Upgrading OS to snow leopard

Want to upgrade my older IMac to Snow Leopard. Currently have OS 10.5.8. What should I know about the install as to what I might lose in data and how much backing up needs to be done ahead of time?

The pre-2006 iMacs this forum covers cannot run any higher Mac OS than 10.5.8.
However, due to some poor decisions at Apple about forum labeling, some owners of newer iMacs end up here, so we need to find out exactly what you have to recommend an upgrade patth.
Click and hold your Apple Menu (left end of menu bar). While still holding, press your OPTION key. The first entry, "About this Mac" will change to "System Profiler." Click to launch it.
The opening screen will look like this:
Note the code I have indicated with a red arrow; please tell us what that code reads for your iMac. While you are there, find the entry by "Memory" and post it--often OS upgrades can be dependent on memory available.
In doing these reports, please do not post your serial number

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Have early 2007 MacBookPro, Intel core 2 duo, 2.16 GHz; six mos ago expanded memory to 3GB to upgrade software to Snow Leopard; can I install Mountain Lion on my hardware?

have early 2007 MacBookPro, Intel core 2 duo, 2.16 GHz; six mos ago expanded memory to 3GB to upgrade software to Snow Leopard; can I install Mountain Lion on my hardware?

Supported
Models
iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)
MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)
MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
Xserve (Early 2009)
MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)
Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)

I currently have Leopard, and there are no longer updates for it. So I must upgrade to either Snow Leopard or Mountain Lion. Without doing so I cannot update my itunes, and my ipod is no longer compatile with my mac. How can I buy the upgrade

I currently have Leopard, and there are no longer updates for it. So I must upgrade to either Snow Leopard or Mountain Lion. Without doing so I cannot update my itunes, and my ipod is no longer compatile with my mac. How can I buy the upgrade, since I do not have access to the mac store as that comes with Snow Leopard? I went to Best Buy and they said neither Snow Leopard or Mountain Lion can be bought there.

Start by checking if you can run Snow Leopard:
Requirements for OS X 10.6 'Snow Leopard'
http://support.apple.com/kb/SP575
Whilst Apple have withdrawn Snow Leopard from their stores, you can still get it from Apple by calling 1-800-MY-APPLE (if you are in the USA) and they will supply the SL DVD for $20 for a single user, or $30 for a family pack that covers up to 5 Macs. You can also purchase the code to use to download Lion from the same number (Lion requires an Intel-based Mac with a Core 2 Duo, i3, i5, i7 or Xeon processor and 2GB of RAM, running the latest version of Snow Leopard), or you can purchase Mountain Lion from the App Store - if you can run that:
http://www.apple.com/osx/specs/
If you are outside the US call your national Apple Helpline:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HE57
If you're in the UK, use this number: 0871 508 4400
When you have installed it, run Software Update to download and install the latest updates for Snow Leopard.
To use iCloud you have to upgrade all the way to Mountain Lion:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4759

How do I reinstall Lion if I get a new hard drive? My mac came with Leopard and I cannot find my upgrade disk for Snow Leopard

My MacBook Pro originally came with Leopard. I have the OS and Applications disks for Leopard but I cannot find my upgrade disk for Snow Leopard. I would like to perform a clean install of Lion on the new hard drive and restore some data from my Time Machine backup. I am not looking to restore the current image to my new hard drive. I have not yet removed the exisiting hard drive nor have I wiped my data.

The only way to do that is to buy a New SL Retail DVD. Or you could buy the Lion Install USB thumb drive from Apple for $69.
You must have SL installed to then install Lion or have a thumb drive with the Lion installer.
You could also create a Lion USB Recovery thumb drive using Lion Disk Assistant. But you need to have Lion already installed and the Lion RecoveryHD Partition on your drive to make the Recovery thumb drive.
Lion Recovery Disk Assistant

I want to upgrade it to snow leopard. Where can I buy it?

I am running my macbook pro on mac os x 10.5.8 but want to upgrade it to snow leopard. Where can I buy it? Do I have to go to the Apple store ore is it available online?

Upgrading to Snow Leopard
You must purchase Snow Leopard through the Apple Store: Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - Apple Store (U.S.). The price is $19.99 plus tax. You will be sent physical media by mail after placing your order.
After you install Snow Leopard you will have to download and install the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1 to update Snow Leopard to 10.6.8 and give you access to the App Store. Access to the App Store enables you to download Mountain Lion if your computer meets the requirements.
     Snow Leopard General Requirements
       1. Mac computer with an Intel processor
       2. 1GB of memory
       3. 5GB of available disk space
       4. DVD drive for installation
       5. Some features require a compatible Internet service provider;
           fees may apply.
       6. Some features require Apple’s MobileMe service; fees and
           terms apply.

