If I boot into Recovery Mode and select Reinstall ML will it delete my User files?

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macuser1232


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I just wanted to reinstall Mountain Lion on my Macbook Pro and I want to make sure it won't delete my User files. Also, will this affect my Microsoft Office? Will I have to reinstall it? Will it affect any files or settings of mine? Currently have no back ups but I am creating some now using rsync. I'm also using crashplan.
 
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chscag

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Reinstalling Mountain Lion from the recovery partition will not delete or remove your user data, apps, or documents. However, you should always make a backup before doing a reinstall or any other work that involves the system. Use Time Machine or software that can create a clone of your hard drive. Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper are programs that can clone your hard drive contents.
 
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chscag said:
Reinstalling Mountain Lion from the recovery partition will not delete or remove your user data, apps, or documents. However, you should always make a backup before doing a reinstall or any other work that involves the system. Use Time Machine or software that can create a clone of your hard drive. Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper are programs that can clone your hard drive contents.
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Won't that require me to have an external hard drive? By the way, I just finished backing up my Users folder using crash plan.
 
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Yes, you would need an external hard drive. A backup should be done on an external hard drive. Both of the programs that I mentioned will create a clone that can be booted from which is especially advantageous. But it's up to you.... By the way, is there any compelling reason why you're needing to reinstall?
 
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Well it will help relieve my paranoia about my Mac having problems. Like when I first installed Mountain Lion it froze up for the first time ever and I had to shut down my Mac. Plus recently I changed my Mac's User name so it may have messed up things so I think a reinstall of OS X 10.8 may resolves some problems and relieve me of my paranoia.
 
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OK, that's fine. I always like to make sure that someone "really" wants to reinstall rather than just do it for "whatever". I always try to tell folks that OS X is not Windows. :)
 

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