Upgrading to Mountain Lion -- partitioned disc

I bought a second hand MacBook Pro running Windows and Snow Leopard and preloaded with Microsoft Office for Mac. If I wanted to upgrade to Mountain Lion will either of those be affected?

You didn't state the model of your MacBook Pro, you would need, at minimum, a MacBook Pro 3,1 to be able to upgrade to ML.
You also didn't state the version of your Microsoft Office. You would need either Office 2008 or 2011, not 2004.

Similar Messages

  • If I upgrade my leopard computer to snow leopard via an old update disc, can I then upgrade to Mountain Lion for the $20 deal?

    If I upgrade my leopard computer to snow leopard via an old update disc, can I then upgrade to Mountain Lion for the $20 deal?

    Yes, provided  your computer meets the system requirements and you have updated Snow Leopard to 10.6.8:
    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.
    Apple - OS X Mountain Lion - Read the technical specifications.
    Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Mountain Lion
    iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)
    MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)
    MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
    MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
    Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)
    Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)
    Xserve (Early 2009)
    I would also read this:
    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.

  • After upgrading to mountain lion i keep getting an error message saying my startup disc is full. it shouldnt be full because there is barely anything on there and i was running windows with bootcamp prior to this with no issues

    after upgrading to mountain lion i keep getting an error message saying my startup disc is full. it shouldnt be full because there is barely anything on there and i was running windows with bootcamp prior to this with no issues. my computer now freezes and programs close randomly. The usual command for opening windows with bootcamp doesnt work. once in restarted my computer after it froze and it rebooted in windows automatically. i really just want to know if there is a way to take the upgrade off my laptop because it is very annoying.

    Hi Memalyn
    Essentially, the bare issue is that you have a 500GB hard drive with only 10GB free. That is not sufficient to run the system properly. The two options you have are to move/remove files to another location, or to install a larger hard drive (eg 2TB). Drive space has nothing to do with SMC firmware, and usually large media files are to blame.
    My first recommendation is this: download and run the free OmniDiskSweeper. This will identify the exact size of all your folders - you can drill down into the subfolders and figure out where your largest culprits are. For example, you might find that your Pictures folder contains both an iPhoto Library and copies that you've brought in from a camera but are outside the iPhoto Library structure. Or perhaps you have a lot of purchased video content in iTunes.
    If you find files that you KNOW you do not need, you can delete them. Don't delete them just because you have a backup, since if the backup fails, you will lose all your copies.
    Don't worry about "cleaners" for now - they don't save much space and can actually cause problems. Deal with the large file situation first and see how you get on.
    Let us know what you find out, and if you manage to get your space back.
    Matt

  • Does Logic Studio (disc version) work after upgrading to Mountain Lion?

    I am currently running Logic on Lion. I purchased the disc version before it was sold on the app store. If you upgrade to mountain lion what happens? Since software update is done away with, then what happens to updates?
    More importantly, if I do a clean install of mountain lion, then how will I download the updates for logic if I install it via disc? When going from Snow Leopard to Lion, the disc version of Logic needed some software updates to work on Lion, otherwise it would crash. Since software update is no longer available on Mountain Lion, how will one install the disc version of logic on mountain lion?

    Yes, I would also like to know how one is supposed to update the plethora of retail baxed versions of Apple software once you have installed Mountain Lion; from which by the sound of it has many issues as the latest Mac OS makes it's apparent transition from a true personal computer OS to a part device OS hybrid.
    There is of course the option to (painstakenly) download all past relevent updates for Apple retail boxed purchased software from the support webpages on the Apple website. However as well as having to download all necessary updates (not good for those with internet limitations) and in addition sometimes having to download more than one version of the same software if the most up-to-date version available is 'not' a full combo update package; but also most likely because those updates were pre- Mountain Lion release and may likely 'not' resolve any new arising problems and errors now and in the future.
    Is this severenece on the highest scale? Unless of course Apple address this very soon.
    I have a retail boxed Apple Shake 4.1 which I think was one of Apples most amazing high-end software, however Apple abanndoned it altogether and currently I don't have the confidence to install it in either Lion nor Mountain Lion incase of problems. In this case however the retail box versions of Logic Studio, FC Studio, Aperture, iWork, etc. are still in production but where's the support for keeping them up to date?