Upgraded from osx snow leopard to lion and still no iCloud

Upgraded from osx snow leopard to lion and still no iCloud settings in System Preferences, why?

I have the exact same issue, and no Profiles for me under System. My system was upgraded from 10.6 as soon as Lion came out and I've never had the icon.
I have had iCloud set up by creating an account within Mail, Contacts & Calendars - but in this setup my Mobile Documents folder, my iCloud "Documents and Data", never synchronized with my other devices. That is why I began wondering why I don't have the iCon as I have seen other Macs that came with 10.7 installed factory.

Can I upgrade my OS Snow Leopard to OS LION with same machine

Can i upgrade my OS Snow Leopard to OS Lion on same machine

yes. As long as your mac meets Lions operating requirements:
Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processor
2GB of memory
OS X v10.6.6 or later (v10.6.8 recommended)
7GB of available space
http://www.apple.com/macosx/specs.html

I have a Mac OS X v10.4.11 i need a upgrade i was wondering if i could upgrade to a snow leopard v10.6 or do i have to get leopard v10.5????

i have a Mac OS X v10.4.11 i need a upgrade i was wondering if i could upgrade to a snow leopard v10.6 or do i have to get leopard v10.5????

If you have an Intel Mac you can upgrade to Snow Leopard or Lion. The amount of RAM you need may limit what you can do. Leopard requires 512 MBs; Snow Leopard requires 1 GB; and Lion requires 2 GBs.
If you have a G4 or G5 Mac then you are limited to Leopard 10.5.8. In addition to the memory requirement your CPU must be at least 867 MHz.
Leopard System requirements
You must have a Macintosh computer with:
an Intel processor or a PowerPC G4 (867 MHz or faster) or G5 processor
a DVD drive >built-in FireWire
at least 512 MB of RAM (additional RAM is recommended for development purposes)
a built-in display or a display connected to an Apple-supplied video card supported by your computer
at least 9 GB of disk space available, or 12 GB of disk space if you install the developer tools
Snow Leopard General requirements
Mac computer with an Intel processor
1GB of memory
5GB of available disk space
DVD drive for installation
Some features require a compatible Internet service provider; fees may apply.
Some features require Apple’s MobileMe service; fees and terms apply.
Lion System Requirements
Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processor
2GB of memory
OS X v10.6.6 or later (v10.6.8 recommended)
7GB of available space
Some features require an Apple ID; terms apply.

What if i loaded osx mountain lion without having upgraded to osx snow leopard

what if i loaded osx mountain lion without having upgraded to osx snow leopard

I don't believe ML will upgrade on top of anything earlier then SL. You might have to do a clean install.

Will I be able to upgrade Directly from Snow Leopard ro Mountain Lion

Hello All!
Will I be able to upgrade Directly from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion without going through Lion?
Thanks in advance

You have to upgrade Mac OS X Snow Leopard to Mac OS X Lion, Then Mac OS X Mountain Lion.
If You have Snow Leopard, then upgrading to Mac OS X Lion is only $29.99 via the Mac App's Store, a one time fee for all your Macs. I recommend that you download it to all your devices first before you actually run the installation process. Once you've upgraded to Mac OS X Lion, then upgrade to Mac OS X Mountain Lion for a one time fee of $19.99.
Mac OS X Mountain Lion will be available as a single software upgrade via the Mac App Store beginning in July 2012. The BEST PART is you only have to purchase it one time to upgrade all of your Macs. So its only like $50 bucks total for ALL your Macs to get both Lion and Mt Lion. Approximately, the same price it was when Snow Leopard's family pack came out for only up to 5 Macs. Except this time you get 2 upgrades for about the same cost for unlimited Macs compared to only 1 upgrade for up to 5 macs like before.
To watch an exciting video from the WWDC/June2012 regarding what Developers, APP's, Lion & Mountain Lion, iPhone4S, and IOS6 will brings to the table this season, click below.:
http://www.apple.com/apple-events/june-2012/
I can't wait.
Good Luck,
Jenn

Can I upgrade directly from Snow Leopard to Mt. Lion?

I was just in the Apple store and the genius there suggested upgrading so I would have full use of iCloud between devices. I've downloaded Mt. Lion but have not yet installed it. Should I have done an intermediate upgrade to Lion first, or doesn't it matter. (Slightly paranoid about making the jump, particularly if I'm liable to lose access to some programs through compatibility problems.) The main reason for the upgrade was to get access to iCloud.
currently on OS 10.6.8 on a Macbook 6,1, Intel Duo core 2.26 GHz processor, 2GB memory, 3 MB L2 cache.

