Upgrade or wait for the next OS?

[pm-r]

@sllewk

Hi Bob, you are getting very technical now with "just downloading and not installing "! How on earth would I do that with the OS because with the OS I thought it would be an automatic installation. ...
...

Just like downloading a new application, but just don't run it which would start the OS installation upgrade process.

Just in case it wasn't made very clear with the extra topics added.

PS: You can just stash it somewhere for use later on if you like and you would have your own copy in case or when Apple pulls it from any download location.



- Patrick
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[MacInWin]

Not quite that simple, Patrick, because the application starts up at the end of the download. So you have to cancel out of the application after it starts up without authorizing it to install. Apparently Keith authorized it to install, which means at the end it was deleted, also as a part of the install process. So to get the installer to save somewhere, he would have to download it again, cancel the installation and then the installer will be in the ~/Applications folder.

 

[pm-r]

Not quite that simple, Patrick, because the application starts up at the end of the download.

Thanks for that update and information Jake, I didn't realize that, and neither have I witnessed it so I guess it started sometimes after High Sierra as I still have all OS installer images up to that point and I just moved them to a separate folder where they still remain after they had downloaded. And some of them have been used several times now, including some COMBO Updaters.

I would have been livid if they had started to run on their own and without my admin OK and overwritten any existing OS I had been using.


- Patrick
======

 

[krs]

I'm in full agreement with Ian's comments here, and I often wonder why so many always seem to suggest using DiskMaker X.app to create an installer disk and creating the extra work when most users can just use the MacOS installer file that was downloaded from the Apple site.

I do it because when I do upgrade the macOS, I have six Macs in the immediate family to upgrade.
Saves me downloading the same file six times from the Apple store.

 

[MacInWin]

Ah, well, they don't do that, Patrick. The app starts and gets to an initial screen that asks, I think, what you want to do. At that point you can exit and quit the program and the installer is left in Applications. But if you run it from Applications, it will delete the installer once the installation is done. IF you run the install from anywhere else (including a bootable USB drive) it does NOT uninstall.

 

[IWT]

Ah, well, they don't do that, Patrick. The app starts and gets to an initial screen that asks, I think, what you want to do. At that point you can exit and quit the program and the installer is left in Applications. But if you run it from Applications, it will delete the installer once the installation is done. IF you run the install from anywhere else (including a bootable USB drive) it does NOT uninstall.

That is quite correct, Jake.

What I was suggesting, and have done it myself, is that the OP or anyone, can download macOS Mojave and stop the process there. The Installer app is in Applications, as you say.

It can be copied to an External Hard Drive (EHD) or anywhere you like. It is then there for the future. If/when the person wants to run the Installer, they make a copy and place it in the Applications Folder and activate from there.

I am in no way arguing against Diskmaker X. I have used it for years. Merely pointing out that it is not a necessity if all you want is to download an OS just in case you might wish to use it in the future.

Ian

 

[Rod]

Well, it's about as stable as it can get now and it still runs 32bit apps (unlike the about to be released Catalina) and has all of the same apps as High Sierra plus a few refinements such as Dark Mode in Appearance Preferences. Not to mention you got it before Apple removed it from the App Store which it usually does after the release of the latest macOS. Not only that but now that you have downloaded it (albeit it will have disappeared from your Applications Folder) it will now be in your Purchases History on the App Store meaning you can always download it again if you decide to make a bootable USB installer at a later time.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

I'm in full agreement with Ian's comments here, and I often wonder why so many always seem to suggest using DiskMaker X.app to create an installer disk and creating the extra work when most users can just use the MacOS installer file that was downloaded from the Apple site.

Just curious, but why suggest a process that most new users don't even need, or to make an OS X install more confusing that it needs to be.

I'd say that Apple got it pretty well as simple as it could be done. Except for when they forgot to tell the user that the installer was downloaded into the Applications folder with a different name than expected.


- Patrick
======

Starting the installation after downloading or sometime in the future inherently is going to UPGRADE the existing installation of macOS. What happens if you want to do a clean re-install (the reason is irrelevant)? Where are you going to move the installer to? Doesn't it make sense to have the installer ready on a USB stick so that, guess what, you can do a clean re-install or an upgrade.

 

[pm-r]

I do it because when I do upgrade the macOS, I have six Macs in the immediate family to upgrade.
Saves me downloading the same file six times from the Apple store.

That's fine I guess but not exactly a normal situation, and quite an overkill to what the OP was asking and really no need to use DiskMaker X.app to create an installer disk for a normal user.

A saved OS install file can work quite well on its own and just save it or a copy and save the extra DiskMaker X.app creation work.


- Patrick
======

 

[pm-r]

Ah, well, they don't do that, Patrick. The app starts and gets to an initial screen that asks, I think, what you want to do

That is just as I recall any OS X upgrade installer working Jake, and with the option, at least in my case, possibly an option as to which volume partition to install it on.


- Patrick
======

 

[pm-r]

@IWT

If/when the person wants to run the Installer, they make a copy and place it in the Applications Folder and activate from there.

Ian, in my experiences, one doesn't have to move or make a copy and they can just run it from wherever it was stored. Even on an external drive, regardless of type.

FWIW: I disconnect all non-related peripherals (drives etc.) when doing an OS X install or upgrade.


- Patrick
======

 

[krs]

A saved OS install file can work quite well on its own and just save it or a copy and save the extra DiskMaker X.app creation work.

