How to restore from Time Machine without Leopard boot disc?

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How to restore from Time Machine without Leopard boot disc?

I purchased my MacBook around Summer 2007, before Leopard was released. It came with Tiger and with 10.4.9 Tiger boot/restore discs.

About a year later, the hard drive failed. After a trip to the Apple store, I received a new hard drive, with Leopard preinstalled. I eventually got an external drive to back up to with Time Machine. However, I never received a Leopard boot disc, and didn't think to make one.

Now, about 3 years later, my second hard drive has failed. I don't have a Leopard boot disc or drive. I still have the original 10.4.9 Tiger boot discs, however one attempt of copying from my Time Machine external drive to a new SSD drive using the on-disc restore function has not been successful. Is there any way to make it work without the Leopard boot disc? Is there a way to get the disc without having to pay for it?

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Nov 1, 2011 5:00 PM

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Answer 1

steve359

Level 6

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Nov 1, 2011 5:17 PM in response to MusicalMeg

http://hardcoremac.stores.yahoo.net/

Holy Obsolete, Batman! They have 7.5.3 on floppies ...

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Answer 2

MusicalMeg Author

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Nov 1, 2011 5:35 PM in response to steve359

That's a lot of money for a boot disc. 😟

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Answer 3

steve359

Level 6

17,169 points

Nov 1, 2011 5:40 PM in response to MusicalMeg

Not denying that. Just showing where to find the disks that Apple no longer stocks.

Cost is relative. Is it important enough to keep "already paid for" hardware stil working instead of paying for all brand new hardware that ONLY runs Lion? I do not have that answer. Only you have it.

Ebay may have a better price (I do not ebay ... so please do not ask my opinions ont it).

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Answer 4

BDAqua

Level 10

239,009 points

Nov 1, 2011 6:16 PM in response to MusicalMeg

Hi Meg, sorry to hear your problem.

Well, do you know anybody else with a 10.5.8 Mac that you could use to restore things to another external drive?

If you don't mind moving to 10.6.x then for $29, It looks like they might still have it...

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A?fnode=MTY1NDAzOA

PS. One more reason not to rely on TM, as you can see, it's useless in many scenarios.

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Answer 5

MusicalMeg Author

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Nov 1, 2011 7:03 PM in response to BDAqua

That says, "Upgrade from Mac OS X Leopard with Snow Leopard". Would it work as a boot disc??

All the questions pertaining to jumping from Tiger to Snow Leopard seem to suggest a "box set" is necessary, as you can't "jump OS's", but the box set is no longer available.

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Answer 6

steve359

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Nov 1, 2011 7:39 PM in response to MusicalMeg

Read for another person's almost identical experience: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3110162

Even has handy instructions provided by our resident "Kappy", a very well-informed individual.

This will put SL on your disk, but migrating the parts you want to keep from Tiger will be a bit tricky. A wee bit more tricky than I can answer, given your very specific situation.

But start by purchasing the SL disk.

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Answer 7

MusicalMeg Author

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Nov 1, 2011 8:01 PM in response to steve359

Thanks! That seems to say that I can just intall Snow Leopard onto a blank drive with the normal disc, which is a much better option than the others. I don't actually have anything left over from Tiger, as I had been using Leopard for 3 years, and only have backups of that.

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Answer 8

steve359

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Nov 1, 2011 8:08 PM in response to MusicalMeg

More reading, from "ds store", who is also waaaaay smartliers thans mee be:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3358920

Good luck

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Answer 9

BDAqua

Level 10

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Nov 1, 2011 9:58 PM in response to MusicalMeg

All the questions pertaining to jumping from Tiger to Snow Leopard seem to suggest a "box set" is necessary, as you can't "jump OS's", but the box set is no longer available.

Not so despite admonitions to the contrary... it was "Suggested" by Apple, not a true requirement.

It should read the TM volume.

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Answer 10

steve359

Level 6

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Nov 1, 2011 10:23 PM in response to BDAqua

Kind sir

What part, if any, of SL install allows TM to be read for reinstating elements like "user account" and "installed programs", if any considering the TM is Leopard?

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Answer 11

BDAqua

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Nov 1, 2011 10:34 PM in response to steve359

Hi Steve,

I abhor & avoid TM, but from my reading I think/understand/possibly misunderstamd that it is possible & has been done. 🙂

If need be and nobody else pipes in, I should have some new HDDs in a week or so to test it if needed.

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Answer 12

steve359

Level 6

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Nov 1, 2011 10:36 PM in response to BDAqua

More for the OPs benefit than mine, as I see myself at SL for a while (not busting Lion's chops, just have too much to do wihtout fighting Lion's growing years). Still, would be interesting.

She may need to start a new and specific-subject thread after her SL disk arrives.

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Answer 13

BDAqua

Level 10

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Nov 1, 2011 11:21 PM in response to steve359

Agreed... I'd avoid Lion/10.7 like the plague unless you're adicted to the latest iDevices, need to expose every element of your life on FaceBook, or need to tweet the results of your latest bowel movement! 😉 😟

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Answer 14

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Nov 2, 2011 6:52 PM in response to steve359

steve359 wrote:

. . .

What part, if any, of SL install allows TM to be read for reinstating elements like "user account" and "installed programs", if any considering the TM is Leopard?

After installing OSX on an empty disk, when it first starts up you'll have the option to transfer your stuff from another Mac or its Time Machine or "clone" backups. See Using Setup Assistant on Snow Leopard or Leopard for details.

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Answer 15

steve359

Level 6

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Nov 2, 2011 7:07 PM in response to Pondini

Cool.

Thanks Pondini.

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