Hey peeps, going to need some help, I have let things get behind.
My OS is Mojave, my computer is Late 2015 iMac i7

to do a fresh install do you still need to have the OS on a USB or
can you install using the app in the app folder?
I have Big Sur and Monterey there, I think Monterey is not compatible to pitstop
so going to do Big Sur.

anybody just install over the OS before? problems?

Quote from: Tracy on January 24, 2022, 11:08:37 AMHey peeps, going to need some help, I have let things get behind.
My OS is Mojave, my computer is Late 2015 iMac i7

to do a fresh install do you still need to have the OS on a USB or
can you install using the app in the app folder?
I have Big Sur and Monterey there, I think Monterey is not compatible to pitstop
so going to do Big Sur.

Yes you can install it straight from the Applications folder. It will install it over the top of Mojave and your apps, user accounts and all files will be retained.

Have you updated XMF so the client will run on Big Sur?

Quote from: Tracy on January 24, 2022, 11:08:37 AManybody just install over the OS before? problems?

@Tracy I have done it many times. But I had it to hang up recently when trying to install over the Mojave OS to Big Sur. Luckily I did a Time Machine backup before I tried that so I could restore to Mojave and then I did a clean install of Big Sur and then imported the apps and existing user accounts from Mojave to Big Sur. I highly recommend a Time Machine backup before you proceed either way.

I have my XMF on my other Mac I don't update that Mac as I don't have an XMF license.

time machine I started doing backups, how would you restore to an OS from time machine?
I have never used time machine I'm not familiar with it.

since you had troubles I think maybe I should do a fresh install
do I still have to use a USB? I have my notes from last time except the part
about how I got it on the USB, I can google it.

I found instructions on making the bootable USB drive I'll get back to you
when I get this step done.

Now to find that USB I used last time!

Thanks Joe! still helping me!!

Time Machine backup is done to an external hard drive. To do it right you leave that external hard drive connected and running 24/7 to the Mac. The first time it runs it does a full backup. After that it runs several backups daily to backup new and changed files so you ALWAYS have a complete current backup of your system.

If after doing the original backup you disconnected the external hard drive from your Mac you will need to connect it back to that iMac and let it run another backup to get it up to date before you proceed.

To make a backup bootable disk for Big Sur you will need a USB stick at least 16 GB as the Big Sur installer is over 12 GB. This is different than for previous OS instructions as previous ones would fit on a 4 GB disk. Here are the instructions from Apple for making the Big Sur bootable disk:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

I only had an issue on 1 of about 8 - 10 iMacs I upgraded back in December so chances are you won't have an issue but as long as you have that Time Machine backup you should be good.

To restore from a Time Machine backup, after you install Big Sur and it is booting up it will give you the option of restoring. You will need to have the Time Machine backup external hard drive connected. Tell it you want to do the restore and the hard drive should show up allowing you restore from it. Always use the latest date/time backup to restore from. Select to restore applications, your user account, all files, and computer settings. It will prompt to create a password for the user account  it is restoring to. You can use the same password the account originally was. It will take some time. The more stuff you have to restore the longer it will take. The ones I did took about 2 - 3 hours to do the restore.

Hey! thanks Joe!
I'm doing Time Machine on my NAS is that ok
or should I use an external drive directly to the computer

Quote from: Tracy on January 24, 2022, 01:35:48 PMHey! thanks Joe!
I'm doing Time Machine on my NAS is that ok
or should I use an external drive directly to the computer

It should be able to use the Time Machine NAS as long you can see the NAS on the network and if it is going to restore over the network I highly recommend your Mac is using hardwired ethernet and not a wireless connection.

thanks! I may decide to use an exterior hard drive for time machine, not sure yet

no wireless here! 

succesfully made the USB Installer!

Last time I manually added everything back into my computer, it's quite the deal
decided to keep my time machine backup on the NAS

does time machine do the drivers and email?

Yes if, after you do a clean install, when it boots up the first time it will give you the option to bring stuff back. Select the most recent time machine backup from the NAS and it will restore your user account with all files, emails, contacts, applications, printers, and computer settings. Once it is restored you should be good to go. There may be additional updates to do on the Mac OS and if you have been running Mojave previously there will be the new versions of Creative Cloud apps that you can install.

Thanks Joe, I think I'm going to be ok!

Oh and if you would like a part time job
I can pay you in sunshine and rides to the beach! 

Uh, what's a NAS?

something
something
Storage

Quote from: born2print on January 25, 2022, 03:45:49 PMsomething
something
Storage

Yep...Network Attached Storage.