Restore/Install Discs

Thanks for looking at my question. I just bought an open box iMac 20" 2.4 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, from the mid 2007 production. The internet company I bought it from listed it as having Leopard installed, with discs. Of course with my luck it has Tiger installed and Tiger discs. I can get ahold of Restore/Install discs for an early 2008 iMac 20" 2.4 Ghz, with the specs: 2Z691-6204-A, AHT 3A131. Any idea if that would be incompatible with my computer?
Thanks,
J

Any idea if that would be incompatible with my computer?
Those disks are incompatible with your machine. They can only install software onto an Early 2008 iMac.
(32931)

Similar Messages

Can OS 10.2.1 software restore & install discs for iBook be used by others?

My wife's iBook died late last year and I eBayed all the components, including the software restore and install CDs (I made a net of about $200 from everything, after eBay fees, Paypal fees and shipping! But it was A LOT of work!).
The person who bought the software restore and install CDs wrote me today and said:I just find out after many tries to install this system that i got from you, that the reason it won't install is because this set of disk are propeitery, Meaning that after they were installed in your wiife's computer and registered with the apple corp. NO ONE ELSE CAN USED THEM. Meaning it belonged to that computer ONLY. Therefore I'm Requesting my money back. Let me know. --Al.
My questions are:
1) Is it true that the install CDs and restore CDs can only be used on the original computer?
2) If not true, what are the limits of which computers they will work on (i.e. only all iBooks? only the exact iBook that my wife had? Which Macs will they work for?).
Here is the link to the eBay auction, if that helps:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110192635422
P.S. This question is cross-posted on the 10.3 and earlier forum.

As always, Ronda, you are the best with your information! I have e-mailed the buyer to get his/her system's specs to see if I can help solve his/her problem.
Apple's software license agreement does permit a one-time sale as follows (assuming I have the right info for this situation):You may, however, make a one-time permanent transfer of all of your license rights to the Apple Software to another party, provided that: (a) the transfer must include all of the Apple Software, including all its component parts, original media, printed materials and this License; (b) you do not retain any copies of the Apple Software, full or partial, including copies stored on a computer or other storage device; and (c) the party receiving the Apple Software reads and agrees to accept the terms and conditions of this License. NFR (Not for Resale) Copies: Notwithstanding other sections of this License, Apple Software labeled or otherwise provided to you on a promotional basis may only be used for demonstration, testing and evaluation purposes and may not be resold or transferred.
BTW: I recently went through a long effort to upgrade to Windows XP Home Edition on a computer at my church, using a valid Product Key from a Gateway computer that was being destroyed, literally. After long hours on the phone with both Microsoft and Gateway, I finally determined that their license (EULA) expires when the specific machine expires. It seems that Apple's license is more reasonable by allowing a transfer!

