OSX cannot be installed on this computer

I tried to install 10.5 on my iMacIntel(currently at 10.4.11)
iMac5 Intel core 2Duo 2.16ghz 1g RAm and I get a msg "cant install MacOSX on this computer"
Ive tried booting from the disk and installing from the disk but I get the same msg.
Any Ideas?

Just to clarify a bit further:
Machines newer than when an OS was first released can only be installed from the discs that originally shipped with those machines as those discs may contain special drivers needed in order for those machines to work properly. Since those devices did not exist at the time the original OS was created, that makes perfect sense.
You should be able to install any other machine that supports Leopard from the DVD that came with your purchased copy of the OS.
What you cannot do is install other machines with Leopard using the Software Restore disc that ships with newer machines.
This is because the Leopard disc that ships with a new machine not only has the drivers for that new machine, but it may only contains the parts of Leopard required for that machine; for example, it does not necessarily contain drivers for hardware used only with PowerPC Macs while the Leopard DVD you purchase does.
So the rule of thumb is you should use the DVD that came with your purchased Family Pack of Leopard to install Leopard onto any machine other than those that were introduced after Leopard was released.
Machines that were introduced after Leopard was released should only have Leopard (re)installed from the Software Restore disc that shipped with those machines.

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Core duo 2 ghz: Mac OSX cannot be installed on this computer

My intel core duo 2ghz macbook pro will not accept the instal of Leopard.
getting this error from the CD boot
"Mac OSX cannot be installed on this computer"
"restart"
I have confirmed this Fujitsu drive is formated GUID.
A Tiger install disk allows booting and Tiger install.
Whats the scret handshake to get this Leopard install to happen? Any help is appreciated.

What is the source of the DVD? Retail? DVD from a different computer?
Stedman

"Mac OSX cannot be installed on this computer" Error

What Mac/Specs:
I am trying to completely clear out and reformat a 13" MacBook Pro 2.26Ghz with the 250GB hard drive (mid-2010 version) which had been running Mountain Lion to its "factory" settings.
Hurdle 1:
When I tried to reformat it I had the erase/partition options greyed out. Duh- needed to use a different start up disk.
Actions taken & Hurdle 2:
I then inserted the original disk (with OSX10.6) and started up with the C key held down but ended up getting the above error message "Mac OSX cannot be installed on this computer".
Actions taken 2:
I tried to "backup from Time Machine" (as that was the only option I could click other than restarting) and managed to access the Disk Utillity that way. I was then able to erase and re-partition the drive as Mac Extended Journaled and made sure that the S.M.A.R.T. verification was verified before I did so.
Hurdle 3 (= Hurdle 2):
This got me to the point of having a clean slate but the error message persists.
Question:
What can I do to move forward? I do not want to reinstall Mountain Lion, I want to pass on the computer restored to its original factory settings.
Please and thank you.

Sorry for the late update- I ended up checking the disks (I have two MacBook Pros bought two months apart) and tried the other one. Turns out that though they were the same OSX (10.6.3 v1) they had different teeny serial numbers.
To answer BDAqua- yes, it was the disk for the same MacBook Pro model but clearly not "same" enough. And no- the disks had never been used. Pleased to report that it is all sorted now, but wanted to thank you massively for your answer anyway.
You had it in one!

I have osx 10.6 installed, need to reinstall: says osx cannot be installed on this computer

A friend has purchased a used macbook, by searching the serial number it originally had osx 10.5. It currently has osx 10.6.8 installed. she wishes to start fresh, i have 10.6.3 discs that have worked before, when i boot into the disc it simply says that osx cannot be installed on this mac. this is said when booting into disc or trying to click the install with the disc showing in finder
it is a 2.2ghz with 1gb of ram. specs shouldn't be an issue as it is running it fine now, and can support up to 10.7.
any thoughts?

You need to use a retail DVD and not a different Mac model's original disks.
(108668)

Mac OSX cannot be installed on this computer...help?

I have an older mac book (2007) with a 2ghz Intel dual core with 2 gb ram. I would like to erase the current OSX (10.5.8) and install Snow Leopard (10.6.X) from a disk that I have from my iMac. When I put the disk in and boot, holding down "c" it goes to install but then gives me the error message that it can't be install on this computer. Any suggestions or explanations?

It will not install - the Snow Leopard installer you're trying to use is machine specific - you need to go to Apple's website and order the Retail version of Snow Leopard in order to install it to your Macbook.
There is no work around on this since the Gray/Grey Snow Leopard DVD will be looking for an iMac and not a Macbook.

