Downgrade from Mac OS X Lion to Snow leopard

I was using the Mac OS X Lion 10.7 since 29th Oct 2011. However, I wanted to clean install lion to my computer. Therefore, after backing up all my files to a ext. HD, I erased the hard drive through utility disc. Once I did it I was unable to re boot the computer by press holding the command + R keys. Not even press holding the option key is not helping me to boot the computer. Both this options takes me to the Internet recovery system. Therefore, I realise my recovery disc is not functioning.
The problem is once the Internet recovery runs it opens the Mac OS X utilities system and gives me the reinstall option as Mac OS X Mountain lion 10.8, which I have never purchase. When I enter my Apple ID and password it promt me to enter the correct Apple ID and password, which I used to purchase the Mac OS X Mountain Lion. Since I have not purchase it continuously the system reject to download the Mac OS X to my computer.
However, I bought my iMac with Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.4 and I am having the DVD. Once I insert the DVD to the optical drive and press hold the C key it won't boot either but prompting a '?' mark on a file icon and that's it with the DVD.
I don't have a external USB or DVD for the Mac OS X Lion and I have only the purchase date with my Credit card statement.
How can I install either snow leopard or lion to my computer. Now I am having a dead iMac
Thank you all in advance for any help.

Insert the disc in the drive and reboot. After the chime hold down the Option key for a one time boot menu. If after that screen comes up you don't see the Superdrive and or Snow Leopard DVD as a boot option then the SD is bad and need to be replaced. You could then go to another Mac and create a USB install thumb drive of Snow Leopard and use that to do the reinstall.
But you do not have to repost this same question over and over again in different threads.

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Like marvics is cool, but I would like to downgrade back from marvics to snow lepoard.
Its telling me that my original install disk is not compatible help pls
Technical information/errors:
You can't use this version of the applicaiton "Install mac os X" with this version of os X.
You have install mac os X 23.1.1.
And then it talks about how it cannot be used because its a power pc application.
the computer originally came with Snow lepoard

Clean Install of Snow Leopard
Be sure to make a backup first because the following procedure will erase
the drive and everything on it.
     1. Boot the computer using the Snow Leopard Installer Disc or the Disc 1 that came
         with your computer. Insert the disc into the optical drive and restart the computer.
         After the chime press and hold down the "C" key. Release the key when you see
         a small spinning gear appear below the dark gray Apple logo.
     2. 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.
         After DU loads select the hard drive entry from the left side list (mfgr.'s ID and drive
         size.) Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window. Set the number of
         partitions to one (1) from the Partitions drop down menu, click on Options button
         and select GUID, click on OK, then set the format type to MacOS Extended
         (Journaled, if supported), then click on the Apply button.
     3. When the formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed
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     4. When the installation has completed your computer will Restart into the Setup
         Assistant. Be sure you configure your initial admin account with the exact same
         username and password that you used on your old drive. After you finish Setup
         Assistant will complete the installation after which you will be running a fresh
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Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.

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You cannot downgrade a machine that shipped with 10.7 installed. Such a machine can only run 10.7 or later. As for the older machines, you would need to use the old Mac OS X install disks to erase the hard drive and reinstall the system.
I don't really understand the issue regarding minimizing windows. If the difficulty is that you want to use the green "+" button in the iTunes window's title bar to resize the window rather than toggling between the full window and the simplified window with only play controls, that is not unique to Lion. That has behaved the same way for some time. Try option-clicking on the "+" button.

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My Macbook Pro optical drive stopped working after upgrading from Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard to OS X Mavericks.. I wonder what's the work around or troubleshooting to fix this. Thanks!

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Hey there. I recently have bought a MacBook Pro with lion already on it. I wanted to play old mac games on it so I heard you could downgrade to snow leopard if you have the disk to install it. Will it work even if the lion is already installed on the computer (latest version of macbook). Also, I try to do it, since I have the disks, and it restarts my computer but doesnt start...It's just a blank grey screen that doesnt do anything. Please Help. Thanks

I repeat, you can't use any system older than the system your Mac ships with.
You can only do that if your Mac shipped with SL or earlier.

