy disk (System's Disk Tools boot disk); System CD; or from a bootable Fusion/Shapeshifter hardfile (look in MacOS Problems for the problem called How can I install MacOS in ShapeShifter or Fusion, if I don't have a bootable disk in the first place?, this will tell you where to download one).
2) Picture 11.1 - Load the standard installer - brightly coloured icon on the root of the System CD. The first thing you'll see is the installer's Splash screen.
3) Picture 11.2 - The next screen is the Welcome window, just click the Continue button.
4) Picture 11.3 - Now you'll see the Important Information window. I suggest you give it a good read, there may be some issues that may affect you and you're programs.
5) Picture 11.4 - Followed by the License Agreement window. Read it, if your not familiar it.
6) Picture 11.5 - This window, the Select Destination screen, will allow you to switch between local disks connected to your Mac. You will also note that the 'Clean Install' option can be selected on this window as well. Note that, if you are going back to an earlier System version, but have a later MacOS version already installed, then the installer will warn you that you cannot install over this System. You have to do a clean install, to get round this problem. Once you've made your choices, click on the Select button to continue.
7) Picture 11.6 - The next one is the Install Software, or Easy Install window. This list of extra features are optional - most of which you don't really need, I'll explain:
* MacOS Runtime for Java - enables Java within MacOS.
* Personal Web Sharing - allows you to share your web site (on your hard disk) via a network.
* OpenDoc - is a document authoring application.
* MacLink Plus - is a PC to Mac word processor/document file conversion utility.
* Apple Location Manager - Lets you set up different 'location' preferences for on your Mac, or between Macs (eg. a portable).
* Cyberdog - is a collection of internet programs that get you on-line immediately.
* QuickDraw GX - is a kind of on-screen GX text/vector object to printer rendering engine.
* Text-to-Speech - this feature allows text that is displayed on screen to be spoken by the Mac.
* Apple Remote Access - allows others to access your Mac, and you to access other people's Macs over the internet.
8) Picture 11.7 - This picture shows the Options window, which can be accessed by the normal install window, or by the Customise installer window. The Hard Disk Update option allows the installer to update the hard disks current MacOS disk driver on the rigid disk block. This is recommended for all upgrades of the MacOS.
9) Picture 11.8 - The Custom Installation & Removal window, allows you limited customisation of the System you're about to install. If you require a much more customised file by file installation, then you need to use the alternative installer, which is located 3 to 4 folders deep, elsewhere on the CD. The extra features in this window, also includes the ones listed by instruction no.6:
* MacOS 8 - the full install of MacOS 8 for this Macintosh.
* MacOS Info Centre - is a general Mac information utility. It'll give you info on your hardware setup, and what System software you're currently using. Pretty useful.
* Internet Access - installs the Control Panels & Extensions for accessing the internet. It also installs Internet Explorer v4.0 and Outlook Express v4.0 for browsing the world wide web.
* Open Transport PPP - is MacOS's main protocol manager for TCP, PPP and ethernet.
* MacOS Runtime for Java - enables Java within MacOS.
* Personal Web Sharing - allows you to share your web site (on your hard disk) via a network.
* Quickdraw 3D - is Apple's own 3D rendering engine, for applications that use it, eg. some games, and a few 3D drawing programs.
* OpenDoc - is a document authoring application.
* MacLink Plus - is a PC to Mac word processor/document file conversion utility.
* Apple Location Manager - Lets you set up different 'location' preferences for on your Mac, or between Macs (eg. a portable).
* Cyberdog - is a collection of programs that get you onto the internet straight away.
* QuickDraw GX - is a kind of on-screen GX text/vector object to printer rendering engine.
* Text-to-Speech - this feature allows text that is displayed on screen to be spoken by the Mac.
* Apple Remote Access - allows others to access your Mac, and you to access other people's Macs over the internet.
This alternative installer can be located through these folders on the MacOS 8 CD: MacOS8:Software Installers / System Software / Mac OS 8 / Installer.
Use this installer to install individual components of MacOS 8.x, such as, Control Panels, Extensions, Apple Menu Items, etc. However you cannot install the System file or the Finder application individually, you have to install the Core System, or System Software for this Macintosh, with this installer, onto another disk/volume then copy those two components to your original System Folder, replacing the old/damaged ones. Here is my guide for using the alternative installer:
1) Picture 11.9 - This is the alternative installer's Splash screen.
2) Picture 11.10 - Next you'll see the License Agreement window. I suggest you give it a good read, there may be some issues that may affect you and you're programs.
