I just installed Mountain Lion on my iMac that was previously running Snow Leopard. Bugt I found that some key applications no longer work, so I would like to go back to snow Leopard. I can't use time machine backups for this. what can I do?

I just installed Mountain Lion on my iMac. But In was dismayed to find that my Canon scanner software (Canoscan LIDE500F)no longer works. Nor do any of my MS offce applications. I tried to use time machine to reinstall Snow Leopard (my previous operating system), but unfortunately my time machine backups did not include system software. Also, the original system install disk that came with my iMac would not allow me to install Snow Leopard in place of Mountain Lion. I would appreciate it if somebody could tell me how to solve this problem.

The reason your Office doesn't work is because it is PowerPC code. If you will upgrade the 2004 Office to 2011 Office then that will work.
I don't understand how you managed to get your Time Machine backup to not backup the system.
Now if you still what to downgrade you will have to erase the disk and reinstall Snow Leopard. Most likely all of your application and then restore your data from Time Machine.
To me it sounds like it would be easier to upgrade your software and stay with Mountain Lion instead.
Allan

Similar Messages

I have a mid2009 MacBook Pro for which I have been using a USB WD HD for Time Machine. I'd like to get a wireless HD and start a new Time Machine backup for this Mac and retire the 5 year old WD drive. Can I start over?

I have a mid2009 MacBook Pro running Mavericks for which I have been using a USB WD HD for Time Machine. I'd like to get a wireless HD and start a new Time Machine backup for this Mac and retire the 5 year old WD drive. Can I start over?

