Help requested! [how do I go back to Yosemite?]

[brock5]

Hi everyone,

Forgive me if this was covered. I did google the topic, and saw a suggestion or two, but I didn't trust the source to be definitive.

I was one of the goons that signed up for the El Capitan beta. I foolishly did not install it on a separate partition or device. I am having nothing but trouble and frequent crashes of many apps. Basically I want out until it's ready for the market. I already un-enrolled from updates, but I fear that may have been a mistake, since now I am stuck in the middle somewhere.

My question is how do I go back to Yosemite? Do I really need to wipe the hard drive and re-install OSX Yosemite, and then do a restore from Time Machine? Or is there an easier way? Can I just go back using Time Machine to an earlier back up?

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[c55]

Yes, wiping the drive is the best way and reinstalling yosemite. then you can go back into time machine and grab all your stuff.

 

[KALLT]

You can only go back to an earlier point in Time Machine by first wiping the drive and then restoring from a point before you installed El Capitan. Otherwise you have to start from scratch and manually import your data again.

 

[brock5]

Damn...ok. Thanks. I am really not sure how to go about this. I was not the best candidate for the Beta obviously.

 

[zaxven]

wiping is only option and easiest way to do is..

1. on start up hold Command + Option + R - Go to disk utility, wipe off the existing disk and reinstall.
it will restore mac to the OS it originally came with. (You will need fast internet connection - from mavericks (say) to Yosemite it will take good 1 hour)

2. d/l a copy of Yosemite from app store and create USB installer. Hold Option key at start up, wipe the disk and reinstall.

 

[mossy]

Use TimeMachine seen as you have it.

• Before the chime(sound) on computer boot/start-up - hold down the Command and R keys together - to boot into the recovery partition.
• Select TimeMachine from the finder window that is displayed
• Select the last backup that has 10.10 version (or the date/time before install of the Beta -if you remember)
• Install to Macintosh HD (I assume that is the name of your hard drive)
• It will then restore your computer

No need to wipe, create USB installer or download anything.
The TimeMachine process will wipe the drive before it proceeds. TimeMachine already has the operating system saved. That is the whole point of TimeMachine. To avoid exactly what the user "zaxven" said above (in reference to creating usb installers and wiping the disk.)

Here is link to official Apple support documentation:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314

 

[mossy]

wiping is only option and easiest way to do is..-----Incorrect.

User has a TimeMachine backup. User therefor has options - to do a clean install or use the TimeMachine backup.

1. on start up hold Command + Option + R -----Incorrect.

From Apple: "To start your computer from Recovery, restart your Mac and hold down the Command and R keys at startup."

 

[zaxven]

Command + R - Restores mac to the existing OSX installation. If you have 10.11 installed, recovery will not allow you to go back to Yosemite.

Command + Option + R - Restores to OSX which originally came with your mac. for e.g. Macbook Pro Early 2015, comes with Yosemite. So when you try to restore, recovery will install Yosemite not El Capitan.

Try for yourself!

 

[BillyBobBongo]

Command + Option + R - Restores to OSX which originally came with your mac. for e.g. Macbook Pro Early 2015, comes with Yosemite. So when you try to restore, recovery will install Yosemite not El Capitan.

...and you know that it works when you see the spinning globe on the screen.