Help! I need to downgrade Mountain Lion to Snow Leopard

Hello, I know this seems to be a major issue, but i'm going to try to see if someone can help.
Here's my scenario
I have an iMac i purchased in October 2010, and i have all of the original install discs, since owning the computer i've installed Lion and then Mountain Lion
I recently purchased a brand new mac, and want to sell the iMac.
I've done this a number of times (clean installs) and didn't realize this was going to be such an ordeal. I need help!
-I have all of my files off the iMac completely and on my new computer
-I've already zeroed out the hard drive
-reinstalled Mountain Lion
so there is absolutely nothing on the computer i need...
From this point
How do i get it back to Snow Leopard? and/or Do i even have to?
Thanks, please let me know if i need to clarify anything

Clean Install of Snow Leopard
     1. Boot the computer using the Snow Leopard Installer Disc. 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, set the format type to Mac
         OS Extended (Journaled, if supported), then click on the Partition button.
     3. When the formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed
         with the OS X installation and follow the directions included with the installer.
     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
         install of OS X. You can now begin the update process by opening Software
         Update and installing all recommended updates to bring your installation current.

Similar Messages

Downgrade Mountain Lion to Snow Leopard (Keep all data?)

I have Mountain lion and I am about tired of it and I want to go back to snow leopard. I also have Time Machine but it has been awhile since my upgrade and I have changed many things that I do not want to loose.
Is there a way to downgrade to snowleopard and keep all my info as it is now? I would think restoring via time machine would restor the OS as well?

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/Mountain Lion files.

Need to reinstall mountain lion from snow leopard

i was using mountain lion before my hard drive went bad and had to replace it. however, snow leopard is the only OS disc i have so that's what i used to reboot the computer once i replaced it. how do i now reinstall mountain lion back to this computer? thanks.

i updated the snow leopard so i now have the app store but when i go to purchases and hit "download" on my previous mountain lion purchase it doesn't do anything and when i click on the application name it says "The item you've requested is not currently available in the U.S. store."?? and yes, this is the same store i bought it from.

I am a macbook pro user form last 2 yrs, recently i upgraded to Mountain Lion from Snow leopard. Since then operational speed is a major concern. Now It has crashed so very badly that I am scared of my data.Please help me.

I am a macbook pro user form last 2 yrs, recently i upgraded to Mountain Lion from Snow leopard. Since then operational speed is a major concern. Now It has crashed so very badly that I am scared of my data.Please help me.

Reinstalling Lion/Mountain Lion Without Erasing the Drive
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

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

I downgraded from Lion to Snow Leopard as my comuter was really slow (probably right at the min requirements for the new OS)
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?
You should see a folder "Backups.backup.db" and inside the current backups for the computers you are syncing. Is there more than one? Open the folders and look at the dates. Is there any backup from last year?
Regards
Léonie

How do I switch from Mountain Lion to Snow Leopard? New used computer that I don't have anything on yet but has Mountain Lion installed.

I just puchased a used 2008 MacPro 2.8 ghz 8 core and it has Mountain Lion installed on it. I want to go back to Snow Leopard because it is a better stable OS for using Final Cut Pro 7. I just bought the Snow Leopard Discs to install. I need to erase the hard drive and install Snow Leopard. Any help on how
to do this? 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 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.

I upgraded to mountain lion from snow leopard, now my photo studio software is no longer supported by powerpc. Does anyone know of a fix so my photostudio will work?

I upgraded to mountain lion from snow leopard, but now some of my applications do not work, most specifically I would like to use my photo studio, but now it tells me that powerpc is no longer supported. Does anyone have any fixes to this problem? I would really like to continue to use software that I already have! Thank you for your help!