How to restore from Time Machine WITHOUT install discs using a second Mac

It's a question that is asked repeatedly all over the web by Mac users like me that bought in to Time Machine (TM) on the assumption that if their computer died one day it would be a piece of cake to restore from it, only for that day to come and then to be told "ahh, okay the first thing is to get your computers install discs..." (loud crashing sound of world falling around ears).
I've never been able to afford a new Mac and both of my machines were bought second-hand. Neither came with Leopard (both have Tiger and have been upgraded to Leopard via the net). This was never supposed to be a problem as I've been backing up with TM. However it appears that Tiger discs are as much use as an inflatable dart board when it comes to using TM. So I've been faced with the possibility of having to spend £130 (about two hundred Pres Sheets, Yankees) on the Leopard install discs just so that I can have the option of restoring from TM. Bonkers.
However after much nashing of teeth, a very long weekend learning all sorts of things about 'Target Mode', 'Single User Mode', 'Verbose Mode', 'Open Source 9' etc the following solution has worked without the need to go out and buy those over-priced discs...
What you will need:
1 broken Mac requiring restoration
1 second donor Mac running Leopard (or Snow Leopard so long as the broken Mac can run it)
1 firewire cable with the correct fitting at either end to attach both Macs together
1 Time Machine backup
Note: The following is for when you have given up trying to boot from your hard drive. In my case I couldn't boot in to Safe Mode etc. so was forced to format my drive and re-import everything. If you've read this far I'm assuming your at the same point as well and have tried everything else that's out there first.
Also - both my Macs are Power PC's so can't run Snow Leopard, so I can't say 100% this will work with SL (Intel) machines. From what I've read Snow Leopard will work with this procedure too, but if you've found differently please feel free to add your experiences below...
STEP ONE: Format the corrupt Hard Drive or replace with a fresh HDD
*Link the two computers with a firewire.
*If you're replacing your HDD, remove your corrupted hard drive from the 'broken' machine and insert a new one.
*Power up the broken Mac whilst holding down the 'T' key. This will start it up in Target Mode and you'll get a nice firewire symbol floating around that machine's screen.
*Power up the second 'healthy' Mac. This will be our 'donor' machine. When it starts up after a few seconds you will see the hard drive of the broken Mac appear on the donor Mac's desktop.
*Using your donor Mac's 'Disc Utility', format the broken Mac's hard drive (now's the time to partition it etc. if you want to).
STEP TWO: Clone your donor Mac
Your broken Mac is no longer broken and now needs a new OS. But you don't have the discs, right? Well get this... you can clone your donor mac on to your machine, even if they are totally different i.e. a laptop on to a tower.
*Again using Disc Utility, click on your donor Mac's hard drive. The restore tab appears as an option.
*Click on restore and drag the donor Mac's hard drive that contains the operating system in to the Source box.
*Drag the newly formatted hard drive on the broken Mac in to the Destination box.
*Click restore. Your donor Mac's hard drive will now be 'cloned' on to your no-longer-broken Mac. Once this is done, eject the first Mac's hard drive from your donor Mac's desktop. You no longer need the donor Mac.
Ta daa! Your machine now starts up happy and smily again. Time to restore all that stuff that's been sat on your Time Machine drive...
STEP 3: Restore from Time Machine using Migration Assistant
This is the really clever part that prompted me to write this piece in the first place. Time Machine IS accessible without those Leopard install discs you don't have. You need to use something called 'Migration Assistant'.
*Start up your machine as normal and you'll see it is an exact clone of the donor machine. Weird huh?
*Attach your Time Machine hard drive. It will show up as an icon on the desktop and because of it's size, you'll be asked if you want to use it as a Time Machine backup. Err, NO YOU DON'T! Click 'cancel'.
*Open Migration Assistant (if you can't find it just type it in to Finder and click). There are three options, the middle one being to restore from TM or another disc. Yup, you want that one.
*Migration Assistant will now ask you what you want to restore in stages, firstly User Accounts, then folders, Apps etc. It will even import internet settings
And that's you done. Let Migration Assistant do it's thang... altogether I had about 140gb to restore, so it wasn't exactly speedy. This wasn't helped by the fact that my TM hard drive is connected via USB (yes, I know). Just leave it alone and it'll whirr happily away...
Before I go - you don't have an option of when to restore from, and will restore from the last Time Machine save. At least then you should be able to access TM and go 'backwards' if you need to.
Also - for a Mac expert, the above will be up there with 'Spot Goes To The Farm' in terms of complexity. However, for the rest of us the above is only available in fragments all over the net. By far the most common response to 'how do I restore from Time Machine without install discs' is 'you can't'. If I'd found the above information in one place I could have saved a lot of hair pulling and swearing over the last couple of days, so forgive me for sharing this workaround with the rest of the world. Meanwhile your expertise will come in very handy for the inevitable questions that will get posted below, so please feel free to help those people that won't be sure if this solution is the right one for them. I'm no expert, I just want to help people that were stuck in the same situation (and looking at the web, there's a LOT of them).
Hope this is of use to someone, thanks and *good luck*!

