Can't install on this computer

My mother bought a white mac book a year or two ago, and I have no idea what happened, but it stopped working. my brother did an erase of the hard drive with the idea of installing leopard from a retail disk.
he did that but now gets the message "can't be installed on this computer."
can anyone tell me what's going wrong? I thought the retail disks should have no problem on her computer.
thanks for any help,
jeff

Depending on when the Leopard install disc was originally sold, it may be older than the MacBook you're trying to install it on. That means it might be lacking drivers for the specific components in the laptop.
Your mother's computer should have come with install discs when it was sold. If those are lost, you can call AppleCare (you'll need her serial number) and they can ship you replacement install discs for a small fee.

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I replaced my hard drive on my late 2006 Macbook Pro. I tried to do a reinstall of Tiger 10.4.5 from my start up disk. I get an error that states "can't install on this computer." HELP

I replaced my hard drive on my late 2006 Macbook Pro. I used the disk utility and erased the drive and formatted it to OSX Journaled . When I tried to install the OS from the start up disks I got the error "Can't install on this computer. I have verified the drive.
I have used Super Duper to copy my old drive to my new drive. But I wanted to do a fresh install. How do I go about this?

Did you do the Super Duper clone before you tried to reinstall the OS? If so, the original install disc is likely earlier than 10.4.11, and that may be why you are getting the message.
When trying to reinstall the OS, did you select the "Archive and Install" option? If not, you might try that. Here's a link that might help:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.4/en/mh1103.html
Good luck!

Can't Install On This Computer message...

Hello All -
A few months ago I purchased a refurbished PowerBook from the Apple website. It came with OS 10.3.9 installed, but the disks for Tiger were sent with it. (The disk states it's the PowerBook G4 OS Version 10.4 AHT Version 2.5 and disk version 1.1 - if that means anything)
I went to upgrade the laptop to Tiger tonight, and I get an error at the beginning of the install that says it can't "be installed on this computer". Hmm. Not real specific.
Not even sure where to go with this one. Can anyone help?
Thanks!

Hello,
Not necessarily. Some Macs originally sold at about
the time Tiger was released came with a full set of
model-specific Panther disks + a "drop in" updater
for 10.4, different from both the normal gray full
installer disks & the black retail ones.
That's what I said
The "Black OS 10.4 update disk" is the "drop in" update package. It's a black CD that physically looks the same as the retail disk. But, it does have slightly different writing on it.
When you insert that disk in the computer, it will identify itself as an "Upgrade" disk.
You are correct to add that some new systems sold with this update package as well around the time that OS 10.4 came out.
But, older refurbs are going to still be shipping with this update package to provide them with the current software versions.
It is
possible the refurb seller shipped this disk set
instead.
Yes, very possible that they shipped the newer grey disks instead of the original grey disks and the update package.
Anyway, you are right that the OP should call
Applecare about this, assuming it was obtained
through Apple.
Yes, Apple is the one to fix this problem. That's the only option at this point.

TS4422 MacBook Pro 15-inch SMC Firmware Update 1.2, can't install, says "this computer does not need this update"

Model Name:
MacBook Pro
Model Identifier:
MacBookPro5,1
Processor Name:
Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed:
2.66 GHz
Number of Processors:
1
Total Number of Cores:
2
L2 Cache:
6 MB
Memory:
8 GB
Bus Speed:
1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version:
MBP51.007E.B06
SMC Version (system):
1.41f2
Hardware UUID:
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State:
Enabled
This is the link to the SMC v1.2
http://support.apple.com/downloads/MacBook_Pro_15_inch_SMC_Firmware_Update_1_2
It is supposed to update to version 1.33f8

You have version 1.41f2. You cannot upgrade to a lower version - 1.33f8.

Mac OS X can't be installed on this computer snow leopard

I just bought a new iMac and want to give my old iMac to my sister. It was bought during the leopard days and I upgraded it to Snow Leopard. I started up my iMac and went into Disk Utilities. I verified and repaired disk permissions. Then I went to verify Disk. This is where all the problems occured. It stops verifying and a pop-up says "Disk Utility sopped verifying "Macintosh HD" "This disk needs to be repaired. Start up your computer with another disk (such as your Mac OS X installation disc), and then use Disk Utility to repair this disk.
So I find the only Snow Leopard disk I have, which happens to be the one from my wife's MacBook Pro, I put in and hold down the "C" key until I get to the installer. I use English as my language, then another pop-up states the Mac OS X can't installed on this computer, I can either restart or install from a back "Time Machine". I didn't want to install, I just wanted to get to the Disk Utilities feature, but it is greyed out, along with everything else.
So here I sit lost on what to do next. Do I reinstall from Time Machine, or do I need to find the original Snow Leopard that I bought for my iMac?
Any Answers to this would be great.
Thanks.