PPC software will not work in Mountain Lion because there is no longer any Rosetta emulator. You will only be able to run your older software by creating another partition on your hard drive on which you can install Snow Leopard. It need not be a large partition since you can still keep your files and programs on the main partition. You could also install Snow Leopard on an external drive from which to boot the computer.
To resize the drive do the following:
1. Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
After the main menu appears select Disk Utility and click on the Continue button. Select the hard drive's main entry then click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
2. You should see the graphical sizing window showing the existing partitions. A portion may appear as a blue rectangle representing the used space on a partition.
3. In the lower right corner of the sizing rectangle for each partition is a resizing gadget. Select it with the mouse and move the bottom of the rectangle upwards until you have reduced the existing partition enough to create the desired new volume's size. The space below the resized partition will appear gray. Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed. (Note: You can only make a partition smaller in order to create new free space.)
4. Click on the [+] button below the sizing window to add a new partition in the gray space you freed up. Give the new volume a name, if you wish, then click on the Apply button. Wait until the process has completed.
You should now have a new volume on the drive.
It would be wise to have a backup of your current system as resizing is not necessarily free of risk for data loss. Your drive must have sufficient contiguous free space for this process to work.
After you create the new partition boot the computer from your Snow Leopard DVD and install Snow Leopard onto the new partition.

How can I downgrade from Lion to Snow Leopard?

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.
4. Upon completion quit DU and return to installer. Install Snow Leopard. Restore your files after the installation has completed.

What happens when I upgrade to mountain lion from snow leopard?

I currently have 2 partitions. my mac side and my windows 7 home side.
If i upgrade to mountain lion from snow leopard will i be expected to reinstall bootcamp and windows7 home along with all my other windows programs?
What happens to the partitions? do they stay the same or does the upgrade pretty much do a factory restore and make me start from square one again?
I have a time capsule. but do not really know how to work it like its supposed to. i just really use it to store data that i do not need on my partitions at the current times.

I do not have any knowledge about boorcamp but on my old MacBook with snowleapard,
I was not able to upgrade to Mountain Lion Because of my hardware I think.
And about tha bootcamp partition:
there shouldn't be any problem with upgrading "if even possible" because the Mac partition
can't edit the Windows partition.
I hope this helps you, but I would do some more research befor upgrading instead of completely trusting on my advise.

Exporting OS X Mail from Mountain Lion to Snow Leopard

After upgrading to Mountain Lion, I partitioned my iMac HD to have two partitions: Macintosh HD has Mountain Lion; I reinstalled Snow Leopard on Macintosh HD 2. Best part: you can access your user-created files from EITHER disk partition. But not so OS X Mail. I wanted to revert to Snow Leopard, since I don't like the iOS-like Mountain Lion (swipe THIS!), but Mail was a problem since all my Snow Leopard Mail was successfully migrated over to Mountain Lion during upgrade. But I think I found a way to Export Mail from ML to (a clean install of) SL.
Try this:
1. Open Mail in ML. For each folder you wish to have back in SL, Export it to your ML Desktop as an .mbox file. Depending on the folder size, this can take from a few seconds to several minutes. You'll see an .mbox icon for the particular folder on your Desktop. If the word "partial" appears between the folder name and the .mbox suffix, wait a few moments for the Export to complete, at which time the word "partial" will disappear. E.g., for a folder named "Mary", if it's a huge one, the icon will first appear as "Mary.partial.mbox"; when the Export is done, you'll see "Mary.mbox".
2. When you've Exported all your desired folders as above, you can exit ML and re-start your Mac in SL. Open Mail in Snow Leopard, and once again, for each file you just Exported in ML to the Desktop there, select "Import Data From Apple Mail" and choose the folder from the Desktop in ML to which your mboxes were Exported. When the Import starts, you can see via a progress bar how far along it is. When done, you'll see a new folder in your SL Mail called "Import"; click on it to reveal the folder you just Imported!
3. Then drag the folder you just Imported out of the Import folder to "On My Mac" in SL Mail; you can then delete the Import folder.
4. Repeat until all your folders are where you want them (in SL).
5. When you have time, go back into ML and clear all those .mbox files from your Desktop.
There MAY be an easier way, but this is what worked for me.

The iOS view vs classic view in Mail is not the problem; I've already configured for classic view.
Mountain Lion itself is.
My short list (to date) of crappy Mountain Lion behavior; items marked with a double asterisk (**)represent the worst of Mountain Lion for me.
** No up/down arrows in scroll bar slider;
Expose` not as easy to navigate as in Snow Leopard;
Mail does not request passwords for either receive or send;
No "Save Draft" icon in Mail compose window (workaround: use command-s);
"Save As" selection missing in most app menus;
No separate Search window in Safari (workaround: use Firefox or Opera);
** Can't export Mail from Mountain Lion into Snow Leopard if downgrading (I compiled this list before I stumbled on the method in this thread, but I'd prefer to effect this with Unix symbolic links);
iWork 09 seems to have "circled the wagons" re compatibility with MS Office or LibreOffice (workaround: just use Libreoffice);

Dual boot drive - Mountain Lion and Snow Leopard - Correct order to load software /apps?