Most maintenance and repair, restore and install procedures require the use
of the correct OS X install DVD; be it an original machine-specific restore/install
disc set or a later retail non-specific general install disc set.
By having an unsupported system, perhaps installed via an illegal download or
other file-sharing scheme, where no retail official discs are involved and the
initial upgrade was done by other means outside of the License Agreements,
you are asking us to discuss a matter of illegal installation and use of a product.
There are no legal complete OS X system download upgrades online; only bits
that are update segments to a retail or as-shipped machine's original OS X install.
+{Or an installation where a previous owner had correct retail upgrade discs, &+
+chose to not include them with the re-sale of the computer it was installed in.}+
However, to answer the initial question. To get and use an externally enclosed
hard drive in suitable boot-capable housing, and get a free-running Clone
Utility (download online; often a donation-ware product, runs free) you can
make a bootable backup of everything in your computer to an external HDD.
This is the way to make a complete backup to restore all functions to the computer.
The Time Machine has some limits, in that it can restore only that which it saves.
It does not make a bootable clone of your entire computer system with apps and
your files, to an external drive device. A clone can. And some of the clone utility's
settings can also backup changes to an external drive's system; if that other drive
is attached to the computer correctly.
Carbon Copy Cloner, from Bombich Software; and also SuperDuper, another of
the most known software names you can download and use to clone boot-capable
system backups of your computer's hard disk drive contents, are often cited.
However you resolve the matter of the running OS X system in your computer,
derived from what appears to be questionable means, is part of the initial issue.
Since you do need to be able to fix an existing installation by unmounting the
computer's hard disk drive and run the computer from the other (install disc or
system clone) while it is Unmounted; and use the correct Disk Utility version to
help diagnose and perhaps be able to fix it. You can't use a Tiger version Disk
Utility to fix a Leopard installation, and so on.
So, the situation and replies as far as they can go (since the matter does
constitute an illegal system, if it was arrived at without correct discs) is a
limited one. And file sharing of copied Mac OS X (and other) software is
also considered illegal.
And, one way to get odd malware and unusual stuff, is to get an unauthorized
system upgrade from an illegal source online. You never know what's inside it.
The other reply was not a personal attack; the matter is of legal status and as
you have a product with a questionable system, the answer is to correct it.
And if you want to save everything in your computer, make a clone to a suitable
externally enclosed self-powered boot capable hard disk drive. With older PPC
Macs, that would best be to one with FireWire and the Oxford-type control chips.
However that works out...
Good luck & happy computing!

"New" 2008 24" iMac without restore/install DVDs.

Hi Everyone!
Thanks for allowing me to ask my question and for your responses. I just purchased a 2008 24" iMac from a friend of mine. He had tried to wipe the entire computer but some things he couldn't remove. Now that I have it I want it to be just like I bought it from Apple store new. I assume I have to restore and reinstall the OS? Problem is, my friend can't find the Restore/Install discs that came with the unit.
If you can, please help me through this issue. I'm heading to the Genius Bar for some help too. Again, I have "new to me" mac and I want to do what ever I need to do to get it back to the point where it's "like new" again with Leopard on the machine. At that point I will upgrade to Snow Leopard.
Thanks for all your help guys!
JDGaby

Thanks for the help in solving my issue. After patiently waiting for my discs, I wiped out everything and started from scratch using my discs. Upgraded to Snow Leopard, and installed my Adobe CS4 Design Premium. Man, I've got one lean mean machine! Thanks again!
jdgaby

I have a blue screen on mac pro 6.2. OSX 10.6.8. I got into the computer using safe mode. I beleive I need to restore using my install disc. How do I restore? Is there an internet address to look up how to restore?

I had a blue screen on my MacBook pro 6.2 with operating system OSX 10.6.8.
I got into the computer using safe mode but could open any applications. I think I need to restore with my install disc. How is this done? Is there a web address for instructions?

http://pondini.org/OSX/Combo.html
http://www.wikihow.com/Reinstall-Mac-OS-X-(Leopard-and-Earlier)
Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard: How to Erase and Install - Apple Support

Can I restore my iMac hard drive to factory settings without the install disc?

I have an older iMac running iOS X 10.5.8. with a 2GHZ processor. 1GB DDR SDRAM with a Power PC G5 chip
We want to restore the hard drive to original factory settings but don't have the OS X install disc. I have been searching online to find a disc, and can purchase one, but I want to know if I can do this without the install disc? We want to do this so I can give this computer to my nephew. I have already backed up all data.
Currently I have gotten as far as clicking on the "ERASE" tab in the disk utility, but the "Security Options" and "Erase" buttons are greyed out (cannot click on them). According to the Disk Utility help, the buttons are greyed out because I must start up using another disc, such as the Mac OS X install disc.
In addition, I DO have the Mac OS X install for my 13" MacBook Pro. Can I use this disc for the iMac?
Bottom line, I want to know if there is a work-around without having to purchase another start-up disk.
Thanks for your help.

We want to restore the hard drive to original factory settings but don't have the OS X install disc.
Why? Erase everything that isn't yours. Create a new id. Delete old id. Secure erase empty space on hd.
Once done, make a backup of the hd since the hd will fail eventually/soon.
Restore Tiger 10.4 & Leopard 10.5 DVDs may be available from Apple by calling 1(800) 275-2273. Have your serial number ready. Have your credit card ready too. There may be a small fee.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4720126?tstart=0 -- January 20,2013
https://discussions.apple.com/message/24588313#24588313 -- January 22,2014

Can I restore my system from install discs when DVD drive is not working?