no archive/ backup is perfect, HD clones can be set to make incremental additions, same as time machine however, though they are more time involved in doing so.
See the + and - of all data backup/ archives below and "spread it around".... or the "dont put your eggs all in one basket" philosophy.
Peace
Data Storage Platforms; their Drawbacks & Advantages
#1. Time Machine / Time Capsule
Drawbacks:
1. Time Machine is not bootable, if your internal drive fails, you cannot access files or boot from TM directly from the dead computer.
2. Time machine is controlled by complex software, and while you can delve into the TM backup database for specific file(s) extraction, this is not ideal or desirable.
3. Time machine can and does have the potential for many error codes in which data corruption can occur and your important backup files may not be saved correctly, at all, or even damaged. This extra link of failure in placing software between your data and its recovery is a point of risk and failure. A HD clone is not subject to these errors.
4. Time machine mirrors your internal HD, in which cases of data corruption, this corruption can immediately spread to the backup as the two are linked. TM is perpetually connected (or often) to your computer, and corruption spread to corruption, without isolation, which TM lacks (usually), migrating errors or corruption is either automatic or extremely easy to unwittingly do.
5. Time Machine does not keep endless copies of changed or deleted data, and you are often not notified when it deletes them; likewise you may accidently delete files off your computer and this accident is mirrored on TM.
6. Restoring from TM is quite time intensive.
7. TM is a backup and not a data archive, and therefore by definition a low-level security of vital/important data.
8. TM working premise is a “black box” backup of OS, APPS, settings, and vital data that nearly 100% of users never verify until an emergency hits or their computers internal SSD or HD that is corrupt or dead and this is an extremely bad working premise on vital data.
9. Given that data created and stored is growing exponentially, the fact that TM operates as a “store-it-all” backup nexus makes TM inherently incapable to easily backup massive amounts of data, nor is doing so a good idea.
10. TM working premise is a backup of a users system and active working data, and NOT massive amounts of static data, yet most users never take this into consideration, making TM a high-risk locus of data “bloat”.
11. In the case of Time Capsule, wifi data storage is a less than ideal premise given possible wireless data corruption.
12. TM like all HD-based data is subject to ferromagnetic and mechanical failure.
13. *Level-1 security of your vital data.
Advantages:
1. TM is very easy to use either in automatic mode or in 1-click backups.
2. TM is a perfect novice level simplex backup single-layer security save against internal HD failure or corruption.
3. TM can easily provide a seamless no-gap policy of active data that is often not easily capable in HD clones or HD archives (only if the user is lazy is making data saves).
#2. HD archives
Drawbacks:
1. Like all HD-based data is subject to ferromagnetic and mechanical failure.
2. Unless the user ritually copies working active data to HD external archives, then there is a time-gap of potential missing data; as such users must be proactive in archiving data that is being worked on or recently saved or created.
Advantages:
1. Fills the gap left in a week or 2-week-old HD clone, as an example.
2. Simplex no-software data storage that is isolated and autonomous from the computer (in most cases).
3. HD archives are the best idealized storage source for storing huge and multi-terabytes of data.
4. Best-idealized 1st platform redundancy for data protection.
5. *Perfect primary tier and level-2 security of your vital data.
#3. HD clones (see below for full advantages / drawbacks)
Drawbacks:
1. HD clones can be incrementally updated to hourly or daily, however this is time consuming and HD clones are, often, a week or more old, in which case data between today and the most fresh HD clone can and would be lost (however this gap is filled by use of HD archives listed above or by a TM backup).
2. Like all HD-based data is subject to ferromagnetic and mechanical failure.
Advantages:
1. HD clones are the best, quickest way to get back to 100% full operation in mere seconds.
2. Once a HD clone is created, the creation software (Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper) is no longer needed whatsoever, and unlike TM, which requires complex software for its operational transference of data, a HD clone is its own bootable entity.
3. HD clones are unconnected and isolated from recent corruption.
4. HD clones allow a “portable copy” of your computer that you can likewise connect to another same Mac and have all your APPS and data at hand, which is extremely useful.
5. Rather than, as many users do, thinking of a HD clone as a “complimentary backup” to the use of TM, a HD clone is superior to TM both in ease of returning to 100% quickly, and its autonomous nature; while each has its place, TM can and does fill the gap in, say, a 2 week old clone. As an analogy, the HD clone itself is the brick wall of protection, whereas TM can be thought of as the mortar, which will fill any cracks in data on a week, 2-week, or 1-month old HD clone.
6. Best-idealized 2nd platform redundancy for data protection, and 1st level for system restore of your computers internal HD. (Time machine being 2nd level for system restore of the computer’s internal HD).
7. *Level-2 security of your vital data.
HD cloning software options:
1. SuperDuper HD cloning software APP (free)
2. Carbon Copy Cloner APP (will copy the recovery partition as well)
3. Disk utility HD bootable clone.
#4. Online archives
Drawbacks:
1. Subject to server failure or due to non-payment of your hosting account, it can be suspended.
2. Subject, due to lack of security on your part, to being attacked and hacked/erased.
Advantages:
1. In case of house fire, etc. your data is safe.
2. In travels, and propagating files to friends and likewise, a mere link by email is all that is needed and no large media needs to be sent across the net.
3. Online archives are the perfect and best-idealized 3rd platform redundancy for data protection.
4. Supremely useful in data isolation from backups and local archives in being online and offsite for long-distance security in isolation.
5. *Level-1.5 security of your vital data.
#5. DVD professional archival media
Drawbacks:
1. DVD single-layer disks are limited to 4.7Gigabytes of data.
2. DVD media are, given rough handling, prone to scratches and light-degradation if not stored correctly.
Advantages:
1. Archival DVD professional blank media is rated for in excess of 100+ years.
2. DVD is not subject to mechanical breakdown.
3. DVD archival media is not subject to ferromagnetic degradation.
4. DVD archival media correctly sleeved and stored is currently a supreme storage method of archiving vital data.
5. DVD media is once written and therefore free of data corruption if the write is correct.
6. DVD media is the perfect ideal for “freezing” and isolating old copies of data for reference in case newer generations of data become corrupted and an older copy is needed to revert to.
7. Best-idealized 4th platform redundancy for data protection.
8. *Level-3 (highest) security of your vital data.
[*Level-4 data security under development as once-written metallic plates and synthetic sapphire and likewise ultra-long-term data storage]
#6. Cloud based storage
Drawbacks:
1. Cloud storage can only be quasi-possessed.
2. No genuine true security and privacy of data.
3. Should never be considered for vital data storage or especially long-term.
4. *Level-0 security of your vital data.
Advantages:
1. Quick, easy and cheap storage location for simplex files for transfer to keep on hand and yet off the computer.
2. Easy source for small-file data sharing.