  • I have received my first mac from a designer friend who passed away recently. He had been having problems with crashing in Lion. His friend upgraded to Mountain Lion before his mac pro laptop, mid 2010, was sent to me. It has many problems and crashes

    After sorting the material of my friends on the drive and creating a new user, I realized that the system was unusable with 30 or 40 crashes a day. I am a photoshop user and my friend had installed cs2 and upgraded to cs5. Actually everything was crashing and he had had the problems in Lion and they did not go away in Mountain Lion.
    So my sense is the next best step is to uninstall and reinstall the operating system....but I'm entirely new to Mac though I quite good at problem solving on PC.  I have been messing around trying to get Mac up for over a week now so am learning quickly but feel uncertain about the steps in installation and don't want to mess things further.
    I have found this
    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3351
    which seems useful.
    I'm backing everything now to a usb drive, I have one copy in timemachine, but I need a clean install so I'm backing things manually as it's not so complicated my being a new user.
    I have the original discs of Snow Leopard and a dmg file of Mountain Lion that were installed on this computer.
    I hope I can find my friends Adobe id and password.....he does have a list of passwords, how can I check if they are correct.
    Do I need to install Snow leopard from the original disks first and then update and then upgrade to Mountain Lion?
    He upgraded first to Lion but I can't find that program to install, do I need it to get to Mountain Lion?
    I don't have boot disks, does that matter?
    What can I do about CS5 in a restore? I don't mind loosing other programs so much as this one.....I haven't seen the upgrades and only have CS2. What happens to all your programs...I guess they are just lost?
    I haven't used mail, so I'm not worried about that.
    Hope I can get some support with the process, any support will be valued that is at all related. Thank you

    Merielsea wrote:
    I am looking through this material, it's great. I'm wondering though, does command r work in #8 if my original disks where Snow Leopard?
    Yes, when the operating system was upgraded to 10.7 then to 10.8, it 10.6 was replaced so those 10.6 disks are only good now for completely erasing the entire drive and reverting the machine back to 10.6
    10.7 and 10.8 has a Recovery HD partiton on the boot drive.
    https://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
    I have a mountain lion dmg file that was used to upgrade from Lion, would double clicking on this equal the same thing as reinstalling mountain lion over itself?
    I wouldn't use this, as Apple is now changing things, so you need to reinstall 10.8 via the Recovery HD
    I would prefer to keep CS5 photoshop
    Not going to happen, if it's working now good for you. But according to Roaring Apps it's not working for 10.8. and it needs to be upgraded to CS6
    If you revert the machine to 10.6 or 10.7, your going to erase CS5 and everything else.
    Doing #20 would be a bit beyond me and I don't know another mac user so that I can work from their mac.
    Why do you need another Mac users machine?
    Print out the instructions.
    Here is some more about secure erasing for a new owner
    How do I securely delete data from the machine?
    Installing OS X 10.8 again
    https://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
    Does the reinstall have to go from Snow Leopard which was the base install, to lion then to mountain lion,
    No, you erase and install 10.8
    When Apple upgrades 10.6 to 10.7 then to 10.8, it's a complete operating system replacement, it's called a upgrade because it's still OS X but leaves all your files and most programs intact, none of the older operating system version remains.
    Just like if you would upgrade Vista to Windows 7, or Windows 7 to Windows 7 Pro.
    Can I install the mountain lion upgrade over a freshly installed Snow Leopard?
    Yes, but it requires erasing the entire drive (including 10.8 Recovery HD) from the 10.6 disks, then installing 10.6, then Software Updating to 10.6.8, then buying 10.8 from the AppStore, then downloading it and installing it, then the machine will be 10.8
    Or you can use the Recovery HD and just erase the Macintosh HD parittion then reinstall 10.8 that way for free.
    How to reinstall just OS X or erase/install OS X
    https://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
    See what is confusing you is there is a hidden Recovery HD partition on the boot drive, it can do all the things like a OS X install disk can do, erase the Macintosh HD partiton (where OS X, programs and files are) and install a new copy of OSX from Apple's servers so it reboots to a brand new machine again (no Cs5 though)
    Instead of a boot disk, there is a two bootable partitions on the boot drive, one is Recovery HD and the other is Macintosh HD which boots into OS X.
    SO your command r booting the operating system in Recovery HD to erase the other partition and reinstall OS X into from Apple's servers, got it.? 
    Your going to need your AppleID and password to reinstall OS X 10.8, all part of the new world order.