3) Picture 11.11 - Followed by the Install System Software window. This is the main control window, you can specify whether to do an Easy install, a Customised Install, or a Custom Removal (of individual files in your selected volume's System Folder). This window will also warn you that you're trying to install over a newer version of the System, in which case you're better off doing a clean install of the System - which can be selected the Options window.
4) Picture 11.12 - The Options window, it can be accessed by the main Install screen and the Custom Install window. The Options window displays two ways of installing the System: "Update existing System Folder" which replaces your current System Folder with the new one, and leaves all your preferences and 3rd party Extensions etc. in place (this is often called a Dirty Install); or by "Install new System Folder" which will install a new System Folder, but it'll leave the original System Folder untouched (often called a Clean Install).
5) Picture 11.13 - Next, is the Custom Install window, which enables you to select individual files you wish to place into your current System Folder, or onto the hard disk if it is just a utility.
6) Picture 11.14 - The Help window provides useful information about installing and some troubleshooting tips.
When should I reinstall MacOS?
There are only a few times when you need to reinstall the System:
1) When the System file and/or the Finder ceases to function normally. You can tell when this is the case, when the OS randomly crashes, or it freezes right at the beginning of bootup - this normally means that the System file is damaged.
2) When you want to update the OS, but it buggers it up instead - again, it doesn't bootup.
3) The installation crashed halfway through the install process. You're going to have to bin all of the files it just installed, and start all over again.
4) A partial installation of some of the System's Extensions, eg. Open Transport, or a Control Panel, but only if you're original Extensions/Control Panels were damaged, and need replacing.
5) And lastly, when you repartition, or reinitialise (reformat) your hard disk.
I've just upgraded my original System software to a newer version (not an update), and I thought it best to do a clean installation. What Extensions etc. can I take from the old System Folder, and put into the new one?
This kind of thing should only be done by an intermediate to experienced Mac users. If you don't know precisely what you're doing, it could lead to your Mac not booting up again.
There are certain items from the previous System Folder (the one that was deactivated by the clean install option) that you can move into the new System. These are:
1) Preferences: all application & utility preferences can be moved. Most pref files that are connected to the System, eg. most of Apple's Control Panels (except TCP/IP prefs), and the Finder prefs file must not be moved into the new System Folder, let MacOS create new ones for those.
2) Control Panels: all of Apple's installed Control Panels, must not be moved. However, any third party Control Panels that were installed, can be moved to the new System Folder - provided it is compatible with the new MacOS, eg. MacOS 8 made a few 3rd party Extensions and Control Panels incompatible. If you're not sure, then you can try them out with the new System at a later date. If it doesn't boot, then you'll know one of them (or even more) doesn't react too well with the newer System.
3) Extensions: again, it is inadvisable to move Apple's installed Extensions from the old System Folder into the new one, they will be completely incompatible. But you can move third party Extensions over, into your new System's Extensions folder. Once again they may be incompatible with the new MacOS, so I suggest you take a little bit more caution than with Control Panels, as they are more likely to conflict with the new System software. Add a two or three Extensions at a time (between reboots), so that if anything should go wrong, you can easily identify which ones were messing things up.
4) Third party folders/files in the root of the System Folder: Most of these files and folders, can can be safely moved into the newer System Folder's root directory. These 3rd party folders do not load anything during bootup, only the program that uses the folder's data files will access it (99% of the time, anyway).
What can I take out of the newly installed System Folder, to reduce it's RAM usage, and to generally make it more efficient, and faster when booting up?
I'd recommend using the Extension Manager Control Panel only, if you're a beginner, as it does not disable system Extensions that are critical to the MacOS, eg. Text Encoding Extension for recognising HFS+ formatted disks in System 8.1. More experienced users, will probably want to go directly to the Extensions folder, and sort it out manually.
Now, in order to conserve memory, the System's Extensions folder is what you need to sort out. Control Panels are generally not loaded during bootup (except for virus checkers & ATM), so you don't really need to sort anything out in that folder.
Refer to either my Control Panel and Extensions sections, for further details on the System's default installed Extensions. Or look at this very good shareware document called Extensions Overload, which explains 99% of all known Macintosh system Extensions, Control Panels, and Libraries. It also has useful information on a whole load of other MacOS related files.
Tips: only remove Extensions and Control Panels that you do not require - disable them to start off with (keep on hard disk), just in case you may need it later on. Then when you're satisfied with your setup, bin those useless Extensions.
To make the MacOS faster, simply reduce the number of Extensions in the Extensions folder - the less there are the faster it'll load up.
All other folders in the System Folder are for data files of one sort or another, and are loaded by the System or Finder, or by an active program, on request. So leave any installed folders where they are, they won't do any harm.
