Advice needed on setting up a new system drive-authorization

[toodamnhip]

I think my system drive, with all the beta testing, DP crashes, tons of 3rd party plug ins, etc...
Is very suspect.

I am crashing too much and things just feel inefficient.
I have some seriously heavy VIs to to with Orchestras, drums etc,..

So I thought it might be a good idea to start spending a couple hrs a day making a new clean system!!

I am very worried about authorizations.
I have a feeling that any authorizations that are computer based will see a new drive serial # or id, (or whatever it is), and I will have to authorize again.
I am also worried that my current system drive’s authorizations will get nullified if getting NEW authorizations for the new drive. I want to work on making a new clean drive while keeping the OLD drive working perfectly.

1) Do prior authorizations not work if there is a new system drive? (it will be the same computer of course, just a new drive).
2)Will the old drive lose authorizations or have it’s authorizations nullified when getting new authorizations for the new drive?
3) What’s the best way to go about creating a new clean drive while keeping the old one working perfectly?
4) Should I go with Snow Leopard or Lion?

Thanks everyone

[mikehalloran]

It depends on the authorization. How's that? Really, there is nothing to worry about. A little prep will save you time and unnecessary calls to tech support, however. Been there, done that, made just about every mistake there is - sometimes more than once.

I assume you have a Mac Pro. If you move your hard drive to another bay, you will find that many of your authorizations (including DP) no longer work. You must de-authorize internet auths before moving the drive to another location. iLock isn't affected by this.

Likewise, you must re-authorize your programs with the new drive in its permanent location including DP.

Hardware authorization (iLok etc) will work as long as you have the current drivers - no worries there.

All programs with internet authorization (Finale etc.) should be de-authorized first or you will be calling tech support to enable re-authorization. As long as you don't call too often, this is not an issue.

Some programs like SmartScoreX have no de-authorization. Call tech support.

Serial# and file based auth... make sure you have backups and know where to find your ser#s and auth files. Pretty straightforward.

If running DP 5,6,7 before 7.24, in Lion, you must install SL first with Rosetta (Rosetta not necessary for DP 7.x), authorize with the CD, then upgrade to Lion.

[mikehalloran]

I like Lion. I don't know if everything you have will work, however.

If you do something stupid and crash your whole system so you can't boot - like I did yesterday - you can option boot into Restore, select the Time Machine backup you wish to revert to and, a few hours later, come back to your desktop right before you screwed up (or the day before your troubles started if you want). All authorizations intact, BTW.

I had to do both in the last few days - my fault both times. It is so easy and works so well.

[mikehalloran]

>3) What’s the best way to go about creating a new clean drive while keeping the old one working perfectly?<

Do not clone the old drive. Install a clean OS. Reinstall your software. Move documents and files over.

You may not be able to open certain files after moving them over to a new drive. I had that issue with old Word and DP files. It is a permissions issue. Besides repairing permissions in Disk Utility, you may have to grant permissions through Get Info and apply to all files within. Once you do, you should be good to go.

[toodamnhip]

Your advise to “de-authorize” before changing drive bays sounds like it violates policy #1 for me, that being, to keep my system up and running while slowly getting a new system drive up and running.
I have too much work to be down. Last time I butchered a good system to replace and old computer with a new one, I lost 2 weeks work. With the money I lost, I could have bought several Mac Pros.