New hard drive on iMac but can't use time machine backup

I just installed a new hard drive on my 2007 iMac but it will not let me back up to a time machine backup. I can see the files i want but has the red circle with this message :The folder “Documents” can’t be opened because you don’t have permission to see its contents. help!

You haven't gone about this the right way. After installing OS X, when you booted from the new drive, you were prompted to transfer data from a Time Machine backup, among other options. That's what you should have done. The simplest, but not the fastest, way to recover is to start over by erasing the startup volume and installing again.
OS X: How to migrate data from another Mac using Mountain Lion and earlier

Can't find Time Machine backup for restore

Hard drive died for my MacBook, now I'm trying to restore from the Time Machine file. I have a Linux server set up for Time Machine backup. I've mounted the server to /Volumes/Time Machine, which seems to be working fine, I can see the files there. Problem is the Time Machine restore tool cannot find that drive
Any ideas, is there a way to manually point it to the backup?

Oliver Jobson wrote:
My MBP is plugged into my lan, my time machine is on another mac on my network, but after inserting the install disc in the MBP (I have upgraded to a bigger drive on my MBP) I try to restore from the time machine, but it isn't finding the TM! Does it have to be over wifi as per the on screen instructions?
No. Connect the drive directly to your Mac. See #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
Save that hair!

Using Time Machine backup for file transfers

Hello,
I have successfully used TM to backup my MBP.
How can I use the files on my external hard drive that were put there by TM to transfer files to another computer. I want to plug my external into another computer and access the backup on the harddrive, as if it were a large flash drive.

You cannot. You can use the drive to backup the other computer, but I don't believer it's possible to restore files from the other backup library.
A TM backup is not a simple file copy. You cannot just access files as though you had copied them to another drive. If that's your intent then TM is not the proper tool. Instead you should clone the drive using a third-party backup tool such as SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner - VersionTracker or MacUpdate. Then the files on the backup drive can be accessed just like any other drive.

Can I Use Time Machine Restore Files to a New Computer?

I use Time Machine to backup my data to an external drive. Let's say that my computer crashes and I buy a new computer with Leopard installed.
Two Questions:
If I plug my Time Machine drive into the new computer, will I be able to recreate the old files and settings? Or does Time Machine only work to restore information on a specific computer?
If Time Machine WILL restore the documents onto a new computer, what happens if the first computer is Power PC and the new one is Intel?
Thanks!
Message was edited by: Dan D\'Errico

