Can i downgrade to snow leopard?

Hi. i just bought a new iMac (27" MD096TU/A) and i don't like mountain lion. (Because i must use Freehand MX and mountain lion does not support this software). Now i want to downgrade to snow leopard. Is this possible?

Freehand running on Snow Leopard (with Rosetta) installed into Parallels:
[click on image to enlarge]

Similar Messages

How can I Downgrade to Snow Leopard and keeping all 3rd party apps?

New to MacBookPro and really happy. With Lion...not so much. I want to downgrade to SL, however, apparently I must reformat the hard drive. Here´s the real question: If I have a backup of my entire HD with the user, docs and all the apps I have installed (on Lion), once I downgrade to Snow Leopard, can I just move all my apps from the back up disk I have made of my Lion-Running hard drive? In other words, How can I downgrade without having to reinstall every single third party app I have?

First, how new is this Mac? A Mac as a rule cannot boot to an older operating system version than that with which it was originally supplied. In other words, if this is a new MBP that came with Lion then you probably cannot get it to boot to SL.
Some applications (and I take it you do mean full "applications" rather than "apps" which are mobile device programs -- it helps to be clear o terminology) can just be dragged from place to place. Others, notably Adobe and Office, install things all over the place and unless you are good at finding hidden files with obscure names in 10 different places you will just have to re-install them.

Can't downgrade to Snow Leopard from Lion will not recognise imac dvd

iMac 27-inch, Mid 2010
Software Mac OS X Lion 10.7.4 (11E53)
Can someone please tell me how I can downgrade from OS X Lion to Snow Leopard on my iMac
When i insert the DVD it just spins for about 10 seconds then ejects the dvd..
any help would be great thanks

Lion has installed a recovery partition on your Hard Drive and you must completely erase and reformat the Hard Drive before you can go back to Snow Leopard.
Check out some of downgrade threads just to the right in "More Like This"

Can I downgrade to Snow Leopard without a back up

I upgraded to lion. Found out Quicken wouldn't work. Bought a Time Capsule, backed up the lion installed MB Pro. 350 Gigs. Got a copy of Snow Leopard. Erased the disk, Installed Snow Leopard, Used Time Machine to put old files on Snow Leopard MBP. Nothing happened. Blue screen. Booted up Snow Leopard install disc, repaired permissions, repaired disc. rebooted. Nothing. What now. I do not have a backup before Lion.

The 10.6 disks your using isn't compatible with that Mac, no compatible hardware drivers.
You need this disk here
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A
Follow these install instructions, you need to make sure you have a GUID partition table and a OS X Extended Journaled drive
How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6

I have inastalled Lion on my Mac Book Air and I have really problems. By application that are not from Apple the processors is 80 degrees celsius warm after 2-3 Minutes from the start of the Apps.How can I downgrade 2 Snow Leopard without 2 loose my Data?

Can I use the Lion licence with my MacBook Pro if I downgraded my Air?

If you are wondering why you are not getting any responses, it is because you have vented a complaint without any details that make any sense or give anyone something to work on.
If you want help, I suggest actually detailing what has happened, with versions of software etc. Anything that would let us assist.
As a start I am guessing that you have not really got the hang of "How it all works". Firstly download the Pages09_UserGuide.pdf from under the Help menu. Read that and view the Video Tutorials in the same place. A good addition would be the iWork 09 Missing manual book and something to help you learn how to use your Mac.
If there are specific tasks you need help with:
http://www.freeforum101.com/iworktipsntrick/index.php?mforum=iworktipsntrick
Is a good resource.
Peter

Can you downgrade from Snow Leopard to Leopard if MacBook Pro is shipped with SNL

I have recently purchased a MBP with 10.6.8 already installed but it came with no disks and i wish to fromat to get it truley cleaned up. I have my shop bought Leopard i pruchased for my Imac and my leopard disks that came with a later MB, when i insert the leopard disk when booted it reads ok hit the install button MBP reboots but just sits with white/blue screen and nothing happens. Tried rebooting and holding C still nothing happens apart from the MBP does not boot up but hangs. Tried pressing alt at boot up and the option to choose the disk appears I select it nothing happens yet the mouse no longer moves, it just sits there. The disk is fine as i used it to reformat a friends MB 1 hour before i attempted mine.
So if the MBP came with SNL already installed can you not roll back to leopard, or is there something I'm missing.
model: 15.4 MBP 2.8ghz core duo 500hdd 4gb ram etc...

