"What OS Disk Do I Need?" A Brief Overview

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Different versions of Leopard?

my girlfriend just bought a powerbook g4 and we are looking to upgrade the operating system to leopard. it is my understanding that there were two versions of leopard released. the end of the powerbook era and the beginning of the macbook era. the macbook runs on intel so those install discs won't work on a powerbook. am i correct?
 
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my girlfriend just bought a powerbook g4 and we are looking to upgrade the operating system to leopard. it is my understanding that there were two versions of leopard released. the end of the powerbook era and the beginning of the macbook era. the macbook runs on intel so those install discs won't work on a powerbook. am i correct?

Any boxed Leopard disc (the type sold at retail, which were black in color) will have a universal version of Leopard that would work on any Mac that supports Leopard.

The restore discs shipped with Macs (which were all gray in color) include only the software needed to support that particular Mac; none of those would work with a PowerBook.
 

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my girlfriend just bought a powerbook g4 and we are looking to upgrade the operating system to leopard. it is my understanding that there were two versions of leopard released. the end of the powerbook era and the beginning of the macbook era. the macbook runs on intel so those install discs won't work on a powerbook. am i correct?

Not correct. There were three versions:

1. Gray disks that shipped with new computers (you don't want these).

2. An OS 10.5 "Drop-in disk"...which was "dropped in" the box of a new computer when OS 10.5 was first released (the computer in the box still had OS 10.4 installed on it).

You probably don't want this disk...since it requires a previous version of the Mac OS be installed on the HD BEFORE the OS 10.5 "drop-in disk" will work.

3. The full install retail version of OS 10.5. Black disk...no limitations...will install on any Mac computer capable of running OS 10.5. Will install fine on a blank HD (no previous OS version needs to be installed).

- Nick
 
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iBook G4

I have a dual USB, white iBook G4. It is running 10.2.8 Can I buy an install disc for 10.2 for it? I see them on eBay, but not sure if that is ok. Can I get and use 10.3 on that machine?

Thanks in advance . . .
 
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I have a dual USB, white iBook G4. It is running 10.2.8 Can I buy an install disc for 10.2 for it? I see them on eBay, but not sure if that is ok. Can I get and use 10.3 on that machine?

Thanks in advance . . .

You can probably run Tiger (10.4) or even potentially Leopard (10.5) depending on your iBook specs, but regardless make sure you get Retail disks.
 
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Snow Leapord Retail available from Apple

FYI - You can call 1-800-MY-APPLE and order Snow Leapord Retail (10.6) for $19.99 shipped. Someone on another forum mentioned this so I tried it. My MacBook Pro and iMac are 2007 models so we will likely upgrade again to Lion (10.7) but stop there. Upgrading to Lion will require another call to Apple so we can get a code in order to install the upgrade online.
 

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The price for Snow Leopard is $29.99 shipped not $19.99. The $19.99 price is for Mountain Lion.
 
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What's missing here is the backwards compatibility of Mac hardware.

For instance, Can you run Snow Leopard on a new Mac that came with Lion or Mtn Lion? (or for those that don't know, can you run Snow Leopard on a G5?) etc...

Still, a good reference.

Does anyone know WHY apple no longer provides the OS on a DVD? It's a major PITA for a lot of people. Infuriating, actually.
 
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Can I get a usb stick for my 2009 MB-Pro

I recently purchase a MB Pro (2009) 2.8Ghz w/o the original (snow leopard) disks. I then up-graded (through apple store download) to Mountain Lion. My MB still shows files and folders of the previous owner (if I go to iTunes it still gives me his name as the primary d/l user). I'd like to do a complete re-install w/o his info in the notebook. Is there an easy way for me to do this w/o the original disks? Thanks, (Mac noob) -Davis
 
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Disc OS

This is great information for newbies and very clearly laid out. I could have used this chart a couple months ago. Thanks!

Hi there, just purchased my first ever Mac, iMac 27, and done the update to the newest available i believe, This must have been asked by everyone who purchased one, but having a disability that gives me short bursts on any computer, so sorry if its right in my face, reading this on Backup discs, i believe there is a partition possibly with a backup on, i have made the file on a pen drive for a boot disc, question, if there was a total hard drive fail, where would i get the full system backup from? would the file on pen drive send me there, there were no discs in with the box, but i know HDD can just go anytime, thanks for any replays in advance, and i really do look forward to using the forum as much as i can, and who knows one day i myself might be answering someone this very question. :) I love the feel so far, and know doubt purchase a book on the mac, and might get some answers there...speak soon.
Peter
 
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If you followed the directions to extract the OS from the installer DMG, then you have all you need to boot from and then install the OS.

EDIT: And probably wouldn't be a bad idea to update this Sticky since its now 2 versions behind.
 
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I'm presuming then, with the backup on Pen drive, that might be a licence??and then it downloads off the Net, cheers, feel free to correct me, i get lazy sometime, as i suffer from a pain condition, which sometimes will not allow me to sit hours in one spot reading, ouch! hence, i might ask questions that there are answers for, but i'm so grateful, being a newbie an all...Thank You always goes a long way, so thanks!
 
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The installer contains the complete OS (around 6GB if I remember correctly). If you have that, you don't need to pull anything else down from the internet to install. Obviously, you will need internet connect for updates.
 
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I recently purchase a MB Pro (2009) 2.8Ghz w/o the original (snow leopard) disks. I then up-graded (through apple store download) to Mountain Lion. My MB still shows files and folders of the previous owner (if I go to iTunes it still gives me his name as the primary d/l user). I'd like to do a complete re-install w/o his info in the notebook. Is there an easy way for me to do this w/o the original disks? Thanks, (Mac noob) -Davis

I just found a program that will let me migrate my "Mountain lion" install to a "thumb drive": DiskMaker X (formerly Lion DiskMaker)
Worked like a charm: I installed a 250Gb SSD and did a "clean install" of Mountain Lion on my MB Pro.
Thanks to all that "P.M." me w/ New to Mac ! -Davis ;):Evil:
 
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Great "clarifier"... thanks. I do have a question for "anyone"... Bought a used Imac for my daughter... wanted to simply "migrate" her stuff from her old Mac, esp. the music, etc. couldn't seem to make Migration Assistant work right, in desperation, I wiped out the content of the Imac.. planned to install from a OS X Leopard drop install disk. Discovered that what I thought was "start from scratch" install disk was actually an upgrade from OS X 4 disk... won't work of course. I then tried a Snow Leopard install disk. When I hold down the option key and start up, the screen shows two boxes... one with a 270° circle symbol, the other box shows only a right facing arrow... no words, no more action. I do have a cursor arrow, but it makes either box "blink" and no other action.
Help! Dave States
 
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Assuming you have the Retail Snow Leopard Disk (White disk) and this is an older iMac 2010 model and older, then it is possible your install disk is scratched or dirty, or the DVD drive is dirty or failing (slot load drives have a high failure rate).

Try cleaning the disk and giving the drive a shot with some canned air (while it isn't running) and see if that helps.

EDIT: If you do post back for more help, please give us detailed specs on both Macs as that helps us help you
 

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Please update thread!!!!
 

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Closing thread to avoid confusion. Please start a new thread related to a particular issue with OS X discs.
 
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