Dan D'Errico wrote:
I use Time Machine to backup my data to an external drive. Let's say that my computer crashes and I buy a new computer with Leopard installed.
Two Questions:
If I plug my Time Machine drive into the new computer, will I be able to recreate the old files and settings?
Yes - see my comments below regarding "Migrating User Data From One Mac to Another".
Or does Time Machine only work to restore information on a specific computer?
No
If Time Machine WILL restore the documents onto a new computer, what happens if the first computer is Power PC and the new one is Intel?
Then you should choose to Migrate your personal data over but NOT Applications. They may likely not be compatible with the new system.
*_Migrating User Data From One Mac to Another_*
*Firewire Disk Mode*
If you have a FireWire cable, you can connect one Mac to the other via FireWire Disk Mode. Then use Migration Assistant to transfer all of your files and applications over from the older Mac. It should result in a virtually identical setup as your previous Mac. Follow the instructions in this KB article:
“How to use FireWire target disk mode”
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661
*Using Time Machine Before Initial Launch of New Mac*
Before starting the new Mac for the first time, attach the hard disk that contains the Time Machine backups from the old Mac.
Start the new Mac and begin the setup process. At some point it will ask you if you would like to Migrate/Import user data from another computer or a Time Machine backup disk. Follow the prompts and select the date of the backup you would like to restore your user data from. Once the migration is complete use Disk Utility to repair any permissions issues.
*Using Time Machine After Initial Launch of New Mac*
If you have already created a User Account on the new Mac using a DIFFERENT Username and Password from the old Mac, then do the following:
Attach the hard disk containing the previous Macs' Time Machine backups to the new computer.
Go to Applications --> Utilities --> and launch Migration Assistant.
At the welcome dialogue click "Continue." You may be required to enter your Admin password.
For Migration Method chose "From a Time Machine backup or other disk".
Select the hard disk containing the previous Time Machine backups. (Give Migration Assistant some time as it scans the disk for eligible data to migrate.)
Now select which User Accounts you would like to migrate over.
However, if you have already created a User Account on the new Mac using the SAME Username and Password as the old Mac, then you will need to do this:
Create a new User Admin Account on the new Mac with a completely unique name.
Now, delete the first User Account you created on the new Mac - The one that is identical to the old Mac. (Of course, backup any important files that were created using the new User Account before deleting it.)
Finally, use Migration Assistant as described above to move the old User Account data over from the Time Machine backups.
*Full Backup After Restore*
Bear in mind that in all cases Time Machine will perform a full backup after a full restore. This is normal. Time Machine will resume incremental backups after the full backup has completed. To view previous backups, Control-click or right-click the Time Machine icon in your Dock or Option-click the Time Machine menu extra and Choose "Browse Other Time Machine Disks," then select your previous backup volume. You will enter Time Machine and be able to browse your previous back ups and restore files. (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1338)
Let us know if this was helpful.
Cheers!

I am trying to upgrade from Tiger to Snow Leopard. When I insert the disk and install starts, it states "This disk is used for Time Machine backups" and Mac OSX can't be installed. Does anyone know how to correct this (since Tiger doesn't have Time Mach

I am trying to upgrade from Tiger to Snow Leopard. When I insert the disk and install starts, it states "This disk is used for Time Machine backups" and Mac OSX can't be installed. Does anyone know how to correct this (since Tiger doesn't have Time Machine)?

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2986

I am going to buy a bigger hard drive. i am operating on Lion. how do i install my os on the new disk? i can't use time machine.

i am going to buy a bigger hard drive. i am operating on Lion. how do i install my os on the new disk? i can't use time machine.

Plug this new drive as an external drive, boot from lion recovery "command-R" more info here: http://www.apple.com/macosx/recovery/
Open disk utility, format and partition the disk at your will (allways Mac OS plus...) and go ahead with the install, don't care if it tells you to whait thousands of hours, I did get installed in 2 hours and a half last week.
If you can't plug the disk as an external one, you'll have first to do an USB disk recovery utility, as easy as download the recovery utility and install it in an USB disk, you can find anything from the link above, plug the disk as a single master, and boot from the USB you created before.
Tell me how it went!!!

Can I use time machine to get rid of Lion?

Lion has been a total disaster for my iMac. After installation, everything went very buggy very quickly. Now it is freezing every few minutes. I just want rid of it. Can I use time machine to restore the old system? If so, how? Will my files be OK? thanks.