Hi all
Ok so I went ot the local Apple shop and they have stopped stocking SNL but advised i can download Lion and install and even though it didn't format i could when installed boot to the recovery partion -utilities and erase from there and then do a full install thus allowing a full format.
So erase done click install lion and it connected to the net and then sat for some time so what i'm asking is does this now have to down load the 4gb image again. I assumed it installed from the partition but will it download and install if so this could take some time as the Lion download took approx 8 hours.
Please tell me that is not the case as that is seriously flawed and left me in a dodgy position as i have erased my hdd and will have to wait till i can get a day off to run the next install.
as a foot note i was advised to copy the image and then burn so i would have a hard copy i did this would it be quicker to do it from thi disc.
thanks in advance

Can't find iPhoto photos after downgrading to Snow Leopard from Lion

I had my photos on my External Hard Drive being used as a backup for TIme Machine.
After downgrading to Snow Leopard from Lion (my computer was running rediculusly slow likely due to being so close to the minimum requirements), I can not access any of my Time Machine dates prior to the date I downgraded. I have reinstalled Lion to try to access the files that way, but am having issues finding my old photos.
Any help would be appreciated as I've got about 15000 photos of my kids on there.

There are issues with iphoto which changes versions..
I would strongly recommend you do an archive of the TC before you do any more playing.
I presume the TC is the only place you have these photos stored??? So your entire library is hard disk erase from total annilahation.. not good!!
Load a real utility into Lion.. archive is not present on the new version.. why apple why??
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1482
You can then do a full restore to an external drive.. or something fancy..
Pondini is the saviour here.
http://pondini.org/TM/15.html
There is a specific section on iphoto and its pain.
I strongly suggest you read the entire section from Q14-18 so you actually understand what TM does.

Wanting to downgrade to Snow Leopard. Can you help?

I like Lion in many ways and it has some nice features, but I have been having wifi trouble, programs not working, safari acting wonky, etc. since installing Lion. Can someone give the tips, etc needed to downgrade to Snow Leopard until Lion's bugs are ironed out? Is it doable? Will it cause other problem? Is it very time consuming? Thanks!
I got into Mac's in 2006 to escape all the Windows troubles... Lion so far is giving me flashbacks. Whew!
Appreciate any help!
Al
P.S. BTW, my iPhone 4 has no wifi since uprading. I did the Lion upgrade and the iPhone 4.3.4 upgrade on the same day.

Backup ALL your Users folders manually to a external drive and disconnect, your going to be wiping the entire disk (Windows files too)
Hold c and boot off the 10.6 installer disk that comes with your computer and second screen in just STOP.
Look at the Utilities Menu for Disk Utility.
On the left is the name of your hard drive maker, click it and Erase (format HFS+ Journaled), give it the same name as before, and click Erase...
This should wipe the drive of all three partitions (GUID, OS X and 10.7 Recovery)
When it's done, quit and install OS X 10.6. Then install all your programs from fresh sources and validate/update.
Update OS X to 10.6.8 using the Combo Update for best results.
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1399
When you setup a account, use the same user name as before, this way you can simply drag and drop your Users folders right back in and everything should work peachy.
If your original machine had 10.5 and you want the free iLife that comes with the disks with the computer, then you'll have to install 10.5 first, then 10.6, then Combo Update.
A lot of people use a Carbon Copy Clone of their boot drive to a HFS+Journaled external drive as a "hold the option key" bootable backup in case something goes bad. (in addition to TimeMachine for more immediate backups.)
If the above doesn't work, then I would suggest trying to restore your machine to a TimeMachine saved time without Lion. If that doesn't work then I would try doing what the above directions state, but going to the Apple Icon and selecting StartUp then choosing your bootable disk.

How to Downgrade to Snow Leopard from Retail disk

Hi there
We have a new iMac at work bought through Apple's refurb site. It is running the latest version of Lion with all firmware updates, etc. It is replacing a G5 running Tiger.
The problem is this – it is supposed to be running Adobe CS5, but also CS4 (and Office would be handly also)
We have other macs here, some running Leopard, some Snow Leopard, but the Adobe apps are not happy at all in Lion, and InDesign CS4 crashes all the time and won't even print without jumping through a million hoops (obviously the Office 2004 app won't run at all).
Due to the level of issues we are having with Lion (and the reliability of the all the software under Snow Leopard) I am looking to downgrade to Snow Leopard.
I have a full retail version of Snow Leopard (10.6.3), but the Lion system won't boot from the disk, it just gets to the grey screen, and beeps three times. I presume this means that there isn't the required drivers on the disk to run the hardware, or there's a firmware update that doesn't allow installation.
Am i totally stuck with this OS? I was looking to install Snow Leopard on a partiton, but when i run the install disk from the Lion desktop, it reports that I can't run it because 'I have Install Mac OS X 23.1.1.'
I would really like to just have Snow Leopard on my iMac, or failing that, Lion on a small partition, and Snow Leopard and all the programs on the larger partition that I would boot from.
Any ideas how I can get this done? Adobe CS suite is just rubbish on Lion macs, and runs worse than on my old Tiger mac.
Thanks in advance,
M.