t-tech wrote:
I just bought a new iMac
New Mac's come with Lion and no boot disks, but a hold command r boot recovery partition.
t-tech wrote:
"This disk needs to be repaired. Start up your computer with another disk (such as your Mac OS X installation disc), and then use Disk Utility to repair this disk.
Silly Apple needs to fix that.
t-tech wrote:
So I find the only Snow Leopard disk I have, which happens to be the one from my wife's MacBook Pro, I put in and hold down the "C" key until I get to the installer. I use English as my language, then another pop-up states the Mac OS X can't installed on this computer, I can either restart or install from a back "Time Machine". I didn't want to install, I just wanted to get to the Disk Utilities feature, but it is greyed out, along with everything else.
Grey disks are machine model specific, surprised it gave you the limited options it did.
Don't use that disk for anything except the machine intended for it.
t-tech wrote:
So here I sit lost on what to do next. Do I reinstall from Time Machine, or do I need to find the original Snow Leopard that I bought for my iMac?
Depends upon the opertaing system your now using.
You say you "just bought a new iMac" that means like in the last week and Lion has been out for months now.
So first check under the Apple menu, Snow Leopard is 10.6.x and Lion is 10.7
If you have Snow, you need to order replacement disks from Apple with your serial number (apple menu > about this mac >get more info)
If you have Lion you need to learn some new things.
If it's 10.7 then it's Lion and it doesn't come with disks, a recovery partition that requires a strong reliable fast internet connection to download and reinstall Lion, but it has Disk Utility and can repair your Lion OS partiition, however if the problem is more serious then you need to try to make a Lion Recovery USB and boot from that to reinstall both Lion and the Recovery Partition.
You can thank Apple for adding another layer of complexity in their quest to remove the optical drives
Please make sure to have your data on a storage drive in addition to TimeMachine so you can do what you need, move the data to another machine.
Good luck with your studies.
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
https://support.apple.com/kb/dl1433
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16276201#16276201

What did I do wrong? I used to have iTunes installed on this computer and lost it when it crashed. No I can't get past a certain point in the installation point. I keep getting an error message stating that I need to verify that I have access to this file

Help!! What's going wrong here. I used to have iTunes installed on this computer but lost it when it crashed. I've tried re-installing it numerous times but I keep getting the same error message. "Error writing to file: C:\ProgramFiles\iTunes.Resources\es.lproj\iPadLicense.rtf. Verify that you have access to that directory." I know I have access to that directory because on a different computer I can sync my iPad and iPhone. What am I doing wrong? What do I need to go in and authorize or turn on? Any help greatly appreciated. Thank you.

That one's consistent with disk/file damage. The first thing I'd try with that is running a disk check (chkdsk) over your C drive.
XP instructions in the following document: How to perform disk error checking in Windows XP
Vista instructions in the following document: Check your hard disk for errors
Windows 7 instructions in the following document: How to use CHKDSK (Check Disk)
Select both Automatically fix file system errors and Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors, or use chkdsk /r (depending on which way you decide to go about doing this). You'll almost certainly have to schedule the chkdsk to run on startup. The scan should take quite a while ... if it quits after a few minutes or seconds, something's interfering with the scan.
Does the chkdsk find/repair any damage? If so, can you get an install to go through properly afterwards?

Late 2008 macbook 13" prompts mac OS can not be installed on this computer after booting from disc as l get the folder with the question mark screen. New HDD or ?

From the little research l have done, l have been convinced l may be having a dead hard drive though after having tried all the other troubleshooting tips found here, when trying to boot l get the grey screen and folder with the question mark suggesting it can not find the files neccessary to boot hence l tried booting with the disc and the message l get is that mac OS X can not be installed on this computer, though after doing the hardware check etc they all say okay. I've even tried erasing the drive and trying to instal the OS afresh with no luck. Any ideas or l must just get a new hard drive?

Pretty sure BGreg hit the nail on the head. If your hard drive was failing, you would still be able to at least attempt an install, provided your ard drive was mounting. You usually get that message when the disk is incompatible with the computer. If it is the proper disk, you might try erasing the disk (provided your info is backed up) using Disk Utility (under Utilities in the menubar) and choose the Mac OSX Extended (Journaled) format.