You may directly upgrade to Mountain Lion from Snow Leopard. It requires access to the Mac App Store &, at least. Mac OS X 10.6.8 which you have.
I think skipping Lion is a good move. I no longer have it on any Macs in this house.

Can't upgrade to from Snow Leopard to Lion or Mountain Lion though I have paid for both.

Hi again!
I lost all sound when upgrading to Mountain Lion from Lion and was told by Apple that the cause was likely to be a bad install of ML. I am using a Prism Sound Orpheus Sound Card which worked fine with Lion.
Since then I have put in a new internal System drive and installed the latest version of Snow Leopard firstly with the DVD'S and the using software update.
When going to the apps store I cannot download ML or Lion as I believe (maybe)? that the Apps store thinks that I already have it as it was downloaded into the corrupted system of my old system drive? . I note that all the apps that I have are not listed on the new drive i.e.Pages etc How do I get around this and download Lion and Mountain Lion so that I can rebuild and test my system?

You will need to remove the drive that has Lion/Mountain Lion installed, then boot from the Snow Leopard drive in order to redownload Lion or Mountain Lion. App Store detects any extant Lion/Mountain Lion system thus blocking you from re-downloading.
This time save the download so you won't have to do it again by copying it to your Downloads folder. You can then make your own installer:
Make Your Own Mountain/Lion Installer
1. After downloading Mountain/Lion you must first save the Install Mac OS X Mountain/Lion application. After Mountain/Lion downloads DO NOT click on the Install button. Go to your Applications folder and make a copy of the Mountain/Lion installer. Move the copy into your Downloads folder. Now you can click on the Install button. You must do this because the installer deletes itself automatically when it finishes installing.
2. Get a USB flash drive that is at least 8 GBs. Prep this flash drive as follows:
Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
After DU loads select your flash drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
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.
Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to an hour depending upon the flash drive size.
3. Locate the saved Mountain/Lion installer in your Downloads folder. CTRL- or RIGHT-click on the installer and select Show Package Contents from the contextual menu. Double-click on the Contents folder to open it. Double-click on the SharedSupport folder. In this folder you will see a disc image named InstallESD.dmg.
4. Plug in your freshly prepared USB flash drive. You are going to clone the content of the InstallESD.dmg disc image to the flash drive as follows:
Double-click on the InstallESD.dmg file to mount it on your Desktop.
Open Disk Utility.
Select the USB flash drive from the left side list.
Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
Select the USB flash drive volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
Drag the mounted disc icon from the Desktop into the Source entry field.
Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
When the clone is completed you have a fully bootable installer that you can use without having to re-download Mountain/Lion.
Note: The term Mountain/Lion used above means Lion or Mountain Lion.
As an alternative to the above you can try using Lion DiskMaker 2.0 that automates the process.

Having Issues with iTunes 10.5.3 and uninstalled. Cannot reinstall without upgrading to newest Snow Leopard? Using MacBook Pro running 10.5.8.

Running OS X Leopard 10.5.8 and was having issues with my version of iTunes 10.5.3 (freezing and getting rainbow spinny wheel, not allowing me to do anything, while importing music from a different folder into the iTunes). Anyway, so I uninstalled iTunes and went to download the newest version (10.7 i believe) and after downloading and attempting to install, i was alerted that I cannot install and run this application without having the newest version of OS X 10.6 i believe. So, what I'm ultimately trying to figure out is if I need to spend $130(that i do not have) on Amazon to get the Snow Leopard 10.6.3 then pay another $20 in the App Store to upgrade to Mountain Lion as well? I need to have iTunes on this laptop due to having an iPhone 4 that needs to be able to be synced on this computer. Bottom Line is, I don't have really have $150 to upgrade all this at the current moment just to get iTunes back on my system. Any suggestions or am I basically having to drop the $150 just to get iTunes back so I can sync my iPhone 4 again? Ugh, this *****, really wish i hadn't uninstalled that version of iTunes..HELP!!! thanks in advance..

Click here and install the software. If you decide to upgrade to 10.6 at some future point, phone the online Apple Store.
(70951)

Just upgraded macbook to Snow Leopard, and now itunes won't recognize my iphone. I tried turning all off, and on. I have the newest version of itunes. Will I have to reset my iphone (and also ipod touch?), and if so, does it mean I lose anything?