Can I restore my system from install discs when the DVD drive in my iMac G5 is not working?
There is a disc jammed in the drive and when I try to do an install in Target Firewire mode using a G5 Tower I get an error saying the software cannot be installed on this machine, before I can even select the iMac's drive. I'm using the grey software install discs that came with the iMac.
Is my only option to open up the iMac and get the jammed disc out?
Thanks

You need to set up the FireWire Target Disk mode installation with the iMac as host, so that it runs its own install disk. The G5 tower should be the target, so that you are "borrowing" only its DVD drive.
Shut down the iMac. Put the iMac install disk into the G5 tower, and reboot the G5 tower into TDM by holding down the T key. Connect the FireWire cable and then restart the iMac while holding down the option key. Hopefully the iMac startup manager will see the install disk that is in the tower; if so then select it and boot from there.

I got halfway through a restore and realized I don't have install disc 2.

I thought it was a one disc deal when I started, but it's asking for install disc 2 and I realized it's install disc 2 for another computer/OS version. I just bought a new Mac Pro and decided to restore the old one to factory settings and then upgrade the OS to Leopard. I already wiped the HD and got through the first installation CD. What are my options at this point? I can't get out of the installer, and I don't have a disc 2 to give it. I thought disc 2 was iLife stuff which I would be fine with buying separately, or even doing without since it's just going to go from my work computer to a family computer. Is there somewhere I can buy disc 2? What would happen if I restarted right now? Would it work? I'm feeling rather stupid for getting myself into this mess.
Thanks

You can get replacement System Install & Restore CD/DVDs from Apple's Customer Support - in the US, (800) 767-2775 - for a nominal S&H fee. You'll need to have the model and/or serial number of your Mac available.
If you're not in the US, you may need to go through the regional Apple Store that serves your location to find the contact number. Here's a list of links to all of those - http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/intlstoreroutingpage.html Another resource: International Support Phone #s.

Can I restore just one app. using the Install disc, or must all items be restored?

Can I selectively restore just one app. using the Install disc, or will all items be automatically restored?

Thanks BDAqua;
This is my first time using the forums, so I am not certain about protocol. However, your quick reply is appreciated.
miltc
BDAqua wrote:
Hi , and a warm welcome to the forums!
Get Pacifist...
http://www.charlessoft.com/
then extract/install what you need from your Install Disc.

Can I restore my system from install discs when DVD is not working?

Can I restore my system from install discs when DVD is not working?
There is a disc jammed in the drive and when I try to do an install in Target Firewire mode using a G5 Tower I get an error saying the software cannot be installed on this machine, before I can even select the iMac's drive. I'm using the grey software install discs that came with the iMac.
Is my only option to open up the iMac and get the jammed disc out?
Thanks

Problem solved - I posted on the general Tiger Discussions as well.
I had the wrong machine started in Target Firewire mode.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2180754&tstart=0

Restoring Lost Application From Install Disc?

Okay, TextEdit went and got irrecoverably corrupted, so I deleted it under the assumption I could just download it individually from the system install disc, considering most of the applications that come with OS X can be restored that way, but I search the install discs and I can't see it anywhere. I'm not about to do a reinstallation just for TextEdit. I did find 2 installation packages, one labelled "Essentials.pkg", and "More Essentials.pkg". I'm wondering if TextEdit might be in one of those packages, unfortunately neither say what's being installed when I open them up, it just states it will perform a check and install whatever it deems necessary. Wonderful. I appreciate how Apple tries to make things "just work", but it's nice to know how it works instead of being kept in the dark.
Any hints or suggestions? I know I can just get a copy from a friend, but it'd be nice to know in the future there's a way I can do it from my system discs.

You will need a utility called Pacifist to extract what you want and install it on your Mac.

How to restore new, clean OS without Install Disc ?

I have bought MacBook Air 2nd hand. How to restore new, clean OS without Install Disc ?

You can purchase the Snow Leopard DVD at the Apple Store. It ships as 10.6.3 so you'll need to do a software update to get to 10.6.8.

Restore without install disc?

Hi so I'm wondering if there is a way to wipe my macbook clean and put it back to factory settings without an operation system install disc? I'm trying to make it run smoother and clean out the memory. I only have snow leopard on my computer and it never came with an installation disc, the snow leopard set up was an automatic set up procedure when I got the computer so i didn't have to insert any disc. Where ever I look you need the installation disk if you want to restore you computer for earlier mac versions. (i have version 10.6.8). My mothers computer didn't come with one either as it was also an automatic set up. WHAT DO I DO?! I don't have the money for an installation disc
Also.....there is not enough memory on my computer to install Mavericks to avoid needing installation discs.

