Installing Old Os on Mac Mini

Question

Installing Old Os on Mac Mini

Hello all,

I have a Late 2014 Mac Mini. I partioned a Hardrive so I could Run a older version of the OS to run some older programs.

I have seen different tutorials, but I am still a little unsure on how to do it.

I guess I need to know what is the earliest version of OS I could put on the mini (the OS it shipped with),where to find that OS, how to actually put it on my partioned HD, and if having 2 OS on my mini will affect performance at all??

Thanks as always-Bruce

Posted on Mar 10, 2020 7:26 PM

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Answer 1

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den.thed

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Mar 10, 2020 7:52 PM in response to bruce ridilla

Yosemite 10.10 is the original and oldest macOS that your Late 2014 Mac Mini can run.

to instal the original macOS, see > Reinstall macOS - Apple Support

FWIW and for security reasons, you should actually update to and run either High Sierra or Mojave, which will support and run most everything that used to run in Yosemite.

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Answer 2

Mar 14, 2020 12:55 PM in response to den.thed

Well what I did right now Is the original OS install on the partioned drive by restarting the computer and holding shift+option+r.

im in the process of that. I’m really only doing this to run an older version of photoshop, so this may do the trick

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Answer 3

den.thed

Level 10

82,168 points

Mar 14, 2020 1:11 PM in response to bruce ridilla

Yes it sounds like you are on the right track.

Personally I prefer to run the second macOS on an external drive instead of from a second partition on my internal drive, but either ways works just fine.

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Answer 4

den.thed

Level 10

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Mar 11, 2020 10:40 AM in response to bruce ridilla

You're welcome.

You will want to startup using the "Shift-Option-⌘-R" key method.

Have a look at > How to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery - Apple Support

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Answer 5

Mar 14, 2020 12:18 PM in response to den.thed

So I got hold of a download of high serial, but when I follow a tutorial to install it, I'm presented with this message...

I am doing something , or is this not the correct file to use?

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Answer 6

Mar 11, 2020 9:13 AM in response to den.thed

Thanks for that. I’ll try to find a copy of Yosemite!

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Answer 7

den.thed

Level 10

82,168 points

Mar 14, 2020 12:36 PM in response to bruce ridilla

Hmm.... that appears to be the High Sierra installer. It will not open if you are started up from a later macOS, you need to startup in macOS Recovery and install it on the external drive.

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