I point you to Pondini's TimeMachine restore page however you should also printout my instructions as something may go wrong and you need to do it the hard way.
http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/14.html
Back to Snow Leopard from Lion install method
Read and print out these instructions, your computer is going to be offline and you wil be cutoff from help until your machine is restored.
Clear the Desktop, Downloads and Trash of anything you wish to keep by placing their files in the respective Documents, Music, Pictures, Movie folders.
Disconnect other drives except the sole backup drive.
Backup ALL your Users folders (Documents, Pictures, Movies, Music etc) manually (drag and drop methods) to a (not TimeMachine) external powered drive (HFS+ journaled formatted in Disk Utility) and disconnect, your going to be wiping the entire boot disk of ALL DATA.
(warning, everything will be gone and not recovered, OS, programs, files, Windows etc all gone.)
Note: You might want to hold c and boot off the 10.6 installer disk and use Disk Utility to format the new blank external drive instead of using OS X Lion if that's hosed. Then reboot into Lion and copy files, may be safer that way.
Here we go!
Hold c and boot off the 10.6 installer disk that comes with your computer and second screen in just STOP there, don't install OS X yet.
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 drive name as before, and click Erase...
(note: if you want to "scrub" the drive of old files that haven't been overwritten yet, then use the Security Option > Zero Erase, takes a lot longer)
This should wipe the drive of ALL partitions (GUID, OS X and 10.7 Recovery, Windows if present)
When it's done, quit and install OS X 10.6. Then install all your programs from fresh sources and validate/update.
When you setup a first account, use the same user name as before, this way you can simply drag and drop the content of your previous Users folders from the external drive right back into the new Users folders and everything should work peachy. Links in iTunes to music, playlists and iPhoto links especially.
Update OS X to 10.6.8 using the Combo Update for best results.
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1399
(Note: 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 using the same c boot/erase/format methods as above, then update to 10.6 via the disk, then Combo Update 10.6.8)
Final step optional but highly recommended.
A lot of people use a Carbon Copy Clone of their boot drive to a new HFS+Journaled external drive (used only for this purpose) as a "hold the option key" bootable backup in case something goes wrong with their boot drive or need to restore to a previous OS X version.. (in addition to TimeMachine drive for more immediate backups.)
It's not advised to have a Bootable Clone and a TimeMachine partition on the same external drive, as two drives gives hardware protection in case one fails.

Just installed Mt. Lion on my iMac; can I also install it on my MacBook or do I have buy it at $20 again from the Apple Store?

Just installed Mt. Lion on my iMac; can I also install it on my MacBook or do I have to buy it at $20 again from the Apple Store?
And why is it a huge hassle every time I try to sign in on the Apple site? With multiple reports that my password is wrong and I have to answer a series of security questions...I've had the same since 1985!

You can freely install it on the MacBook. If you didn't keep a copy of the installer, sign in with the Apple ID you used to purchase it, click on the Purchases tab, and download it from there.
(78914)

Can't use time machine due to corruptness even after reinstalling snow lepoard how to fix?