In order to restore, repair, replace, reformat, and reassign ownership in
certain vintage machines, and also after upgrading past the DVD install
era, these machines require the Snow Leopard OS X 10.6 retail install
disc -- unless they shipped with a machine series specific gray label one.
In which case, a replacement of the correct gray label install-restore
disc would need to be purchased (or perhaps a retail one, depending on
vintage of the computer in question, and what it shipped with) from Apple
and the use of the computer Serial Number is a necessary identifier to
help you communicate the model build year to the Apple people when
the correct replacement or latest Snow Leopard DVD installer is bought.
There is no download of this, that can correctly boot the computer, and
perform the reset of the computer as needed if it is sold or traded away;
the software should be included with the computer, as an essential part.
Same as the power adapter, & electricity to run it. The DVD is also a tool.
A machine build specific Apple Hardware Test is included in the original
DVD software kit for the computer, so a replacement Snow Leopard 10.6
install disc may not include that; it would be on a gray label original disc.
So the best bet is to contact Apple (see online store in your region, if not
in the US, or contact a local Apple Store if you have one within reason)
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard
and order the Snow Leopard DVD. The cost is about $20. plus shipping.
Also, to correctly and properly identify the computer build model is an
important aspect of using database information to update or upgrade
a computer or any complex electronic device that runs software.
PS: the computer may require other hardware upgrade prior to being
able to run Mavericks OS X 10.9.4 adequately; a larger hard drive
with more storage and work capacity; and more chip RAM installed.
Good luck & happy computing!
edited

Replaced hard drive, now can't boot from install disc to restore backup

Yesterday, my hard drive died (disk warrior informed me, that HD had irrecoverable errors, and my iMac would shut down unless it was booted from the Disk Warriorr disc).
Today, I have a new internal HD professionally installed. And when I brought it home, and installed Snow I got an error at the end of the installation "OS could not be installed, restart or choose start up disk" or something to that effect. However, on licking OK I got the snow music, and welcome movie nd eerything seemed to be working fine.
I can log in normally and have get to my desktop, but on trying to boot from the Snow Leopard disk (10.6), I get to the gray screen with the apple logo and hang. I have tried resetting Pram/firmware and also ran the fdisk command (twice).
It seems too much of a concidence that my hard drive and now my disc drive would die all in span of two days? I can hear the disc noise, but as I mentioned I cant get beyond the gray screen on trying to boot from the disc.
Suggestions?
Late Nov '07 intel iMac. And I did update the OS to 10.6.4. Install disc is 10.4.

Return it to the repair station.

Creating a bootable Lion install disc/disk and using it

Hi all,
Below is a copy of a method ds store posted for creating a bootable Lion install disc. Some questions:
1. Is this a polished final version of the process, or are there other steps which could/should be added?
2. Are there any disadvantages to going this route instead of installing directly onto a Mac?
3. After creating a Lion install disc/disk via this method and using this saved dmg to install Lion on a Mac, will it set up the Mac exactly the same way it would by downloading/installing directly from the Apple Store (sounds like a "duh" question, but nothing would surprise me with Lion)?
4. Exact size of this dmg (in case I want to use a flash drive instead)?
I have been avoiding Lion, hoping it would shape up. I'm still not satisfied and will not run it on my main machines. (Of course ymmv; I'm not looking to be talked into or out of using Lion.) However, I am ******* (hmmm, I guess l-u-s-t-i-n-g is a bad word!) over a new Mac Mini, which will have Lion installed, with no chance of running SL on it due to the new hardware revision. Thus, I'm either going to have to make peace with Lion or forget about a new Mini. I guess I'll have to give Lion a try, but I still don't want to actually run it on any of my machines; thus, I want to run it from an external drive, playing with it as I have time/desire, leading to more questions.
5. Using the install disc/disk created above, will it set up Lion on a DVD, flash drive, or external HD exactly as it would on a Mac (Recovery Disk, etc.)?
6. How much space is needed on a destination disc/disk to install Lion?
7. Is it possible to boot from a different volume, mount this dmg, and install Lion from it?
8. Any advantages/disadvantages doing it this way (#7) as opposed to booting from the Lion install disc/disk created above?
9. Another method I'm thinking of using is to (after cloning my SL installation) actually install Lion on my MBP over my current SL installation (shudders violently ), clone it to an external HD, then erase/zero the MBP's HD and clone my SL install back to my MBP. Has anyone done this? Again, I'm concerned that Lion will do something goofy and leave some kind of footprint behind, like maybe messing with firmware; cloning my SL installation back to my internal HD would not reverse a firmware change.
10. Any constructive suggestions on anything related to any of these steps is welcome!
Yes, I've searched and read a number of responses, but I'm hoping much of the "discovery" phase is over, and there are some "solid"/refined answers by now. My bottom line is to be able to play with Lion without having to depend on it.
Thanks!
Backup Lion Bootable 10.7 Disk
Purchase and download Lion from the Mac App Store on any Lion compatible Mac running Snow Leopard.
Right click on “Mac OS X     Lion”     installer and choose the option to     “Show Package Contents.”
Inside the Contents folder     that     appears you will find a SharedSupport     folder and inside the     SharedSupport folder     you will find the “InstallESD.dmg.” This is         the Lion boot disc image we have all been waiting for.
Copy “InstallESD.dmg” to         another folder like the Desktop.
Launch Disk Utility and click     the     burn button.
Select the copied “InstallESD.dmg” as the image to     burn,     insert a standard sized 4.7 GB DVD,     and wait for your new Lion Boot     Disc to come     out toasty hot.
With this disc you can boot any Lion compatible Mac, andinstall10.7 just like you installed previous version of Mac OS X. Youcan even use Disk Utility's Restore function to image your Lion bootdisc image onto a external drive suitable for performing a cleaninstall on a optical-drive-less MacBook Air, or Mac mini server.

