Garrick Staples wrote: > I guess this implies that you don't currently have a regular backup system in > place? > > When you say "load", you mean a giant 'cp'? That technically works, but is not > the ideal. When you mount it in the new install, you'll find a bunch of broken > uid/gids. Best is an archive format that preserves user and group names (say, > tar). > > Tar up your existing OS (or the parts that you care about) leaving the tarball > on the external drive. After the reinstall, untar on the external drive. > Finally, work out a legit backup system in the new OS. > Fantastic. Thanks.