Mac_fool wrote:
oh right - so clone Mac B onto Mac A HD in taget disk mode using SuperDuper (or Carbon Copy Cloner), then i'll be able to boot Mac A in SL.
I understand that Mac A wouldn't boot, I was going to make Mac A's SL partition the start-up partition for Mac B, and then try and install OS updates to 10.6.8 from Mac B. Once updates are installed - change Mac B's startup disk back, and then surely Mac A would be able to boot all on it's own...
I'm not sure if this would work in Target Disk Mode, but if you succeed in cloning Mac B to Mac A, you may be able to apply the Combo 10.6.8 update to Mac A while booting from Mac B. The key is that the Combo updater may be able to customize the Snow Leopard installation for the hardware it's actually being applied to. Unless I missed it, we don't really know which iMac you have since it's a refurb. According to Mactracker, only the Late 2011 21.5" comes only with Lion and might not accept Snow Leopard at all. At the same time, it has the same Model Identifier as the Mid 2011, which came with 10.6.6 or 10.6.7 so it might work.
If at that point Mac A does boot in Snow Leopard, I'd advise running the 10.6.8 Combo updater again while booting from Mac A just to be safe.

Need help with Mountain Lion downgrade to Snow Leopard

Recently upgraded to Mountain Lion, my daily applications do not work and i am losing patience, I need help downgrading to snow leopard, i have the snow leopard CDS that came with my mac
***detailed instructions help***
my mac specs
macbook pro 13" early 2011
My time machine
i have a backup with mountain lion, and i also have a backup from snow leopard,(my goal is to restore my latest backup from mountain lion to snow leopard)
i have backed up my files using time machine AND justcloud
My question is how, i do not want to lose any data, also is there any thing i need to be aware during this process

Downgrade Lion/Mountain Lion to Snow Leopard
1. Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the installer. Install Snow Leopard.
This will erase the whole drive so be sure to backup your files if you don't have a backup already. If you have performed a TM backup using Lion be aware that you cannot restore from that backup in Snow Leopard (see below.) I suggest you make a separate backup using Carbon Copy Cloner 3.4.1.
If you have Snow Leopard Time Machine backups, do a full system restore per #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions. If you have subsequent backups from Lion, you can restore newer items selectively, via the "Star Wars" display, per #15 there, but be careful; some Snow Leopard apps may not work with the Lion files.

I want to downgrade to Snow Leopard from Lion

Hi
Can someone please tell me how I can downgrade from OSX Lion to Snow Leopard on my brand new 27" iMac.
I spoke to Apple over a week ago on the phone and explained that I wanted to downgrade to Snow Leopard and the chap I spoke to sold me the Snow Leopard upgrade disk and not the full installion DVD, I already own the Snow Leopard upgrade disk so now I have two copies and I can't use them to downgrade.
All I get when I insert the DVD is a message saying "you can't use this version of the application Install Mac Os X with this version of Mac OS X"...
Could someone please tell me exactly what Snow Leopard disks/ DVD I need to purchase (and where) for me to install Snow Leopard on my iMac. I have seen lots of different "versions" on eBay & Amazon with vastly differing prices but how do I know which disks I need to buy as I don't want to end up purchasing a third "Upgrade only" versionof Snow Leopard.
Thank you for any help you can give me with this...

I've already tried all of those methods using the 10.6.3 disks I bought, they simply don't work as I posted earlier.
All that happens is the machine constantly bleeps 3 times in a row and the DVD drive stops spinning. I know booting from a DVD install disk is a slow process but no matter how long I leave it nothing happens except for the 3 bleeping sounds.
Having scoured the net and spoken to Apple themselves all information tells me these 10.6.3 disks are actually for someone upgrading from Leopard to Snow Leopard.
I have no idea why Apple sold me this version as before I ordered it I explained fully to the sales person what I was wanting to do and they had all the details of this mid 2011 iMac I have bought. So unless the sales person didn't have a clue what they were talking about then I should be able to "downgrade" to Snow Leopard on this iMac as even the specs for this model clearly state on everymac.com that it originaly shipped with OS 10.6.6 (Snow Leapard)
http://www.everymac.com/ultimate-mac-comparison-chart/?compare=all-intel-macs&hi ghlight=0&prod1=iMacIntel041
So there must be somewhere I can purchase these 10.6.6 install disks to "downgrade". Trouble is on Ebay or Amazon where you can buy Snow Leopard most of them are 10.6.3 or "retail" versions with no actual version numbers to let me know I'm buying the correct disk.
Who would have thought setting up your computer could be a mission impossible task and why Apple don't help is simply a disgrace to be honest.