Mac osx cannot be installed on this computer

Hello everyone hopefully someone can help me out here. I recently purchased a mid to late 2008 macbook pro13 for my wife. the person I bought it from got it with gingerbread installed on it. the original mac os seems to be there. I cannot get it to boot into anything other than gingerbread. So I bought a set of Snow Leopard 10.6.2 build number 2z691-6317-a from eBay and when I went to install them last night I got the error listed above. What can I do to get this back to OSX. My wife doesn't like gingerbread. Thanks for your help.

you need to boot to the OS install disc (by inserting the disc then restart holding down the C key)
once booted to this select the disk utility and then mac HD from the left side
click on the erase tab then make sure the format says mac OS extended journaled
then click on the erase button
once this is done close the disk utility window and choose the option to install mac OS X if you have 2 discs once the first one is done insert the second and install those apps as well.
after the reinstall is completed when the mac is restarted the setup assistant will appear and it will be like new mac

OSX Mavericks cannot be installed on this computer???? 2013 MacBook Pro Retina?

I need to re-install Mavericks on a the NEW MacBook Pro Retina - and I am getting the "OSX Mavericks cannot be installed on this computer" error.
What can I do to fix?

Shawn Rimmell wrote:
I need to re-install Mavericks on a the NEW MacBook Pro Retina - and I am getting the "OSX Mavericks cannot be installed on this computer" error.
What can I do to fix?
How are you trying to reinstall, from Recovery, or from the App Store?

OSX mavericks cannot be installed on this computer.

Imac running osx 10.6.8 after reformat of hard drive and reinstalling original OS 10.6.4. I then installed 10.6.8 combo upgrade. After downloading OS X 10.9.5 an alert appears and states "OS X mavericks cannot be installed on this computer." Prior to the reformat this imac was running the original mavericks. Doesn't make sense. Is there a way to access the original OS X 10.9 and attempt a download, then do a 10.9.5 combo upgrade?

"Prior to the reformat this imac was running the original mavericks"
You can reinstall Mavericks using OS X Recovery.
Startup your Mac while holding down the Command + R keys.
From there you should be able to access the built in utilities to reinstall OS X (Mavericks) using OS X Recovery

"OSX Maveracks cannot be installed on this computer" is the message tht I get when I try to download Maveracks. I have Snow Leopard 10.6.8 installed, 167 gb free space and 3 gb of memory. What would keep it from loading?

"OSX Mavericks cannot be installed on this computer" is the message that I receive when trying to download Maveracks. I have a late 2007 iMac with Snow Leopard 10.6.8 installed, 167gb free space and 3 gb memory. What are reasons that it won't download?

Does your computer meet the requirements listed below?
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)

Mac OSX 10.6 cannot be installed on this computer

Hi everybody - this is my first post on here so please be gentle!
My kit:
13" MBP, Intel core 2 duo @ 2.26GHz. 2MB DDR3 RAM.
Current OS 10.5.8
I've been getting the "Mac OSX 10.6 cannot be installed on this computer" error message repeatedly whenever I try to upgrade to SnowLeopard.
Having spent a lot of time scouring these forums, I've tried pretty much every trick I spotted:
Formatted the disk and partitioned using GUID.
Resized the volume to be 130MB smaller than the partition size.
Tried booting from a USB image of SnowLeopard.
All of the above just take me back to the error message (which is now burned into my brain!!).
I do have a full TimeMachine backup which has been very handy with all of this experimentation.
Now here's the thing - my copy of 10.6.4 is a 'grey' label one. It is for the 13-inch MacBook Pro (which I have), but wasn't issued specifically for my machine. It's labelled "(c) 2010" which suggests it was made for a more modern MBP as my machine is from 2009.
From other threads, some people say that the disks are 'hardware locked' to specific machines. Others say that the more modern installation disks aren't so fussy. Do you think this could be the source of the problem? Having bought these genuine 10.6.4 disks, I'd hate to shell-out for the retail version of SnowLeopard only to find it hits me with the same dreaded error message!
Many thanks for any light you can shed on this for me.

Actually I bought the disk off eBay, but it is definitely genuine and since it was for the 13" MacBook Pro (which I have) I thought (having read the caveats about disks being hardware specific) it ought to be useable.
It's definitely a genuine set as it came with the full "Apple" packaging, booklet, wallet and even the two white Apple-logo stickers that they stick in there for some bizarre reason. Yes, I did notice (having received the disks) that there's a statement on them regarding them not being for resale, but the seller didn't happen to mention that on his auction (yeah - go figure!).
At the time of purchase I thought they were specifically for my hardware. Seeing the "2010" mark on the disks was a bit of a 'raised-eyebrow' moment, but I just find it hard to believe that the discs are being so 'touchy' given that they are for the correct model MBP, just separated by one year.
In fact, as I touched-on in my original post, some contributors to this discussion forum went as far as to say that you could even install cross-platform with the discs for more-recent hardware. I know that not everybody gets these things right when discussing stuff, but I'm just surprised that there's such a wide range of opinions regarding this.
If there are no further ideas, I'll have to put it down to experience and go buy the retail version. If anyone has any further advice or experiences of this issue, positive or negative, I'd still be glad to hear from them though.
Thanks all for the input so far.

