How to convert pirate version to legit?

[arctic hobo]

At my workplace the previous sysadmin had installed a pirated version of Snow Leopard on an iMac that needed its hard drive replaced.
Not cool, but it's a bit late now. This thread isn't about doing piracy, it's about moving away from piracy.
I want to put Lion or Mountain Lion on so I have better compatibility with a Windows Server environment. Can I upgrade from the pirated Snow Leopard to a legit Lion or ML? If so, (and obviously I'd backup first) how safe is it?
Further, is the standard App Store Lion or ML app appropriate? Or do I need a different licence as it's not really an upgrade (although of course the iMac came with a version, so in a way we did have a copy)?
Any help much appreciated - am happy to admit I'm fairly new to the Mac world.
Thanks,
K.

 

[ChristianVirtual]

What version the iMac came originally ?

Following what Apple write here http://www.apple.com/osx/specs/ you can upgrade from 10.6.8 onwards.

Purchase a SL license on eBay ?

 

[MisterMe]

At my workplace the previous sysadmin had installed a pirated version of Snow Leopard on an iMac that needed its hard drive replaced.
Not cool, but it's a bit late now. This thread isn't about doing piracy, it's about moving away from piracy.
I want to put Lion or Mountain Lion on so I have better compatibility with a Windows Server environment. Can I upgrade from the pirated Snow Leopard to a legit Lion or ML? If so, (and obviously I'd backup first) how safe is it?
Further, is the standard App Store Lion or ML app appropriate? Or do I need a different licence as it's not really an upgrade (although of course the iMac came with a version, so in a way we did have a copy)?
Any help much appreciated - am happy to admit I'm fairly new to the Mac world.
Thanks,
K.

Assuming that your sysadmin did not hack portions of the version of Snow Leopard on your iMac, there is no reason for concern. What makes a copy of MacOS X pirated is that it is not paid for. If you purchased a single-license of Snow Leopard and then install it on a second machine, then the second installation is pirated. Technically, the pirated installation is indistinguishable from a legitimate installation.

This means that you may get right with God and Apple by simply running System Update to update Snow Leopard to the most recent version. From there, the Mac App Store will upgrade your OS to Mountain Lion.

That said, just as I want you to understand that your installation of Snow Leopard is indistinguishable from a legitimate installation, I also want you to make purchases based on rational criteria. Exactly what is it about Lion or Mountain Lion that leads you to believe that it is "more compatible" with Windows?

 

[Imac Sam]

At my workplace the previous sysadmin had installed a pirated version of Snow Leopard on an iMac that needed its hard drive replaced.
Not cool, but it's a bit late now. This thread isn't about doing piracy, it's about moving away from piracy.
I want to put Lion or Mountain Lion on so I have better compatibility with a Windows Server environment. Can I upgrade from the pirated Snow Leopard to a legit Lion or ML? If so, (and obviously I'd backup first) how safe is it?
Further, is the standard App Store Lion or ML app appropriate? Or do I need a different licence as it's not really an upgrade (although of course the iMac came with a version, so in a way we did have a copy)?
Any help much appreciated - am happy to admit I'm fairly new to the Mac world.
Thanks,
K.

This is off topic but 10.8 Mountain Lion removes some backwards compatibly to Windows Server environment, especially if you have any Windows 2000 Servers in your system. It's all because Apples SMB version support is not backwards compatible. I upgraded one MAC and lost access to my mission critical server. It's a good thing I did it to any other of my macs or or I would have killed the workflow on about 15 employees. Here is an apple discussion on the problem. Consider yourself warned.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4145388?start=0&tstart=0

 

[arctic hobo]

Wow, thanks for the replies.
Firstly, good news about the piracy - thanks.

Secondly, the reason I thought Lion would improve Windows Server compatibility is that I have 1 Lion iMac and two Snow Leopard iMacs. The Snow Leopard iMacs cannot connect except through ExtremeZ-IP, while the Lion iMac seems to have no problem connecting directly (and in fact doesn't work at all with ExtremeZ-IP).

If I'm wrong, and I can easily believe I am, then your suggestions for how to user Windows Server environments with Macs are very welcome. I have so far been very disappointed with the compatibility difficulties between the two, and had (perhaps naively) assumed that Apple were improving this due to my more positive experience with Lion. What do you suggest?

 

[Ccrew]

Wow, thanks for the replies.
Firstly, good news about the piracy - thanks.

Secondly, the reason I thought Lion would improve Windows Server compatibility is that I have 1 Lion iMac and two Snow Leopard iMacs. The Snow Leopard iMacs cannot connect except through ExtremeZ-IP, while the Lion iMac seems to have no problem connecting directly (and in fact doesn't work at all with ExtremeZ-IP).

Use SMB to connect instead of AFP. Eliminates the need for ExtremeZ-IP. And all connect using the same protocol. Windows uses SMB natively, and the Mac's support it.

 

[arctic hobo]

aha. Done. Thanks all.
I now have a stupid LPD error though!
We have two printers - one, everyone can use successfully. The other, everyone EXCEPT the two 10.6.8 Macs can use - so the Lion Mac can use it, just not the two 10.6.8s. Printing is returned as "paused" always. Argh!

 

[CyBeRino]

So far as I know, printing hasn't changed much since 10.6 so that sounds like the printer hasn't been installed correctly.