System Restore
 

Is there a way to reload 10.4 on this computer without having to move the home folder and copy all of the files? Diskwarrior told me that one of the property lists is damaged and it cannot be repaired, as you can see in the attached photo. I am assuming that it can be fixed be reloading the system software, but I do not want to worry about copying all of the files on this computer over to my external HDD.

If you don't want to keep anything at all, just choose Erase and Install as the installation procedure.

If you want to keep your files but want to reinstall the OS, choose the Archive and Install method: this will preserve your personal files and keep the old system in a folder calledPrevious System Folder.

Just check through that folder to see if there is anything you want to keep and delete the rest.

just remember to delete the folder when you have what you want, or the system will be running two systems.. eating up ram like a beast.. the whole thing takes about 30 minutes and your done.

Ok before I started I had one property list that was damages and now I have the same one damaged and a resource file that is damaged. This is after I did the archive and install function. I also lost 2 Gb's in the process on the HDD.

Looks to me like your only option left is to delete and install.

One last thing to try is to start up from your install disk and run Disk Utility to repair the hard drive.

If that still doesn't solve the problem, me thinks you'll have to find a way to back up your personal files and wipe and reinstall.

ok I will try starting up from the Install Disk. I do have a 500 GB HDD that I can back up to. If I need to back up should I use the EMC Retrospect that came with the drive or I also have Techtool Pro and DiskWarrior(not sure if this will backup) and Super Duper!

If Disk Utility doesn't help and you're ready to erase and install...

Since this is for your personal files, I would simply manually drag and drop them on the external if you can catch them all in folders: they should essentially all be in your Home folder so it shouldn't be too hard to gather them up. It would be best if you verified the files are good before erasing your internal HD though.

If you have installed any special widgets, Contextual Menu Items or QuickTime plugins and the like, you might want to look in

Macintosh HD -> Library -> Widgets

Macintosh HD -> Library -> QuickTime

Macintosh HD -> Library -> Components

Macintosh HD -> Library -> Contextual Menu Items

just in case they're not all localized in your user account and you want to save them.

If you have a good look around and you're sure everything that you need to keep is safe and backed up, go for it.

Good luck and keep us up to date with how it goes.

I tried repairing the disk using disk utility and it did not work so my last option will be to do a brad new install. I will do that probably this weekend when I have time since this computer works fine now.