tjk wrote:
5. Using the install disc/disk created above, will it set up Lion on a DVD, flash drive, or external HD exactly as it would on a Mac (Recovery Disk, etc.)?
DVD: no, flash drive: if it's large enough, external hard drive: yes
6. How much space is needed on a destination disc/disk to install Lion?
Whatever Apple minimum requirements are.
7. Is it possible to boot from a different volume, mount this dmg, and install Lion from it?
possibly, never tried it, it is a dmg so it's a volume all to itself, except it can't install to the same media it's on and can only install to something formatted with GUID and a OS X extended format, like a flash drive or hard drive large enough.
DVD's can't be formatted with a GUID EFI partiton
8. Any advantages/disadvantages doing it this way (#7) as opposed to booting from the Lion install disc/disk created above?
Speed limitation of the media and bus your using, USB 1 is a slower than a hard drive with 7,200 RPM on a Firewire 800 port
9. Another method I'm thinking of using is to (after cloning my SL installation) actually install Lion on my MBP over my current SL installation (shudders violently ), clone it to an external HD, then erase/zero the MBP's HD and clone my SL install back to my MBP.
The problems come from installing Lion over a existing Snow Leopard setup that isn't quite pristine enough for Lions quirkyness, has tweaks or other software installed that breaks 10.7, requiring you to fix it.
You can try it, you've got the 10.6 clone to option boot off of and restore from.
Cloning back and forth is a performance enhancer, not a problem solver.
Ideally it's best to clone 10.6, disconnect, zero and install 10.6, same user name, then up to 10.6.8, then to 10.7, then install programs from fresh sources/copies and then files returned last from backup off the clone (no migration assistant or it brings trouble back)
This will ensure the best possible performance possible with the least trouble as everything is wiped and installed fresh. Only problem being your files it there is something wrong with them, which is easy to remedy to the cause as it's the only thing not pristine.
Once you've got a pristine system, then clone that twice, once for a immediate update other for falling back a week, two weeks or even a month back.
Has anyone done this? Again, I'm concerned that Lion will do something goofy and leave some kind of footprint behind, like maybe messing with firmware; cloning my SL installation back to my internal HD would not reverse a firmware change.
Firmware is hardware specific not OS specific, of course it's possible a old version of a OS won't work with newer firmware, like 10.5 for instance perhaps because Apple has dropped all work on PPC code.
10.6 and 10.7 are just fine with most all present firmware, however there will be a time where a new firmware update could disallow 10.6, likely when iOS X 10.8 Bobcat arrives.
10. Any constructive suggestions on anything related to any of these steps is welcome!
Yes, I've searched and read a number of responses, but I'm hoping much of the "discovery" phase is over, and there are some "solid"/refined answers by now. My bottom line is to be able to play with Lion without having to depend on it.
Cloning only clones the Lion OS X Partition, not the Lion Recovery Partition.
A comptuer that is Lion capable will boot off a media with no Lion Recovery Partition.
You need to create a Lion Disk Assistant USB which copies your Lion Recovery Partition.
It's in my post.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16276201#16276201

Restore/Install Discs

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