  • I had Leopard on may Mac. I upgraded to Mountain Lion using Snow Leopard. I can't use my video with Mountain Lion. Can I load Snow Leopard on an external hard drive so I can use it with my camera?

    I had Leopard on may Mac. I upgraded to Mountain Lion using Snow Leopard. I can't use my video with Mountain Lion. Can I load Snow Leopard on an external hard drive so I can use it with my camera?

    First, you cannot do this if you have a Boot Camp partition.
    Second: Create a new partition.
    1. Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the 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.
    After the main menu appears select Disk Utility and click on the Continue button. Select the hard drive's main entry then click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
    2. You should see the graphical sizing window showing the existing partitions. A portion may appear as a blue rectangle representing the used space on a partition.
    3. In the lower right corner of the sizing rectangle for each partition is a resizing gadget. Select it with the mouse and move the bottom of the rectangle upwards until you have reduced the existing partition enough to create the desired new volume's size. The space below the resized partition will appear gray. Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed.  (Note: You can only make a partition smaller in order to create new free space.)
    4. Click on the [+] button below the sizing window to add a new partition in the gray space you freed up. Give the new volume a name, if you wish, then click on the Apply button. Wait until the process has completed.
    You should now have a new volume on the drive.
    It would be wise to have a backup of your current system as resizing is not necessarily free of risk for data loss.  Your drive must have sufficient contiguous free space for this process to work.
    Third: Install Snow Leopard.
    Boot from your Snow Leopard DVD. Follow instructions for installation being sure that before you actually install Snow Leopard you have selected the new partition as your target destination.
    Booting From An OS X Installer Disc
      1. Insert OS X Installer Disc into the optical drive.
      2. Restart the computer.
      3. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key.
      4. Release the key when the spinning gear below the dark gray Apple logo
          appears.
      5. Wait for installer to finish loading.

  • Have been using your products since 1984. Very sorry I upgraded to Mountain Lion. Time consuming AND wiped out 2007 Quicken. I guess it would have been too much trouble to have red flagged this situation ahead of time. Out of business, literally.

    Have been using your products since 1984. Very sorry I upgraded to Mountain Lion. Wiped out all my old applications. Out of business until I get this fixxed. Can I go back to previous operating system? Time Machine?

    Downgrade Lion/Mountain Lion to Snow Leopard
    1.  Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button.  When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
    2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area.  If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing.  SMART info will not be reported  on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
    3. 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.
    4. Quit DU and return to the installer. Install Snow Leopard.
    This will erase the whole drive so be sure to backup your files if you don't have a backup already. If you have performed a TM backup using Lion be aware that you cannot restore from that backup in Snow Leopard (see below.) I suggest you make a separate backup using Carbon Copy Cloner 3.4.1.
    If you have Snow Leopard Time Machine backups, do a full system restore per #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.  If you have subsequent backups from Lion, you can restore newer items selectively, via the "Star Wars" display, per #15 there, but be careful; some Snow Leopard apps may not work with the Lion files.
    In the future:
    Before upgrading consider:
    Don't upgrade if you are in the midst of important work. Wait until you have finished.
    If you are having problems with your computer get them sorted out before you upgrade.
    Verify that any mission critical software will be compatible with the upgrade.

  • Hi, Hi, Hi  I have the old MacBook Pro. Upgraded to Mountain Lion which completely wrecked the system. So downgraded to Snow Leopard. The updated the combo update. Now stuck on blue screen at start-up. Need help. Greatly appreciated. Thank you.

    Hi,
    I have the old MacBook Pro. Upgraded to Mountain Lion which completely wrecked the system. So downgraded to Snow Leopard.
    Then updated the combo update. Now stuck on blue screen at start-up.
    Need help. Greatly appreciated. Thank you.

    Downgrade Lion/Mountain Lion to Snow Leopard
      1. Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer Disc. After the installer
          loads select your language and click on the Continue
          button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the
          Utilities menu.
      2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the
          mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status
          of the drive in DU's status area.  If it does not say "Verified" then
          the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing.  SMART
          info will not be reported  on external drives. Otherwise, click on
          the Partition tab in the DU main window.
      3. 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.
      4. Quit DU and return to the installer. Install Snow Leopard.
    This will erase the whole drive so be sure to backup your files if you don't have a backup already. If you have performed a TM backup using Lion be aware that you cannot restore from that backup in Snow Leopard (see below.) I suggest you make a separate backup using Carbon Copy Cloner.
    If you have Snow Leopard Time Machine backups, do a full system restore per #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.  If you have subsequent backups from Lion, you can restore newer items selectively, via the "Star Wars" display, per #15 there, but be careful; some Snow Leopard apps may not work with the Lion files.

