I'm currently backing up my current setup to move over to some new hardware and was wondering what other developers think of first when given a fresh OS installation.
Please answer one item per answer so they can be voted on independently.
views:
1058answers:
57Tools such as foxmarks/xmarks (http://www.foxmarks.com) exist so that your bookmarks are synced automatically between systems. Pretty sure you can choose which folders to sync, if you want a little privacy.
Mark Rushakoff
2009-08-16 06:18:38
Use Google Bookmarks(http://www.google.com/bookmarks/)... its awesome..
Mahin
2009-09-13 05:29:38
one word: delicious.com
I. J. Kennedy
2009-11-29 04:52:25
+1
A:
Eclipse installation.
Since eclipse is nicely portable, this saves me having to download and install each plugin one at a time.
Ben S
2009-08-16 05:56:15
+1
A:
The first and most important is /home directory. The rest can be just installed. Also some /etc is good as well.
Artyom
2009-08-16 06:07:15
I keep my /home on a 2nd hard drive, so I can usually just reinstall the OS then mount /home
chris
2009-09-07 02:25:21
+17
A:
I agree with Laurence that the home directory would probably be first, but after that, on a Debian based system:
dpkg --get-selections > ~/installed_packages
on the original system, followed by something like
dpkg --set-selections < ~/installed_packages
apt-get -u dselect-upgrade
on the new system, to keep pretty much all of the installed software the same as the previous system.
Mark Rushakoff
2009-08-16 06:08:28
+6
A:
Cygwin.
It's so wrecked by now with all my customisations and things that running the installer properly and starting from scratch would take days...
Matthew Iselin
2009-08-16 06:21:38
+10
A:
My SSH private key and my OpenVPN private key.
Since I keep every configuration file and my home directory under version control on a remote server on my VPN, these are the only two things I need to get back all the rest, regardless of where in the world I happen to be. (Well, provided I have broadband internet access.)
Jörg W Mittag
2009-08-16 08:19:56
+4
A:
Call it lame, but my collection of desktop wallpaper is up there on my list :).
Reuben
2009-09-07 02:24:27
This seems a little weird at first but when I look back at how much time I've spent on http://interfacelift.com it makes sense and the last two reinstalls I did it was one of the first folders to move back over and be used.
Brian Surowiec
2009-09-10 14:28:27
+1
A:
Any programs I have made, along with source code so I can keep working. And, my avatar :P
Cyclone
2009-09-07 02:27:03
+1
A:
my music player (in my case winamp 2.95 since that was the best version i.m.o.) and my music. ;^)
(yes I could play them from a nas, but since I'm on a laptop and frequently program on location, having it on the main computer is very practical)
Toad
2009-09-08 08:02:58
+1
A:
Google Chrome. So I don't need to use IE to get all the updates to my apps. (Though I guess Firefox on a fresh build would open sometime the same century... so might have been worth a call)
Amadiere
2009-09-08 08:07:03
+1
A:
Home directory, followed by application settings (%appdata% in Windows) for Firefox, Thunderbird etc.
simon
2009-09-08 08:09:40
Yep, very important for me. Would take ages to reconfigure all the addons and things from scratch - not to mention all my emails stored in there...
milan1612
2009-09-08 08:15:21
+2
A:
Depends on the OS.
If Linux, then .bashrc/.bash_profile, ssh keys, and other staff, then documents/code and other general things.
If Windows, then installation of drivers/utilities, mingw/eclipse/tortoisesvn and others. And only then documents/code/p0rn.
Andrejs Cainikovs
2009-09-08 08:12:26
+1
A:
If not the home directory, at least the mail box...esp with windows. (The profile directory with Thunderbird.)
moogs
2009-09-08 08:15:31
+1
A:
The home/ directory. If not possible, then .bashrc, .vimrc and I'm good to go..
Michael Foukarakis
2009-09-08 08:16:43
+10
A:
Setting decent Windows Explorer settings:
- details view,
- show extensions,
- show all hidden and system files,
- open new instances in new process,
- etc. etc. etc. ;-)
peSHIr
2009-09-08 08:21:41
This happens even before drivers get installed. Seems so little yet makes such an improvement on usability.
Brian Surowiec
2009-09-10 14:31:09
If, you use windows - yes it is some of the most important things you do!If you use Nautilus in Linux just pres Ctrl+H to show hidden files.
Frank
2009-09-14 22:08:26
A:
At home, I am a Mac: I copy everything, including home directories of each family member, thanks to Apple Migration assistant.
At work, I am a Unix: from project to project, I try to preserve my .exrc file for vi customization, and some aliases and functions defined in .bashrc or .bash_profile.
mouviciel
2009-09-08 08:34:12
A:
my home directory, followed by /usr/local/bin (where i put small scripts, rather than adding something else to everyone's path)
Martin DeMello
2009-09-10 14:26:06
`/usr/local/bin/` will still pollute others' path. I tend to keep my scripts in `~/bin/` and add it to `$PATH` in `~/.bashrc`.