Yes, someone stole my original apple id in 2009. Now i bought another iphone in late 2012 , Created another apple id due to Apple not being able to help me access my original apple id. Which now since 2 months ago someone or company, or bank stole my second apple id. My iphone 4s with Sprint has no celluar connection supossedly due to no internet that is what sprint said but I looked it up on apple and it stated that there is a cellluar block on my iphone4s.
So I guess I will have to go in person to Sprint so they can explain that to me and why I was lied to on the phone earlier. Back to my 2nd stolen apple id that I registered my macbook,airport express router, and iphone4s and apple TV. So who ever stole this apple id obviously took over all my mac products I had registered to it. Enough about that back to trying to use time machine....Everytime i do, my macbook just starts acting all screwed up. I bought a WD external drive for Mac but I believe someone must have claimed it too. Since there is 75gb on it that I can't access. Kind of like my Macbook stating I can't save or have access to the Root . That is another thing after reinstalling snow lepoard which works great until I update it. Which is a problem because everytime I update it to 10.6.8 All the permissions are changed the graphics look horrible and I get redirected so bad its not funny. The email account is a joke. Also I notice my stationary for email is in Spanish not sure why and on Iworks the document samples are also in spanish. Now I dont speak any other language except ENGLISH AND HAVE LIVED IN UNITEDSTATES MY ENTIRE LIFE. But my internet provider Fibrant which swears they are local shows it is in the UK also when i try to access my email for that account it states it is not safe , certificate is expired and someone might be trying to impersonate my server. Needless to say it is getting old. I had this same problem with Timewarner and Att except att would just remove my ethernet driver then laugh when i would call and ask what the problem was. Then later I find out when I had DSL that somehow the phone number they had listed was change to being a digit off from my DSL account which again they laughed and thought it was funny. Enough about that. I need to know how to get access to my Apple id. I gave up on the first one but the second one I did have access to until I registered all my apple products. What is up with every thing I have with a usb port being corrupt. I have also notice anywhere in town where I live my phone is English until I come home it is arabic,hebrew , spanish any language except English. Shouldn't I be safer in my home??????????????? But I am not I am safer in town or anywhere but my home. EVerything states international in my home and this has been going on since 2009.....No one can tell me why. My power from Duke reads that OTHER Is costing me the most $$ every month what ????? This is a joke. But yet no one can tell me why or how to fix the problem. Going on 5 years , I have been cut off from everyone I know. Can't keep contacts on a phone or email accts. They all disappear. All so I am in Eastern time zone but all my computers and tv seems to think I am in pacific timezone. No one can fix this problem either. So if anyone has any suggestions on how to fix at least one of my 5 year problems I would be grateful. I try to create a new email account but either I am locked out right after or someone turns it into an alias account which doesn't help me. When I was layed off in 2009-2010 I went back to school/college. Needless to say they took my School email acct too.
Back to my iphone 4s problem. My icloud email account gets alot of spam starting about 2 months ago and I can't stop it. I try to foward it to Spam @ me but it hasn't helped.My iphone can only connect to the internet with wifi. Sprint swears that there is not a block but according to apple there is.
About my macbook and apple ID how can I upgrade my Macbook from 10.6.3 to 10.6.8 with out all the permissions being changed and corrupt?? I have tried several times and it is always the same. I won't to connect my iphone to itunes to try to restore it but it states I have to update it to 10.6.8. When I do that my computer is alot worse off. Also how can I use TimeMachine with out my Macbook getting messed up? Something in my house has taken over anything with a usb port actually years ago and probably now something kept turning all my computers and phones or any electronic I owned it to a printer. I actually can't even use a printer in my home thats the funny thing. When I try to connect one when I used windows it stated I had no rights to it and couldn't use it. Since I switch to Mac not much better. When I try to print a test page it is all crooked and too small of half off the page. So it is upsetting that I can't use a printer but something keeps turning all my electronics into printers. If anyone knows how to fix this problem that would be great or to stop all this international stuff going on in my home that would be wonderful. I try to buy brand new pcs but soon as I start them up something had already taken over. This is with nothing electronic in my home on. Turn everything that a power switch off or unplugged it. Still I lost rights and access to anything in my home. Now if I am away from my home and try to use one of my laptops they look completely different and almost usable. Unfortunately I can't afford to move. I thought about it but I am still in bankruptcy and don't have the money. In the last 4 years I have not been able to reinstall in backups that I have created. Not sure why oh wait it states I have no rights to do that. My macbook I lost access to a week after I bought it and connected my iphone too. You don't know how many times I wish I had never backed my iphone 4s to my Macbook. Right after I could not log into it. Even used the disk to reset the password nope still couldn't log into it. Try to type the formula for resetting the password and nope it didn't work either.
Any suggestions would be appreciated---Need to gain access to my apple Id that would be a great start
Thanks, Suzanne
UnitedSTates
Eastern timezone

Didn't really read much at all of your post. Much, much too long, irrelevant details and & no paragraphs.
Can't use time machine due to corruptness
Post over here -> Mac OS X v10.6 - Snow Leopard forum
About my macbook and apple ID how can I upgrade my Macbook from 10.6.3 to 10.6.8 with out all the permissions being changed and corrupt??
Same as above. Post in the correct forum.
Need to gain access to my apple Id that would be a great start
-> http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5625

Just installed mountain Lion. Viewing a pdf sent to me using preview and some colors are appearing BLACK, however when I view the same PDF in Acrobat they are perfect and what they are suppose to be. WHY would PREVIEW showing a different color?