Hi
I want to create a dual boot drive for Mountain Lion and Snow Leopard as some of my hardware (is not supported in Mountain Lion).
I am happy how to do this, I just want to know if there is a correct way to install software and apps.
My plan was to do a clean install of both using two partitions, the larger going to ML and smaller one for SL. I was going to install SL from the DVD and then after updating from 10.6. to 10.6.8 and download ML from the app store and install on the larger partition.
Do I install all the software I use like Final Cut, Aperture, iLife (for Garageband) etc on the ML or SL partition or on both. Also, is there a better way / practise of the order software updates / apps and boxed software should be installed when doing a clean machine install.
Thanks in advance.
Matt

Thanks mende1
So, if I have software I need to use on both ML and SL - for example Final Cut as I have a Canopus AVDC box which is not supported in ML but only SL, do I need to install the same software in both OS?
I usually open apps using spotlight and didn't know if it would software / apps would open if already installed on the other partition?
Thanks again
Matt

Upgrade - Mountain Lion from Snow Leopard

I have upgraded my iMac to Mountain Lion from Snow Leopard. I have a MacBook Pro running Snow Leopard; do I need to purchase this upgrade again, or will the previous purchase hold good for my Macbook Pro?

On your Macbook Pro, assuming it is running Snow Leopard 10.6.8, you can log into the Mac App Store with the EXACT same Apple ID that you previously used to purchase Mountain Lion for the iMac. In the Store go to your Account's "Purchased Items" list and you should see Mountain Lion listed. Download it from there for Free onto your Macbook Pro.
Hope this helps

I have just installed Mountain Lion over Snow Leopard, I now can't open Photoshop?

Hi everyone, I have just installed Mountain Lion over Snow Leopard. The installation went smooth and woks well. Now I find that Ican't open either Photoshop CS or Microsoft Word. I upgraded in order to install Lightroom 5, obviously there is now an incompatability, is there a work around?

If that is the original Photoshop CS, and Word 2004 or earlier, then they won't open because Lion and Mountain Lion do not support PowerPC apps. They must be Intel code. Snow Leopard could run them because it included Rosetta, a PowerPC to Intel (and back) interpreter.
You have a few options.
1) Go back to Snow Leopard.
2) Update your apps to compatible versions.
3) If you have Mountain Lion because newer apps require it then:
a) Install Snow Leopard Server (currently being sold by Apple for $20) in a VM such as Parallels, and then run your PPC apps in the VM.
b) Install Snow Leopard on a separate partition and boot to that version of OS X when you need to use those older apps.

Keep getting this pop up box after downloading Mountain Lion ( had Snow Leopard) time profile failure .... how do I fix it ??

Keep getting this pop up box after downloading Mountain Lion ( had Snow Leopard) time profile failure (in a small box).... how do I fix it ??
Pleeeease can any one help i??? t pops up all the time and I have have to confirm in OK box.
I´m not a PRO on a MAC

Can you provide a screenshot? I haven't ever heard of such an error. I suspect it may be third-party software of some kind.

How do I downgrade from Lion to Snow Leopard without losing iWork 09? I upgraded my MBP from 10.5 (originally 10.4) to 10.6, then again to 10.7. Should I go back to 10.4, 10.5 or just to 10.6?

How do I downgrade from Lion to Snow Leopard without losing iWork 09? I upgraded my MBP from 10.5 (originally 10.4) to 10.6, then again to 10.7. Should I go back to 10.4, 10.5 or just to 10.6? I don't remember which system included iWork 09 and don't want to lose it. Thanks for any help.

Thanks for the information! My sister gave me the MBP for my daughter with Leopard installed. I purchased Snow Leopard and installed it, then my daughter purchased Lion. So I do have all the installers. If iWork wasn't included with any of those, I guess my sister purchased it while running Leopard. I'll have to contact her. Thanks again.

Help! I need to downgrade Mountain Lion to Snow Leopard

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