Alan Haggai Alavi
2010-02-02 05:54:09
A:
I rather try to not install fresh OS but copy my pre-configured partition image with all programs, settings and security stuff already in place. And then i copy recent projects/source code/recent home dir to it.
Phil
2009-09-10 14:32:27
A:
Ultimately I just love the perceived speed and efficiency of a clean slate.
What I have is a 'downloads' folder that contains every app I ever installed and kept.
This is ported over to the new installation and get installed as i use them. I never save configurations and my music etc is all backed up on an external drive keeping the OS installation relatively painless.
Most important is to copy my Battlezone 2 folder now I lost the CD.
Robert
2009-09-10 14:46:17
+4
A:
On Windows, my favourite sysinternals tools
Mainly Process Explorer and Autoruns
Andrew Bainbridge
2009-09-10 14:55:24
A:
First you must have all your hardware drivers.
Second: Most Used Apps: Antivirus and/or Firewall IDEs Compilers Offices (MS or OpenOffice) Image Editors Media Player CD burners
...etc etc...
Third: Your data.
yelinna
2009-09-11 20:48:04
+2
A:
New hardware means windows ( at least in my country ), so the first thing I do is to install a more user friendly OS ( Slackware, Backtrack, Ubuntu - you name it! ).
Frank
2009-09-11 20:53:58
A:
The first thing I copy is the Mac OS X keychain so that I don't have to re-enter all of my passwords for wlan or sites that I don't remember the user/password combinations anymore.
André Hoffmann
2009-09-12 21:07:42
A:
Using WHS for backups, having access to the old backup (and the ability to mount+browse the old computer's file structure completely) has been invaluable. You'll always forget something.
Andrew Coleson
2009-09-13 05:50:13
A:
I generally would have messed up my system in a year or two with all my files scattered here and there. What I generally do is copy all my data to the new system under a "Files from older installation" folder. This assures me that I have all my files and avoids the painstaking process of filtering out actual useful data. Also, I'm up and running in no time.
As and when I need files from my older installation, I move the required files out to a more organized location. But then again, this "organized way of keeping files" wont last... :-)
Trainee4Life
2009-09-13 06:13:09
A:
For me its strange that we have to do this every time from one h/w to another, manually. That there is no tool or software* to do such stuff. Something that could copy something (My Thunderbird Mailbox) to another version of the OS if needed (XP to XP or XP to Vista), and also know whether such a move would work (compatibility,...)
*AFAIK, for Windows. And only nLite was mentioned, but this not a migration tool as such. I have not tried the Migration Assistant on Mac OSX, so I don't know how effective this is - does it copy third party app's preferences, data etc effectively?
Nivas
2009-09-13 06:50:50
A:
I've never shared the machine I work on with other people, so I'm used to completely owning it - I customize it as I want, I have root (Administrator) access on it, I configure all the drives and partitions, etc.
As such, I always have system and data on separate partitions. Even when I reinstall the OS, I can do it easily and just format the system partition without copying anything anywhere.
So, if I migrated to a new system, it wouldn't be as much my home directory that I copy, but rather my home partition.
Vilx-
2009-09-13 15:39:51
A:
My wamp folder with my dev environment and in-progress work and my PortableApps folder with 90% of the applications I need for dev work. The rest is icing...
Killroy
2009-09-13 16:12:46
A:
~/.bashrc
~/.vimrc
~/.gnupg
~/.ssh
Keypass files
OpenVPN key & config file
That's all I need to get my work done. My bookmarks are handled by Xmarks now, so I just set that up in Firefox and all my stuff magically returns. I have backups of my work home dir on JungleDisk, I don't need that stuff immediately but it's there.
JKG
2009-09-13 21:25:29
A:
The porn and other naughty images would be my first suggestion but those I keep on an external disk so no need to copy those. :-)
My emails, perhaps? But no, I use webmail mostly with online archives so no need to copy those.
Most other important data that I have is also stored on external disks so I actually don't have to copy anything from my old to my new system. All I need to do is install all the applications I use on the new system.
So, technically speaking, I would "copy" all applications I use, by installing them on the new system.
Workshop Alex
2009-09-13 22:51:05
+2
A:
I copy nothing over, I keep everything in subversion and simply do a get
Joel Martinez
2009-09-13 22:55:00
A:
Since Windows 7 fetches all my device drivers at installation, the only thing I do today is load my user directory backup and voila.
kRON
2009-09-14 00:13:06
A:
My collection of utilities/tools/editors (regardless of which OS)..
Like the stuff listed here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/173328/whats-in-your-utility-toolkit
RobS
2009-09-14 02:18:34