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From: platkus@en.ecn.purdue.edu (Shawn W Platkus)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Re: Hard disk as startup
Message-ID: <1991Feb5.155452.16317@en.ecn.purdue.edu>
Date: 5 Feb 91 15:54:52 GMT
Article-I.D.: en.1991Feb5.155452.16317
References: <3981@orbit.cts.com> <11851@darkstar.ucsc.edu> <10779@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
Lines: 37

In article <10779@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> benji@euler.Berkeley.EDU (Benji Rudiak-Gould) writes:
>In article <11851@darkstar.ucsc.edu> unknown@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (The Unknown User) writes:
>>
>>	You -could- just copy your whole System Disk to the hard drive,
>>although people always suggest you don't do that...
>
>Why is this?  Currently I don't use the installer, because 1) I don't want
>to entrust my hard drive to a strange program; 2) I can never figure out
>what scripts I do and don't want to use, but with the Finder I can pick and
>choose; 3) There are warnings in some of the scripts saying that they
>delete certain other files "to make room," which of course I don't want;
>and 4) I have several patched system files which I don't want to replace,
>since that would mean patching them again.  Is there really a reason why I
>should use the Installer, or do people just not trust other people to know what
>they're doing?

I used to not use the Installer either for the same reasons.  I thought
that apple created it so that people who didn't know how to copy a file could
easily install the system software.  
	Well, after I got system disk 5.0.3 I wanted to put it on my Hard drive.
When I was looking through it I thought that it would be a pain to do, and it
would've, but then I remembered the Installer.  I looked through the Installer's
scripts and figured out exactly what it did and what files it removed and 
added. Basically, it only removes the old files that it is going to update.
The only thing that I keep a backup of is my Finder Icons, because I have 
directly modified that file.  After Installing the Latest System Files, I
simply add back on my Icons files.  I would highly recomend using the installer
unless you are super familiar with exactly what system files you need. 
	I installed 5.0.2 myself, and I could never get postscript files to
be created on the GS.  When I used the Installer with 5.0.3 and 5.0.4 I just
picked LaserWriter, and it put files on that I hadn't thought of, and 
printing postscript files then worked.  
	I don't know what system files you would have modified though, but
is it really that hard to remodify the new ones?


Platkus