Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

taptic

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Dec 5, 2012
1,341
437
California
Hi,

I have a Mac running 10.6.8 out of the box. How can I copy the Snow Leopard file to one of my older computers?
 

Nermal

Moderator
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
20,973
4,542
New Zealand
Snow Leopard must be installed from DVD. It sounds like you don't have one so you'll need to buy it if you want to upgrade your older systems (the version that came bundled with your newer computer is licensed for that computer only).
 

taptic

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Dec 5, 2012
1,341
437
California
Oh, wait. I actually still have some discs that came with the newer one. Can I install it using those?
 

stroked

Suspended
May 3, 2010
555
331
Carbon Copy Cloner, or SuperDuper, but only if your older Macs are Intel, not PPC. It is very easy to do.
 

Bear

macrumors G3
Jul 23, 2002
8,088
5
Sol III - Terra
Hi,

I have a Mac running 10.6.8 out of the box. How can I copy the Snow Leopard file to one of my older computers?
You can't, the OS that comes installed is tailored to the hardware in question.

Oh, wait. I actually still have some discs that came with the newer one. Can I install it using those?
No, the software restore discs that came with a system only works on that model.

Carbon Copy Cloner, or SuperDuper, but only if your older Macs are Intel, not PPC. It is very easy to do.
Won't work for the above stated reasons.

Pretty sure that a cloned copy of an install disc from one Mac won't work on another.
Correct if you mean from one model Mac to another.
 

stroked

Suspended
May 3, 2010
555
331
Pretty sure that a cloned copy of an install disc from one Mac won't work on another.

You do not clone the install disk, you clone the hard drive that has OSX installed on it. It will work, as long as the older Macs are intel.
 

RedCroissant

Suspended
Aug 13, 2011
2,268
96
Carbon Copy Cloner, or SuperDuper, but only if your older Macs are Intel, not PPC. It is very easy to do.

Carbon Copy Cloner does work on PPC Macs and I have used it to clone 10.5.8 from an iMac G5 to an iBook G4. It worked perfectly. I of course wasn't cloning Snow Leopard because that obviously wouldn't work.
 

Kyffin

macrumors 6502
Sep 5, 2010
419
0
Hello, I was wondering if I could ask for some expansion on this point please-

Although I'm now running 10.8 on my 2010 mbp, I still have the Snow Leopard install disk that came with the laptop; the crux is though I've just acquired a 2007 mac mini which will come with Leopard (for my parents) and I'd like to upgrade it to 10.6 when it arrives (with also a new hard drive)

I'm considering installing Snow Leopard onto the new hard drive through my mbp (in target disk mode) with the install dvd I already have and then just swapping out the hard drive when it arrives.

Would this work, or might I expect some problems down the line with drivers &c.?

I would very much appreciate some knowledge on this as I'd really like to avoid problems down the line for them, and any direct experience would be especially welcome

Thank you!
 

Nermal

Moderator
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
20,973
4,542
New Zealand
I'm considering installing Snow Leopard onto the new hard drive through my mbp (in target disk mode) with the install dvd I already have and then just swapping out the hard drive when it arrives.

As noted above, the bundled OS (on a grey DVD) is only licensed for use on the hardware that it was bundled with. If you have the white retail DVD then I think it's usable on up to five systems and I believe that swapping the hard drive will work.
 

Kyffin

macrumors 6502
Sep 5, 2010
419
0
Thank you, Nermal.

I've now ordered the Snow Leopard OS disk from the store and it should arrive with plenty of time to configure before swapping out the drives. Thanks again
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.