Restore Snow Leopard from Time Machine booting from Leopard Disk

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Level 1

4 points

Restore Snow Leopard from Time Machine booting from Leopard Disk

I have a new SSD coming in a few days, and I have made the unpleasant discovery that my SL disk is irreparably scratched.

So, I know that I'll have to boot from an Apple disk in order to initiate a Time Machine restore, but now I only have my Leopard disk.

Will this work? Or do I have to buy another **** copy of SL just to do this?

Maybe ghosting instead of Time Machine? Any recommendations?

Macbook Pro (Early 2008), Mac OS X (10.6.2), 2.4 GHz, 4GB, 200GB, 256MB

Posted on Dec 19, 2009 9:27 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

V.K.

Level 9

56,174 points

Dec 19, 2009 9:34 AM in response to AndrewFreyer

AndrewFreyer wrote:
I have a new SSD coming in a few days, and I have made the unpleasant discovery that my SL disk is irreparably scratched.

So, I know that I'll have to boot from an Apple disk in order to initiate a Time Machine restore, but now I only have my Leopard disk.

Will this work?

NO! It will not work. do not try it. you can only restore a snow leopard TM backup from a snow leopard disk. trying to restore a snow leopard backup with a leopard disk will result in unbootable system. you do need to get a replacement SL disk if you want to use full system restore from TM. in the meantime you can clone your current install to the new drive using superduper or CCCloner. make sure that the new drive is formatted with GUID partition scheme and Mac OS extended journaled format. you will need an external enclosure for the cloning of course. if you don;t have one already buying a replacement SL disk will be cheaper.

Or do I have to buy another **** copy of SL just to do this?

not just for this but you do need a working copy of the SL DVD for a number of things. I suggest you get it. 30$ is not so much to spend on a replacement disk.

Maybe ghosting instead of Time Machine? Any recommendations?

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Answer 2

AndrewFreyer Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 19, 2009 9:47 AM in response to V.K.

Thanks for the advice -

as it turns out.... I have lost the Leopard disk. Just can't cut a break.

$30, here I come.

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Answer 3

V.K.

Level 9

56,174 points

Dec 19, 2009 9:57 AM in response to AndrewFreyer

AndrewFreyer wrote:
Thanks for the advice -

as it turns out.... I have lost the Leopard disk. Just can't cut a break.

oh, brother. I suggest you keep those disks in a safe place. also, as an extra protection I suggest the following. make a small partition on the external drive you are using for backups and clone the snow leopard DVD to it. you can do it using the restore tab in disk utility. you can use it instead of the actual disk from now on and it won't scratch. it will also boot and work faster. I have a partition like that on one of my internal drives (I've got a mac pro) and it's really fast. installs snow leopard in about 20 minutes.

$30, here I come.

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Answer 4

Király

Level 6

10,017 points

Dec 19, 2009 10:00 AM in response to AndrewFreyer

Before spending $30 on a new 10.6 DVD, ask at the Apple Store if they will exchange your scratched one for a new one. I have heard instances where an Apple Store did this for free. Doesn't hurt to ask.

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