How can i downgrade from os x 10.9 to 10.7 without time machine

Question

can i downgrade from os x 10.9 dirrectly to 10.7?

Answer 1

You should start a new topic thread, so as to get more exposure
to your question; this is suggested due to the status of where you
posted your item (now answered) will see fewer people with any
answer; mostly those seeking answers like their own question.
If your MacBook Pro shipped with a system later than the
DVD version OS X 10.6 you have, the disc would not work.
However, if the DVD you have is the Original OS X version
the MacBook Pro came with, you could use it in much the
same way as it worked before installing Mavericks 10.9.x
By 'reverting' to Snow Leopard 10.6.8 you will essentially lose all
of the content on the hard disk drive. I am not certain if you could
even import anything from a 'time machine' device that had been
created under the newer Mavericks 10.9 system. Since you have
to boot the computer with the install DVD for 10.6, and erase the
hard disk drive, reformat it to GUID and HFS+ (whatever default
for Snow Leopard) and that would remove the Recovery partition
on the computer's hard disk drive, and any other partitions.
Insert the Snow Leopard DVD into the optical drive, and restart
while holding the C key down, until the Installer disc is running
the computer; this would be rather slow, as it reads from the DVD
in order to build the Installer desktop, and access files to attempt
an installation. It may also be testing the hard disk drive, etc.
Once the computer is booted from the SL 10.6 install DVD, you
can look into the Utilities menu (in top of screen, like in Finder
desktop) to choose Disk Utility from the drop-down menu, and
once you launch Disk Utility, note there are sections within it
to choose from. You can choose Secure Erase (single pass) if
you want to have the utility overwrite zeros on the entire HDD.
This a bit longer then a basic erase & install. It wipes everything.
If not, choose to erase all Partitions and be sure it does this.
Afterward you would need to be sure it reformats the hard drive
with a correct partition map & file type. GUID & HFS+ journaled.
The tools are in the Disk Utilty that you run prior to the Installer
itself, as there are options in the menu just like Finder desktop.
Once the hard drive is erased, partition mapped, & reformatted,
it should be easy to put an all-new system 10.6 on the hard drive.
(That is, if the OS X DVD you have is a retail version, and if your
computer shipped with a system older than the one on that DVD.)
Should you choose to, an idea some suggest prior to upgrade
and also prior to downgrade, is to make a full clone of the system
that is running the computer on an externally enclosed hard disk
drive (see carbon copy cloner, or superduper, clone utilities) so
as to have a complete running system that can boot the Mac...
If you had one of these prior to upgrading to Mavericks, it would
be able to run your computer without re-installing. You could just
use the clone utility, again, to clone it back to the wiped Mac HD.
Or run Snow Leopard from the external, at a slightly slower rate
given the USB 2.0/3.0 to an external is slower than bus speed.
Not sure if this helps. However you may benefit from more
exposure to your question in a new topic thread, and that
could be in Snow Leopard, Mavericks, or this ASC section.
There are advantages to posting in an OS X named topic
since people with all kinds of supported Mac would see it.
Hopefully you can revert, and also have some kind of a way
to make a backup of any works you may need a copy of.
The applications in Snow Leopard, older than Mavericks,
may not like to handle files made with newer software.
Though there is a cost to set up the ability to make and use
full bootable system clones, the external drive, time, learning
and testing the idea to see if you can master it before erasure,
the results are worth the effort; since you then have a backup.
A full backup, and it is a manual effort to make this kind, unlike
the 'time machine' bits and pieces, this can bring back the Mac;
if used with a time machine backup, too, could be opportune.
Good luck & happy computing!