HT201364 I am unable to redownload OS X Mavericks on a Late 2013 new Macbook Pro 13". I get a message saying "We could not complete your purchase" " OS X Mavericks can not be installed on this computer"

I am unable to redownload OS X Mavericks on a Late 2013 new Macbook Pro 13". I get a message saying "We could not complete your purchase" " OS X Mavericks can not be installed on this computer"
I nee an easy way to resolve this with Apple.

why is it this problematic to resolve?! obviously there's a valid installer image for our macs, why can we not have access to it to use on our laptops?
I do not understand, nor accept the explanation given before - about it being a newer model... it doesn't make sense... how does that translate to "no download available".
also, if it was a valid point - we would have had that download with the release of 10.9.1 - which we don't.

HT5313 .tried to install lion 10.7, tell me can't install on this drive----but it's the boot drive that boots this computer, what am I doing wrong?

tried to install lion 10.7, tell me can't install on this drive----but it's the boot drive that boots this computer, what am I doing wrong?

dsharp14 wrote:
tried to install lion 10.7, tell me can't install on this drive----but it's the boot drive that boots this computer, what am I doing wrong?
What are the specs on your Mac? Top Left Apple Symbol > About This Mac > More Info > Hardware Overview
Thanks
Pete

HT201364 I have macbook pro 15", 2,6 ghz, 8gb, osx 10.9 but the pop up window says that maverics can not be installed on this computer. why is that? thank you

I have macbook pro 15", 2,6 ghz, 8gb, osx 10.9 but the pop up window says that maverics can not be installed on this computer. why is that? thank you

Check here > OS X Mavericks: System Requirements

Clean Install of Snowleopard - Can't be installed on this computer

I recently bought a secondhand Macbook (5,1) (2009), as my own Macbook (6,1) (2009) is about to give up. As I wanted a clean Macbook I, I followed the instructions to sweep the contents and then to install Snowleopard afresh, however Mac OS X Installer says it cannot be installed on this computer. Btw - I also have a time-machine backup from my own Macbook that I wanted to use to transfer all my data to the 'new' macbook.
Now all content is swept, but I can't install Mac OS X again. I can start the Macbook with the installation DVD and it comes to the Mac OS Installer program. It then only shows the option to restore the disk from a back up disk/time machine (which I don't have for this particular laptop, only for my 'own' one). I can't get out of that menu. If I click the option to restore, it activates the Installer program and I can go into Disk Utility and all that, but that does not help me further. There's no option for me to actually install Mac OS X.
Is there anything I can do to get the Macbook back to work? I just need to get the basic factory settings installed, after which I can add my 'own' files.

The MacBook 5,1 came with Leopard, 10.5.x. It may be stopping you from installing Snow Leopard because the drive's partition scheme is Apple Partition Map rather than GUID.
You would also need a retail copy of Snow Leopard, not a gray machine specific disk that came with another Mac. So if you're trying to use the 10.6.1 disk that came with the slightly newer MacBook that's about to give up, it won't work on the one you just purchased.
Get the retail Snow Leopard disk from Apple.

HT201364 Can't download Mavericks installer on recent Mac. "OS Mavericks cannot be installed on this computer", which is running 9.1.

I want to download the Mavericks installer so I have a backup installer that does not require the internet. Although, the App Store button allows me to download, I get a message that Mavericks cannot be installed on this computer.
Computer is late 2013 retina MBP 13" with lots of memory.
My OS is 10.9.1 (13B3116) currently running.
Is the App Store version of Mavericks too old (jan 16) for my rMBP?
Rick

Judging by the build number, it appears you have a special build of Mavericks installed and the App Store version (13B42) won't work with your computer.
Kappy - if I try to download Mavericks I get the message below, so apparently I can down load it again?
I also have a copy of the installer in my Applications folder, although it is in a folder.