Are you saying one could have just copied the install file to a macOS formatted USB flash drive and used that install the OS on all the Macs in the family?
I was under the impression that doesn't work.
If that works, what do these disk makers and Disk Creators actually do? There are at least three different ones that I have come across, plus the Apple method via Terminal.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

If you only wish to upgrade an existing version of macOS, you can use the installer in its .APP form from anywhere.
If you wish to erase the HD and do a clean re-install, you will want to use the disk creator method which create a bootable USB drive for a particular version of macOS installer.

If you want to create the bootable disk from the Terminal and know that you aren't going to mess anything up, by all means go for it. Diskmaker X or other similar tools provide a intuitive GUI to do the same action without needing to know the Terminal commands.

 

[MacInWin]

As Ashwin says, the difference is that the apps and processes create a BOOTABLE usb drive, so that if/when the internal drive dies, you replace the drive, boot from the USB drive and run the installer. It's also useful because you can elect NOT to install and drop back to where you can use Disk Utility from the USB to do a check/partition/format of the internal drive.

 

[pm-r]

the difference is that the apps and processes create a BOOTABLE usb drive, so that if/when the internal drive dies, you replace the drive, boot from the USB drive and run the installer.

Hmmm... OK, but I and I assume many others have and maintain a bootable backup clone for if and when that situation arises.

But one can always have both I guess. Just in case.


- Patrick
======

 

[krs]

Hmmm... OK, but I and I assume many others have and maintain a bootable backup clone for if and when that situation arises.

I would use the bootable Mojave USB Flash drive to do a clean install on the Macs rather than upgrade from ElCapitan where they are all now.
Might get rid of some extraneous stuff that is still lingering around when they were upgraded from Snow Leopard.

After I make a bootable backup of each one of course;D

 

[tlmurray]

Downloading Mojave but waiting for Catalina

By the way my Apple iMac and the MacBook Pro are both expensive toys not workhorses.

With some dependence on what you do, I would not agree. I'm a freelance contractor/consultant and carried a Mac since the Titanium. Every customer is a sea of Windows, and other than a couple of things that need Windows in a virtual environment, there has not yet been anything I could not do -- and usually do faster with less headaches -- than the rest of the staff. Even odd things; for example I've traveled with the staff and have been the Lone Ranger, being the only one that could get on VPN. They all have corporate-configured Windows with the VPN installed "as it should be", but yet and quite often, it did not work for them. Not to pat myself on the back but I have been in meetings where the facilitator could get his PC to show on the big screen, but it worked for me. Same for collaboration apps (WebEx, etc.) where users can't seem to get their screens to share or the microphones to work.

Back on the Mohave thing, I would have gotten it but not installed it and instead waited for Catalina's first update (I never install the first release) and also waited for things I need to be 64 bit. Also, I always back up, format my drive, and install everything from scratch. I have a checklist of things I might forget, apps that need to be deactivated and such, and a database of serials. I agree with KRS in that things tend to linger.

 

[denniscampbell]

keith,
carbon copy clone existing on to an external ssd /hd ....see what works, personal preference and apps. that will allow you to try it and if you dont like erase and keep the external hd /ssd for other uses........
good luck

 

[Rod]

Back on the Mohave thing, I would have gotten it but not installed it and instead waited for Catalina's first update (I never install the first release) and also waited for things I need to be 64 bit. Also, I always back up, format my drive, and install everything from scratch. I have a checklist of things I might forget, apps that need to be deactivated and such, and a database of serials. I agree with KRS in that things tend to linger.

Tim, this is what I suggested back in post #14. Unfortunately silewk accidentally continued the instal process and is now happily using Mojave according to him, which is great.
I also went on to detail the reasons i like DiskMaker X but my real reasons are based on the value of a BOOTABLE installer in a small portable form providing repair, restore, install and erase functions.
I recently had a macOS (Mojave) corruption issue on my MBP which was also passed on to my bootable clone (CCC) on external USB HD. I was unable to access the Recovery Partition neither on the internal SSD or the clone.
I tried Internet Recovery and Time Machine options all without success because I did not effectively have an unaffected OS to boot from.
Then I remembered I had a Bootable installer on a USB thumb drive that I had saved from High Sierra, created with DiskMaker X.
I successfully booted the MBP from the thumb drive and tried to install a copy of High Sierra. No go! Naturally, the device stated I could not install an earlier macOS. So no other option than to erase the SSD.
That done I performed a clean instal of High Sierra, set it up as per previous, logged into the App store and downloaded a fresh copy of the Mojave Upgrade installer.
I then went online and downloaded DiskMaker X and created a new bootable thumb drive of Mojave over the old High Sierra version.
Lastly I ran the Mojave installer I had downloaded from the App Store.
Now I had an empty MBP running a fresh version of Mojave.
Luckily my personal data on the CCC clone was mostly undamaged so I was able to drag and drop my folders back onto the MBP. I chose to download fresh copies of most of my third party apps (this is where a Password Manager really shines) and within a week I was back to where I was was before the disaster, fresh CCC clone to boot.
Could I have done this with any other form of backup? In my case the answer is no.
Could I have created a bootable installer using Terminal or other application? Yes, I could have but DiskMaker X is the one that I am most familiar with, is free and poses the least chance of user error.

 

[Rod]

The above was months ago and (touch wood) no further problems. Obviously I would love to know what happened given that I use the best VPN I can find full time, AdGuard and mostly DuckDuck Go as a search engine its hard to imagine an outside cause but who knows?
As one of our members wisely says, "It's not a matter of if your device will fail but when." (I might be paraphrasing there).