How to downgrade from OSX 10.8.5 to Snow Leopard, on an Early 2011 MacBook Pro, without the original installer disk?

Hello! So here are the specs.
I have an Early 2011 MacBook Pro, which came with OSX 10.6.6 by default.
I've lost my installer disk so I though I'd buy a retail one from the online Apple Store, and version 10.6.3 is what they sent me.
Simply running the install OSX app won't work, I get a msg saying:
-- You can't use this version of the application "Install Mac OS X" with this version of OS X. You have "Install Mac OS X" 23.1.1. --
So, I've tried booting from the new disk hoping to erase my current drive and install Snow Leopard, but no can do, I get 3 beeps and have to force shutdown (not RAM related, see below). Laptop works fine when I spare it this maneuver.
After some research I understand 2 things:
1. Only the original installer disk will let me restore factory settings (and I don't have it).
2. I can only install the default OSX (10.6.6) or a later version (that 10.6.3 DVD may not have the correct drivers for my system).
Are these conclusions right? If so, would the Apple Store replace my disk for an updated 10.6.6. one? If not, then what are my options?
Thank you!
References:
http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1172/en_US/Snow_Leopard_Installatio n_Instructions.pdf
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3910
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2186
https://discussions.apple.com/message/19444837#19444837
https://discussions.apple.com/message/18085179#18085179
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1163160

Phone AppleCare and order the computer's original disks.
(92307)

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Hi jjhron;
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Hi All,
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Any help would be appreciated. This is a christmas present for my dad.

I would look in Mail forum:
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1338
http://www.apple.com/support/mail
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Hello.
Yesterday, I upgraded my Mac to Mac OS X (10.7 Lion) from 10.6.8 Snow Leopard. However, I wish to downgrade.
Obviously, I would like to not lose any data at all. However, I have never downgraded before.
I still have the Snow Leopard installation disk that came with my Mac.
How should I do this? I was thinking it would be easiest to simply head on over to an Apple Store...
I did some research (aka Googling), and I read up on the subject quite a bit.
If I simply put in the disk, will I be able to downgrade from Lion to Snow Leopard as easily as the upgrade was?
Also, I have heard about holding down the "C" button to do this... how exactly?
I have never backed up my Mac, nor used Time Machine.
Also, is it possible to install Snow Leopard on a separate disk, and set it up so that I can switch between them on command?
Will all of my preferences be saved, or does this wipe everything, not just the system and libraries folders?
I realize that I have a lot of questions, and therefore I appreciate everyone's help in advance. Thanks again.
Sincerely, Zach

Backup your files.
Booting From An OS X Installer Disc
1. Insert Snow Leopard Installer Disc into the optical drive.
2. Restart the computer.
3. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key.
4. Release the key when the spinning gear below the dark gray Apple logo appears.
5. Wait for installer to finish loading.
Erase Drive
1. Boot from your OS X 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.
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Use any number of free alternatives to your nearly decade old version of MS Office.
Consider
LibreOffice (donation-supported)
NeoOffice (free)
OpenOffice (free)
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I can't locate my photos from my Time Machine. How do I access these? I have reinstalled everything back to Lion to try to get them off my Time Machine as it currently won't let me go back in time past the date when I down graded to Snow Leopard..
I am a dead man if I don't find the photos of our kids....

A good ressource for Time Machine questions is Pondini's Time Machine - Troubleshooting
Have a look at the section Time Machine - Troubleshooting E2. I can't see some backups
as it currently won't let me go back in time past the date when I down graded to Snow Leopard..
You probably now have two different Time Machine backups - after the downgrade TM started a new one. Have you inspected your backup disk in the Finder and looked what backups are there?
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Regards
Léonie

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http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1488

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