Just installed mountain Lion. Viewing a pdf sent to me using preview and some colors are appearing BLACK, however when I view the same PDF in Acrobat they are perfect and what they are suppose to be. WHY would PREVIEW showing a different color?

Here's what I've found on the issue:
Pantone color definitions have changed (coinciding with CS6) — they are now "Pantone+" (I think that's what they're called). The "+" apparently means they're now LAB colors. Lab colors are not properly displayed in Preview (or in Finder previews) — they display as black (as far as I can tell, in all circumstances). I'm sure it's a tad more complicated than that, but that's the gist.
Now the bad news — nobody seems to know anything about a fix or workaround (unless you convert your PDFs to process — this might be a fix for sending to clients). It causes issues for me in AI files — being able to view them in the finder (with previews) is a HUGE time saver for my workflow... when they're all black, not so much.
In my chat with a director of product dev at Adobe, they placed the responsibility to fix on Apple (assuming Apple wants to support Pantone color definitions in their OS).

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.

Can I use time machine to revert to Mountain Lion from Maverick?

In spite of everyone saying how great Maverick is, I have poblems with slow operation, hard to use mail addresses, problems with iPhoto, etc. So I want to go back to Mountain Lion. Can I use Time Machine to restore back before Maverick was installed?

Only if you have a full backup of Mountain Lion on your Time Machine backup drive. Then you can boot to the Recovery HD that is on the Time Machine backup drive, erase your drive, then do a full Mountain Lion restore. But if you have already used Time Machine to backup your Mountain Lion system, then this won't work. You will need to erase the drive and reinstall Mountain Lion separately. Then you can restore your Home folder from the Time Machine backup.
Or you can avoid all the above by trying to fix the problems with your Mavericks system. You will need to upgrade iPhoto.
Try these in order testing your system after each to see if it's back to normal:
1. a. Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM
    b. Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
2. Restart the computer in Safe Mode, then restart again, normally. If this doesn't help, then:
     Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the
     COMMAND and R keys until the Utilities 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.
3. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the Utilities 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. Select Restart from the Apple menu.
     Reinstall the 10.9.3 update: OS X Mavericks 10.9.3 Update (Combo).
4. Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion, Mavericks: Reboot from the Recovery HD. Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion, Mavericks from the Utilities menu, 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.
Reinstall the 10.9.3 update: OS X Mavericks 10.9.3 Update (Combo).

Hi! I've just installed mountain lion and I find one of the programs I need for my work is crashing all the time. any ideas what i can do?

hi! I've just installed mountain lion and I find one of the programs I need for my work is crashing all the time. any ideas what i can do?

Ah!
Factuur Bright x
part of errors:
Process:         Factuur Bright X [1476]
Path:            /Applications/Factuur Bright X/Factuur Bright X.app/Contents/MacOS/Factuur Bright X
Identifier:      ???
Version:         ??? (2.0.0b20)
Code Type:       X86 (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [184]
User ID:         501
Date/Time:       2013-07-10 22:35:39.180 +0200
OS Version:      Mac OS X 10.8.4 (12E55)
Report Version: 10
Interval Since Last Report:          2118 sec
Crashes Since Last Report:           1
Per-App Interval Since Last Report: 24 sec
Per-App Crashes Since Last Report:   1
Anonymous UUID:                      47D641A2-4625-7590-369C-8BAFE1439551
Crashed Thread: 0 Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGBUS)
Exception Codes: KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE at 0x0000000000000010

I just installed Mountain Lion on my iMac that was previously running Snow Leopard. Bugt I found that some key applications no longer work, so I would like to go back to snow Leopard. I can't use time machine backups for this. what can I do?

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