- Joined
- May 14, 2016
- Messages
- 14
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 1
- Your Mac's Specs
- 15" MBP, 2.53Ghz, 8GB, 500GB SSD, 10.11.6
I’m about to upgrade my Mid-2009 MBP from Snow Leopard 10.6.8 to El Capitan 10.11.6. I have up-to-date Time Machine backups on an external drive. I will be retiring this drive and replacing it with a Glyph drive for backups immediately following the OS upgrade. I intend to continue to use TM but welcome any input on changing my backup procedures. Generally I let TM do it’s thing but have it run a backup just before any major change, like yesterday’s memory upgrade to 8GB or a recent upgrade to a Samsung EVO 500GB SSD.
Currently, I have 10.11.6 on a bootable flash drive and like it a lot so I’m excited to upgrade. I also need to upgrade Firefox and such. I welcome input on browsers ... Safari is OK, I just like FF better. I’m considering Chrome ... eh ...
Here’s my concern: I must not lose access to e-mails saved in Mail, bookmarks in Firefox, and most importantly, data files. It would give me great comfort to know I could run my MBP off the TM backups to access e-mail, bookmarks, and data files just in case something goes wrong/wacky in the OS upgrade. This concern stems from the SSD drive upgrade. My understanding is that you can't go "backward" to an earlier OS. In the SSD upgrade, the OS wasn’t the problem, not even data. Data was there, if mixed all up, on the SSD. The problem was the loss of Mail and bookmarks. It would have taken ages to rebuild everything, put the data where it belonged, etc. I tried this and that but ended up formatting the SSD and cloning the old spinner drive to the SSD. No problems since ...
I have the install DVD (10.5.7) and applications DVD the machine shipped with, but all these would do is get me up and running again. E-mail and bookmarks gone = much gnashing of teeth, cursing, and other unpleasantries. Perhaps I’m being overcautious, but better a cautious newb than a sorry one. What, if anything, do I need to do to ensure all I get is an OS upgrade and not a major problem? Please advise, and thank you!
Currently, I have 10.11.6 on a bootable flash drive and like it a lot so I’m excited to upgrade. I also need to upgrade Firefox and such. I welcome input on browsers ... Safari is OK, I just like FF better. I’m considering Chrome ... eh ...
Here’s my concern: I must not lose access to e-mails saved in Mail, bookmarks in Firefox, and most importantly, data files. It would give me great comfort to know I could run my MBP off the TM backups to access e-mail, bookmarks, and data files just in case something goes wrong/wacky in the OS upgrade. This concern stems from the SSD drive upgrade. My understanding is that you can't go "backward" to an earlier OS. In the SSD upgrade, the OS wasn’t the problem, not even data. Data was there, if mixed all up, on the SSD. The problem was the loss of Mail and bookmarks. It would have taken ages to rebuild everything, put the data where it belonged, etc. I tried this and that but ended up formatting the SSD and cloning the old spinner drive to the SSD. No problems since ...
I have the install DVD (10.5.7) and applications DVD the machine shipped with, but all these would do is get me up and running again. E-mail and bookmarks gone = much gnashing of teeth, cursing, and other unpleasantries. Perhaps I’m being overcautious, but better a cautious newb than a sorry one. What, if anything, do I need to do to ensure all I get is an OS upgrade and not a major problem? Please advise, and thank you!