Upgraded to 10.7.5 but still says it can't be installed on this computer

My computer was a 10.6.8 (sorry if whatever terminology I'm using isn't correct, I've been trying to learn as I go), but this error kept coming up that said Mavericks can't be installed on this computer. I read somewhere that in this particular version I have, (2,2) I don't know what significance that is, I can't get Mavericks with that and the only other upgrade I can get is Lion. So I figured if I got Lion, then I could get Mavericks, right? I guess not. Whenever I click the install button it still says, "OS X Mavericks cannot be installed on this computer."
Can someone please explain why this is or what I can do, if anything?
Thanks (:

Try "Pacifist"!
Pacifist is an application for Mac OS X that opens up .pkg installer packages, .dmg disk images, .zip, .tar, .tar.gz, .tar.bz2, .pax, and .xar archives, and more, and lets you install individual files out of them. This is useful if you need to install just one file out of a package instead of the entire package

HT201364 Why can Mavericks "not be installed on this computer" when I have all the system requirements?

I have a 13" Macbook (Early 2009), 2gb memory, 9.29GB of free space and v10.6.8 already installed and yet when I click to download Mavericks, a popup comes up on the screen saying "Sorry, Mavericks cannot be installed to this computer". Why not??

Something does not match up. Check your year of manufacture.
To install Mavericks, you need one of these Macs:
iMac (Mid-2007 or later)
MacBook (13-inch Aluminum, Late 2008), (13-inch, Early 2009 or later)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid-2009 or later),
MacBook Pro (15-inch or 17-inch, Mid/Late 2007 or later)
MacBook Air (Late 2008 or later)
Mac mini (Early 2009 or later)
Mac Pro (Early 2008 or later)
Xserve (Early 2009)
Your Mac also needs:
OS X Mountain Lion, Lion, or Snow Leopard v10.6.8 already installed
2 GB or more of memory
8 GB or more of available space

Simply says "cannot install on this computer" when installing on my g4

help! i went through all the steps and just before installing, it says "cannot install on this computer" with no error code, no other buttons, and no way to resolve the problem. i'm installing on a g4. please help!

Hello,
You don't provide enough information to provide you with a definite answer. What are you trying to install? OS X, an update, a program, etc.?
If you are talking about an OS X 10.4.x update, then you should make sure that you are getting the PowerPC version and not the Intel version of that update.
If you are talking about installing OS X (or any other Mac OS), then you do need to be aware of the following:
The Mac will only install from Restore Disks / OS installation disks that meet one of the following criteria.
1) Original Retail boxed version of Mac OS that is of a later version than the computer originally shipped with.
2) Software Restore / Installation disks that originally came with that specific computer.
If you are using anything other than that, you will not be successful in getting the computer to boot from the installation disks and install the Mac OS.
If you purchased / obtained install disks from someone else, and they are not retail disks, then that could be the problem. The grey disks are an OEM disk, and are keyed to a specific computer. If they do not detect that computer when you try to install them, then it will not work.
These disks are usually labeled with machine name on them like eMac, iMac, etc.
Even if the machine you have is the same one printed on the label, it still will not likely work. Not only do they check to make sure it is the same type of computer, but they also check to see if it is the exact same revision and version that it shipped with.
If one thing is different, then they won't install.
And, as mentioned above, if you use retail installation disks, then you will need to make sure that they are of a version later than the version which came with the computer. Apple has a mechanism built-in to prevent installation of an OS that pre-dates the version which shipped on the computer.
Perhaps a bit of clarification is in order:
I don't know which version of the Mac OS came with the computer you are specifically working with, so let me just use OS 10.3.7 as an example.
So, assume that the computer originally shipped with OS 10.3.7 pre-installed from the factory.
Now, the computer (and the Mac OS) would prevent you from installing OS 10.3.6 or earlier on it. The reason for this is that the operating system needs to be aware of all the system's specific needs. It needs to know how it's power management system works, and so on.
Now for the tricky part, I mentioned that in regards to the retail boxed version that you would need to install a version later than the version which came with your computer originally. Now, that may sound funny, but here's why.
Let's suppose that OS 10.3.7 was already available before your computer was produced. And, let's suppose that a few unique customizations were necessary to make the current OS 10.3.7 run on the new machine. In that case, Apple may have released a custom "Build" of OS 10.3.7 that would run on the new system. So, in that case, the already available retail version of OS 10.3.7 may fail to work on that system. But, OS 10.3.8 would be aware of the needs of that machine since 10.3.8 would include the customizations provided in that special build of 10.3.7.
So, that is why I suggested going for a newer revision of the Mac OS when purchasing / using a retail boxed package. That way you can make sure it is aware of your system's specific needs.
I hope this helps.
Let us know if you have other questions.
P.S., if you'd like, go ahead and click the "Helpful" or "Solved" buttons on any of the posts / replies above if you feel they were helpful or adequately answered your question.

Can't install on this computer

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