This version of Mac OS X 10.7 cannot be installed on this computer. Why Not. Mac Mini has the required spec.

Hi...
I hope that you can help me!!
I am trying to update a recently purchased pre-owned Mac Mini to OSX Lion. ATM it is running OSX 10.6.8, with 2GHz Core 2 duo processor, and 2GB of DDR2 SD RAM. There is 30+ GB of hard drive available. The App Store has acknowledged the fact that I have previously bought OSX Lion, but when I try to download, it displays the following, "This version of Mac OS X 10.7 cannot be installed on this computer." It meets the required specs. Help!! How can I upgrade....

What model is it? There are some early Intel minis around that have had CPU upgrades. They can't run Lion, at least not without hacking.

OS X 10.6 cannot be installed on this computer

I need to partition my drive for Windows using Boot Camp for work. However, Boot Camp won't let me partition, and I tried following what the error said (Back up, format drive, and try again). I backed up my drive using Time Machine, and even copied everything from the disk itself to an external on top of that. Then I tried to format my drive using Disk Utility, but everything that would allow me to do that is grayed out so I can't click on it. I tried reading the Boot Camp instructions, and it says you need an OS X installation CD, which I have, but it is for Snow Leopard. I am currently running Leopard. I try to install but it stops and closes itself, and when I click utilities from the install disk it says "OS X 10.6 Cannot be installed on this computer." This puzzles me considering how I bought the computer the summer of '08. All I want to do is be able to partition my drive for windows, but of course the Snow Leopard disk I have I would like to use too, but is not a necessity. I don't have my original OS X 10.5.8 Disk. HELP!

Reveroph wrote:
Okay. So I cloned my drive to an external, booted up from it and made sure everything worked fine, which it did. However, when I went to erase my drive using Disk Utility like you guys said, it replied that it was unable to do so because the disk could not be unmounted.
If you're still booted from the clone, try excluding the internal from Spotlight (System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy).
If Disk Utility still can't unmount it, you're about out of options. You need either a Leopard Install disc so you can do the erase/reformat from it, or you need to upgrade to Snow Leopard.
You probably want to completely reformat it, into one OSX partition. Select the top line for the drive, then click the Partition tab and select +1 partition+ from the pop-up menu just below *Volume Scheme.* GIve it a name (probably +Macintosh HD),+ and the +Mac OS Extended (Journaled)+ Format unless you're sure you need +Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled).+
Click Options at the bottom, select +GUID Partition Table+ and the Ok button, then Apply.
Then boot from the clone (if you aren't already), and re-copy it back to your internal HD.
Then Boot Camp will be able to make the other one.

Itunes cannot be installed on this computer because it requires mac os x

I just got the iphone 3g and dug out my eMac to use for the syncing. I pulled it out and downloaded the .mpkg file and put it on a thumbdrive (I have no internet at my house) and I tried to install it on the eMac and got this error --- "itunes cannot be installed on this computer because it requires mac os x 10.3.9 or higher" but I only have 10.2.8... Why does it matter what OSX I have? It's new software but who cares??
What should I do? I dont have to get the next OSX do i?!

Why does it matter what OSX I have?
Newer iTunes versions require specific components in Mac OS X to operate correctly.
What should I do? I dont have to get the next OSX do i?!
You need to purchase and install Mac OS X 10.4 or 10.5.
(33528)

Mavericks cannot be installed on this computer.

Just replaced internal hdd. All requirements are met running 10.6.8 but after download from App Store I get the alert message "Mavericks cannot be installed on this computer.help. iMac core2 3.06 1tb hdd 4gb ram.

Does your iMac meet the requirements (http://www.apple.com/osx/specs/ ):
iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)
Click on the Apple Menu's, "About This Mac," press, " More Info," look for the Model Identifier. It must be 7.1 or higher to run Mavericks.

PowerBook G4 "this software cannot be installed on this computer"

Hello Everyone,
I recently bought a new MacBook Pro and I wanted to give away my Powerbook G4. I tried using the factory install discs to wipe as well as Mac OS 10.3 retail discs. I thought the hard drive have Mac OS 10.4 was a problem, so I wiped the drive and bricked my computer.
When I try to install Mac OS or use the factory install discs, it gives me the error "this software cannot be installed on this computer"
Does anyone know how to correct this?

If you have access to an Apple Store Genius, by all means.
By "too old" it's not that the disks age and go bad, but the installer checks what exact model you are trying to install onto. You get the error message if it's not a compatible OS and machine, such as the OS being older than the machine needs.
If there's no way your disks could have gotten mixed up with others, it's a mystery that someone with other troubleshooting tools (like a range of retail OSX disks) may have to figure out. Did you ever actually install OSX from these disks? Perhaps they were always wrong and you never knew it?

OSX cannot be installed on this computer

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