  • Upgrading to mountain lion and install has stop

    I have started the upgrade to mountain lion and it has downloaded and started to install
    It had a message that the machine would restarted automatically during the install
    When it tried to do that it has now stopped at at blank white display
    What should I do?

    Hi, were you upgrading from 10.6 or 10.7?
    "Try Disk Utility
    1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
    2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu at top of the screen. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
    *Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
    3. Click the First Aid tab.
    4. Select your Mac OS X volume.
    5. Click Repair Disk, (not Repair Permissions). Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
    Then try a Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.
    (Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.)
    If perchance you can't find your install Disc, at least try it from the Safe Boot part onward.
    If 10.7.0 or later...
    Bootup holding CMD+r, or the Option/alt key to boot from the Restore partition & use Disk Utility from there to Repair the Disk, then Repair Permissions.

  • I cant access the root share of a windows server after upgrading to mountain lion

    Hi Guys,
    Since upgrading to mountain lion i cant access the shared drives on our windows server. For example in a windows machine if i go to run the type \\server\ i get all the visible shares available. in my previous version i was able to do the same (obviously i would authenticate with my AD account). now when i try to access those same shares i get the message below:
    "The operation cant be completed becuase the original item for "/" cant be found"
    I can however connect to the shares directly for example if i connect to server path \\server\data it works ok.
    I have verified my account details and they are ok - i have also disconnected and reconnected the connection.
    This was working fine before the upgrade. can anyone help??

    well iv just managed to get to 35 gig free (just deleting iphone backups) and im now able to get past the next screen on bootcamp.
    unfortunatly its only allowing me to create a new partition not delete the current.
    this is leading me to think the old ones master partition has become damaged and the hard drive dosent know it exists any more.
    if this is the case (please tell me im wrong though) what options do i have as i dont want to / have the money to buy another hard drive to back everything up to it with.
    thanks again
    gareth

  • Upgraded to Mountain Lion.  Where's iPhoto?

    I just upgraded to Mountain Lion a few days ago and I can't find iPhoto.  I read on another thread that I can log in with my Apple ID, click on options before purchasing and I should be able to download it free.
    Well, I signed into the App Store and I think I used a different ID because when I check my Order History, it says that nothing was purchased in the last 90 days.  It's possible I have two Apple ID's so I wanted to log out of that account and try signing in under another possible one.  BUT WHERE'S THE LOG OUT?  I can't find it to save my life.
    Other than that, doesn't iPhoto come with Mountain Lion?  I had it with my previous OS before upgrading.  Thanks for any help!

    iPhoto comes with your Mac. What version of OS X came installed on your Mac when you bought it?
    If it came with any version of OS X before Lion came out then you will need to re-install iPhoto from the Applications disc that came with your Mac and then Update it through Software Update.
    Like if Snow Leopard or Leopard was Pre-Installed on your Mac when you bought it, it came with 2 System Restore/Re-Install Discs. One for the OS and one for the iLife Apps, IE the Applications disc.
    If you don't have them then there are 2 ways to get iPhoto and the other iLife Apps reinstalled on your system.
    1) You call Apple and order a replacement set of System Discs at a small fee/charge.
    2) Buy it and the other iLife Apps, if you want them, from the Mac App Store.
    Or Option 3. If you know someone that has a similar year Mac and they still have their original System Re-Install/Restore discs you could try to use theirs to Reinstall the iLife Apps.
    If your system came with Lion then you can get them from the Mac App Store for free but you must log in to the store with the same Apple ID you used when you first registered that Mac with the App Store.
    Good Luck and Best Wishes

  • Upgrading from Mountain lion

    I am upgrading from Mountain Lion to Mavericks. I tried to install Mavericks from the AppStore, everything went OK (download, etc), until the system had to reboot and it was when everything failed. The system couldn't start, it stalled when the apple logo appeared, but the mouse was resposive (really weird). I tried several things cleaning the PRAM, etc, and there was no booting, or alternative to start the system. After trying all the different combinations to boot and see no change, I realised that the left option key somehow was unresposive at startup, and that was one of the identified problems. However, I manage to use the right option key and I was be able to boot from an external hardrive using a recovery partition from a clone of my system. I restored the system with my back-up from Time Machine of 10.8.5. I have a mid 2010 MacBook Pro, where I have a SSD drive. My drive is OK and It was checked prior to installation of the system etc. Any Ideas on how to able to install 10.9, or an expected release date of a new installer? It seems this has been happening to a lot of people.

