Upgrade Tiger to Snow Leopard - did I get wrong software?

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Level 1

21 points

Upgrade Tiger to Snow Leopard - did I get wrong software?

Was in Apple store today, and told the sales person I wanted to upgrade my TIGER iMac to SNow leopard. I had thought I needed the Box version which comes with Works, etc. and I didn't want to spend for all of that since I only wanted to go to Leopard.
He asked me which Processor I had, and I told him the Intel Duo. He said with that processor, I can buy the stand alone Snow Leopard for $29 & that would work.
I actually questioned him pultiple times and he was quite adamant that I could use this to put Snow Leopard on my machine. But from what I am now reading (NOT on the outside of the box Snow Leopard comes in), this only can upgrade Leopard to Snow Leopard.

Did he give me wrong info? Can I use this disk to install Snow Leopard on my white iMac machine?

Thanks

20" iMac Intel Core DUo, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Nov 20, 2009 2:44 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

362,023 points

Nov 20, 2009 3:18 PM in response to LIPhotoman

He is right. As long as you have an Intel Mac with at least 1 GB of RAM you can install Snow Leopard. I would advise you install the 2 GB maximum your machine can handle, however.

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Answer 2

LIPhotoman Author

Level 1

21 points

Nov 20, 2009 3:38 PM in response to Kappy

Thanks - I do have 2 GB already.

Of course, I'll backup everything before I load Snow Leopard. The guy in Apple store told me I do not have to delete the old OS - I can just install this one from scratch.

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

362,023 points

Nov 20, 2009 3:42 PM in response to LIPhotoman

That is correct, but you should do the following before upgrading:

Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions

Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger and Leopard.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now restart normally.

If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.

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Answer 4

LIPhotoman Author

Level 1

21 points

Nov 20, 2009 5:10 PM in response to Kappy

Thanks for all the advice here - much appreciated.
Let me be sure I am clear however. I start the computer with my old 10.4 Installer disk in the drive & then do what you set forth? Or do I do that with the 10.6 disk? And then after I Restart, do I then put the 10.6 disk in & follow any onscreen prompts (I assume I'll get those)?

DO I disconnect my external drives when I do this?

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