OS X Mountain Lion For Dummies

Appendix: Installing or Reinstalling OS X Mountain Lion (Only If You Have To)

If OS X Mountain Lion came preinstalled on your new Mac, you’ll probably never need this Appendix.

If you’re thinking about reinstalling because something has gone wrong with your Mac, know that an OS X reinstallation should be your last resort. Be sure you’ve tried all the stuff in Chapter 20 before even thinking about reinstalling OS X. If nothing else fixes your Mac, reinstalling OS X could well be your final option before invasive surgery (that is, trundling your Mac to a repair shop). You don’t want to reinstall OS X if something easier can correct the problem. So if you have to do a reinstallation, realize that this is more or less your last hope (this side of the dreaded screwdriver, anyway).

In this Appendix, you discover all you need to know to install or reinstall OS X, if you should have to. I say reinstalling is a hassle because although you won’t lose the contents of your Home folder, applications you’ve installed, or the stuff in your Documents folder (unless something goes horribly wrong or you have to reformat your hard drive), you might lose the settings for some System Preferences, which means you’ll have to manually reconfigure those panes after you reinstall. And you might have to reinstall drivers for third-party hardware such as mice, keyboards, printers, tablets, and the like. ...