What happens if I downgrade to Snow Leopard?

Hello,
I have a 2011 MacBook Pro that originally came with Snow Leopard. At some point, I upgraded to Lion, so that I now have 10.7.5. I would like to be able to downgrade to Snow Leopard using the discs that came with my computer. This is mainly so that I can use the Bootcamp version which supports Windows XP. I was wondering if I can downgrade without losing any of my data, and if I will lose certain apps, settings, etc. currently on my Mac. I DO NOT own an external hard drive or any backups(I know I should, but I never got around to it). So what will happen if I try to downgrade, and is it possible?
Thanks for any help.
EDIT: Nevermind, I just saw another thread exactly like this, and realized that in order to get all my files, I need an external hardrive with a backup of my files.

No, it is not possible. Here's what you must do:
Downgrade Lion/Mountain Lion to Snow Leopard
1. Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer Disc. After the installer
      loads select your language and click on the Continue
      button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the
      Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the
      mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status
      of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then
      the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART
      info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on
      the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions
      from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS
      Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the
      partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on
      the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the installer. Install Snow Leopard.
This will erase the whole drive so be sure to backup your files if you don't have a backup already. If you have performed a TM backup using Lion be aware that you cannot restore from that backup in Snow Leopard (see below.) I suggest you make a separate backup using Carbon Copy Cloner.
If you have Snow Leopard Time Machine backups made while on Snow Leopard, then you may do a full system restore per #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions. If you have subsequent backups from Lion, you can restore newer items selectively, via the "Star Wars" display, per #15 there, but be careful; some Snow Leopard apps may not work with the Lion/Mountain Lion files.

How to downgrade to Snow leopard

I upgraded to Lion and little to early for my tastes now. I would like to downgarde to Snow Leopard, so I can run Pro Tools. I know I can do this via Snow Leopard Install disk, then Time Machine. My CD drive is out of commision, so I have the image on a thumb drive. When I try to boot from the thumb drive, the apple logo appears, but then thats it, nothing else happens. I tred to see if it would al least boot of the thumb drive on my macbook pro, and it works fine, so I know i out it on the drive correctly. ANyway to downgrade back to Snow Leopard? Can I do that via the Lion image? Thanks

Downgrade Lion to Snow Leopard
1. Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the installer. Install Snow Leopard.
This will erase the whole drive so be sure to backup your files if you don't have a backup already. If you have performed a TM backup using Lion be aware that you cannot restore from that backup in Snow Leopard. I suggest you make a separate backup using Carbon Copy Cloner 3.4.1.

How can I re-install Snow leopard having installed Lion? The disk supplied states that I cannot use the version of 'Install Mac OS X'...HELP!

How can I re-install Snow leopard having installed Lion? The disk supplied states that I cannot use the version of 'Install Mac OS X'...HELP!

None of the instructions usually given for downgrading seems to mention the fact that you will lose some data in built-in applications, including at least Mail. When you installed Lion, your Mail database was converted from the format used by Snow Leopard's Mail to that used by Lion's Mail. There is no way to reverse that conversion. Therefore, you will lose your entire Mail database. If your messages are all stored on a remote server, that may not be an insurmountable problem, but otherwise you'll have to restore from the last backup you made before the upgrade, and then you'll still lose all changes to the database made since that time.
Another fact not often mentioned is that downgrading is usually the worst possible solution to a problem with Lion. But that's the answer to a question you didn't ask.

Hi, Hi, Hi I have the old MacBook Pro. Upgraded to Mountain Lion which completely wrecked the system. So downgraded to Snow Leopard. The updated the combo update. Now stuck on blue screen at start-up. Need help. Greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Hi,
I have the old MacBook Pro. Upgraded to Mountain Lion which completely wrecked the system. So downgraded to Snow Leopard.
Then updated the combo update. Now stuck on blue screen at start-up.
Need help. Greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Downgrade Lion/Mountain Lion to Snow Leopard
1. Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer Disc. After the installer
      loads select your language and click on the Continue
      button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the
      Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the
      mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status
      of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then
      the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART
      info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on
      the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions
      from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS
      Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the
      partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on
      the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the installer. Install Snow Leopard.
This will erase the whole drive so be sure to backup your files if you don't have a backup already. If you have performed a TM backup using Lion be aware that you cannot restore from that backup in Snow Leopard (see below.) I suggest you make a separate backup using Carbon Copy Cloner.
If you have Snow Leopard Time Machine backups, do a full system restore per #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions. If you have subsequent backups from Lion, you can restore newer items selectively, via the "Star Wars" display, per #15 there, but be careful; some Snow Leopard apps may not work with the Lion files.

Can i downgrade to snow leopard?

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