    OK,
    I did the following (I did not purchase DiskWarrior or any other 3rd Party software)
    Backed up to an Time Machine Drive
    Reset the EPROM (zapped it or whatever they kids these days are calling it)
    Booted off a Mavericks USB stick.
    Ran Repair Disk & Repair Permissions
    Installed Mavericks
    Worked fine, took a while but up and running.
    Not sure what the HD damage error was but it's working away on my old work horse (17" Late 2007 MacBook Pro).
    Eoin
    <Apologies for post the same response in two place but I had made a comment here and was following another thread, Good Luck!)

  • Can't mount WD external hard drive after upgrade to Mountain Lion

    I have two external hard drives on my iMac.  One for Time Machine and Aperture Library Files (My Book Essentials formatted Mac OS Extended Journaled) - this works fine. 
    The other is an older WD 500Gb drive which is partitioned Windows_Fat_32.  (Keep in mind, I'm not even sure what this means exactly).  It contained my iTunes library and a lot of photo backups.  It worked fine on my iMac with Snow Leopard, but since upgrading to Mountain Lion, it won't mount.  I get an error that says "this drive is not readable by this computer" and I get options to "intialize", "ignore", or "eject".  Disk Utility sees the drive but won't let me do anything with it.  Is there a way to salvage this data?  I don't mind reformatting after I move the data or getting a new drive, but I don't want to lose the data.  My iTunes music files are extensive and they are on the good external drive, but the "library" is on the bad one...
    Sorry if I haven't explained well..

    hi,
    it is kind of late, but I wonder, did you manage to solve the issue?
    I have lacie drives, and the firmware upgrade is apparently required, but I cannot find the appropriate one at lacie's website... the ones i tried do not recognize my drive...
    my lacie quadra d2 250 GB (USB, FW 400, 800) goes to sleep, and does not wake up....
    I'm still searching for help...
    ps: lacie's support page is quite hard to pierce, they require one to sign up, but no support for latinaamerican countries... so I could not sign up, therefore could not reach their support

  • Not recognizing external hard drive after upgrading to mountain lion

    I recently upgraded to mountain lion.  While my external hard drive originally showed on the desktop it does not anymore,  The hard drive is partitioned between my wife (laptop) and my desktop.  My wife's part does show on the desktop but mine does not.  From reading some of the issues on the Support Community I did a disk repair as it does show up under disk utility.  Although the disk repair was performed successfully, it still does not appear.  I read some other comments about Fuse but I don't understand what this is about.  Any suggestions to get my external hard drive back so I can keep my computer backed up.  Thanks.

    It is powered (the light is on).  I was uploading photos from the drive yesterday, so it worked perfectly fine before the upgrade to 10.6.8 (which I did during the night).  Is there anything else to try before I move it to another computer to see if it works?  Again, thanks.

  • How do I make a back up on Time Machine before upgrading to Mountain Lion?

    A detailed process would be greatly appreciated. I've heard I should use time machine before upgrading to Mountain Lion for reasons I cannot remember.
    Thanks!

    Connect an external drive to your Mac. Open Disk Utility, it is in the Utilities folder in the Applications folder, and see if the external is formated Mac Extended (Journaled) and if it is not you can either use the Partition tab to Re-partition it as one partition and format it Mac Extended (Journaled) or you can use the Erase tab to Erase the drive and format it the Mac format. Name it anything you like.
    Once that is done close Disk Utility and open System Preferences and go to the Time Machine Applet. Once that is open, If OS X doesn't ask you if you want to use that external as a TM backup disk, select "SelectBackup Disk" and select that external as a place to store backups. Then move the slider from Off to On and then TM will start the process of making a backup of your system. Once it is finished I suggest you turn it back off.

Maybe you are looking for