I just bought a used computer with OSX 10.8 and want to reinstall OSX 10.6.3 Snow Leopard . . . How can I do this?

Question

I just bought a used computer with OSX 10.8 and want to reinstall OSX 10.6.3 Snow Leopard . . . How can I do this?

Answer 1

Alfi94965 wrote:
I just bought a used computer with OSX 10.8 and want to reinstall OSX 10.6.3 Snow Leopard
First off you need to know the model identifier of the machine, not all Mac's can be reverted to Snow Leopard and not all Mac's can use the 10.6.3 Retail disk!
To find the model identifier, boot the machine up and hold the command key and the spacebar, Spotlight appears at the top right corner and type in System Profiler and press Enter/Return.
The model identifier should be something like "MacBook Pro 9,2" or something of that nature.
You also can hold D while the computer is booting on/near a Internet connection for a long time and this loads Hardware Test, which one of the panes will give the required information.
Next you download MacTracker here and look up your machine and it's original operating system.
(Don't click the AppStore version obviously)
http://mactracker.ca/
You may have to right or control click on the program to bypass Apple's Gatekeeper and run the program.
If you have the model identifier and the machine won't boot, then just ask here and we can tell you the information
Now all Intel Mac's issued before July 2011 can install Snow Leopard, but the Mac's released after July 2011 came with OS X 10.7 Lion and the firmware won't boot off the Snow Leopard disk. (however 10.6 can be shoehorned on using Firewire Target Disk Mode and another Mac for some models after July 2011)
Also the 10.6.3 Snow Leopard Retail Disk sold at Apple only works on Mac's that came with 10.4-10.6.2 from the factory.
Any Mac's that originally came with 10.6.3-10.6.8 from the factory need model specific disks from Apple directly, not sold at their online store, you will have to call them with your Mac's serial number and order these disks.
If you get the right disk and have the right machine, then you should be able to insert the disk and hold c down or the option/alt key and boot from the 10.6 disk.
Follow these directions and make sure to erase the ENTIRE DRIVE first in Disk Utility or you will have issues later trying to fix it from the disk.
How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6