I just upgraded macbook to SnowLeopard 10.6.3 and now itunes won't recognize my iphone. I tried turning everything off and restarting. I have the latest version of itunes. If I have to reset the phone (and ipod touch), what does that mean? Will I lose anything? How long will it take? thanks

Start iTunes. Make sure you really are running the version you think you are. Sometimes people end up with two copies, different versions.
Mac OS X v10.6: iOS device not recognized in iTunes after restart - http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3540
iPhone, iPad, iPod touch: Device not recognized in iTunes for Mac OS X - http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1591
Troubleshooting iTunes installation on Mac OS X - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2311 - read section on Opening iTunes for information about running multiple copies of iTunes.
You say you are running Snow Leopard 10.6.3. That version will not run the latest iTunes which requires 10.6.8 If you need iTunes 10.7 you have to be running 10.6.8
Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v.1.1 - http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1399
Message was edited by: Limnos

Upgrading issue from Snow Leopard 10.6.8 to Mountain Lion

Hello there,
I have a Macbook Pro 15'' which I purchased nearly 2 years ago. I have a dual boot with OS and Windows with boot camp.
PROBLEM: For the past year I have been desperately trying to upgrade my operative system from snow leopard to a later version, without any success.
QUESTION: If I install Mountain Lion on an External Hard Drive, will I be able to use my mac without the external hard drive? Can I use the external hard drive only for the recovery mode? (Refer to point 2) below for more clarification)
The STORY:
First, I tried to install OS Lion. The error I had was that the OS could not create a recovery partition. The problem is well known in the community, but Apple is ignoring requests of costumers and I tried for several months to ask for a solution by contacting tech support. I did not find a solution and at the end I was mostly ignored.
When OS mountain Lion came out I hoped that the new OS would have solved the problem. I was wrong. I bought the update and I had the same problem.
The OS won't install because it can not create a recovery backup.
The problem is well reported in this post:
http://www.macworld.com/article/1167870/hands_on_with_mountain_lions_os_x_recove ry_and_internet_recovery.html
I quote the article which says the iussue is due to:"... if you partitioned the drive using Boot Camp Assistant ... the installer won’t be able to create Recovery HD...". In essence, if you used the Apple software Bootcamp to partition the Mac, then any later OS system won't recognize the partition and will refuse to install the update because they can't create a recovery disk.
Now, this won't be a problem with any other OS, because all you need to do is to manually create the partition , while OSX works only in "automatic" mode. This means I can not upgrade my OS
There are two solutions reported in the article:
1) Back up all your data and Format your hard drive. I actually refuse to do so, ^_^ as I would lose 1-2 days of work just because of the lack of support of Apple
2) Install OS on a external hard drive
This looks like a neat way out . However, I am afraid I will need to bring this Hard drive with me at all time. I was wondering if anyone has experience with this. I so, I would like to ask if I install OS mountain Lion on that Hard drive, will the external drive be used only for the recovery disk?
Please, let me know

Uh uh, I see!
Also it seems I can use my time machine backup:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migration_Assistant_(Apple)
together with Migration Assistant. This would work. Thanks
Now I need to figure out the Windows part. I need a full backup of Windows as well, with all the programs. In particular I need to be sure I can maintain the graphic card drivers.
You don't want to know how long took for me to find out how the **** I could update my graphic card drivers in Windows on my Macbook pro. Unfortunately there was a lot of misleading propaganda from Apple about bootcamp, saying that the new intel processor would have worked fine with Windows. Sad that everything was a lie. When installing Windows with bootcamp the graphic card program was unable to find and install the graphic card drivers update . Took me 2 weeks reading through thousands of angry posts of disappointed costumers to find out how to do that. I do not want to reapeat this dreadful experience.
After one year and a half with my Macbook pro I have a system I am TERRIFIED to touch. It is very very fragile, and any little change can destroy everything. It barely works. that's why I am so scared to re-install the OS

Upgrade to osx snow leopard from 10.4.11

I have heard that upgrading from 10.4.11 to snow leopard can be done, without the purchasing the useless 'box set', but my question is if i upgrade my os will i lose or keep all my programs, applications, documents and- most important- my music ??? also could someone please confirm that all i need to upgrade is the £25 osx snow leopard disk from apple ... cheers now ryan.

Welcome to Apple Discussions, Ryan.
Yes, you are correct about the the £25 upgrade DVD.
No, you should not lose anything. But a good backup is always recommended, I prefer SuperDuper or CarbonCopy Cloner.
EDIT: If you want to check compatibility of your apps...
http://snowleopard.wikidot.com/
-mj
Message was edited by: macjack

Upgrading OS to snow leopard

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