How to keep all music and picture files while restoring your mac?

store as "data " on cd's or dvd's

this will allow you to store all formats~audio~video and programs +files

hope this helps

First of all, back up. Get all your pictures, music, everything onto an external drive, or a dvd if it will fit on there. Could be that your hard drive is about to go and you don't want to lose that stuff.

Then if you do a system restore it shouldn't reformat your drive unless you tell it to. It should just replace the system. But don't take any chances.

You should also insert the disks that came with your mac, boot from it, and before installing OS X again, go to the menubar and run Disk Utility and try to repair your hard drive.

It might not be a bad idea to try to take your Mac to the Genius Bar -- but backup first.

If it truly is an XP device you are able to bypass to start, courses, upload-ons, equipment strategies, and initiate the information and settings flow wizard and it will back up your archives, music, video clips emails and so on, for later restoration on your newly restored computing device. on the restored computing device, only initiate the wizard returned. only ensure you employ an externalchronic or flashchronic because of the fact the objective storage medium for the wizard.

You might have malware or something of the sort. You should try Malwarebytes Anti-Malware before you try anything of that extreme. It usually gets rid of it. The download link is that the bottom.

Also to save your pictures, videos, ect. You should try buying a flash drive to save those files in. If you have to take it to the extreme where you have to restore your computer.

Take it back to an apple store, if its still in warranty they will show you what to do. (You will need either discs, usb pen, external hard drive) or a laptop Specialist. Or just reinsert the mac os x install dvd and re install mac os.

i had the same problem with my laptop one time (its an hp pavillion dv6000) the only thing you really can do is save the things you want to keep onto a disk, restore your comp, then put the things on the disk back onto your comp!

This might be a Preferences issue. Call AppleCare.

Back it all up on a flash drive

back your files on a portable hard drive. or time capsule. or your files will be gone

copy all your files to an external drive.