How do I go from Mavericks back to Snow Leopard

Question

I updated my late 2009 MacBook Pro to Mavericks as I thought the system efficiency upgrades the new OS tauted would be good, but alas my computer is super slow for ALL functions.  I won&#x27;t give details, because now after the fact, I&#x27;m learning others have had this problems.  I don&#x27;t have time to hope it will improve, I want to go straight back to Snow Leopard and will wait for Mavericks to have more updates, improvements and better reviews on speed.Technical question on how to go back/ reinstall Snow Leopard?  First my stats: I have 2 partitions on my MacBook Pro: 1. my usual use 400gb partition, which was on snow leopard and went up to Mavericks, and 2. 100gb "test" partition running 10.6.8.  I have an external backup hard drive with Time Machine backup of the 400GB partition.There was an apple support article - http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14176 - that said to revert to previous OS you simply: Choose Apple menu &gt; Restart. Once your Mac restarts (and the gray screen appears), hold down the Command (⌘) and R keys.Select “Restore from a Time Machine Backup,” then click Continue.Is this indeed going to work for me?  Or will it delete the 2 partitions?  Or do I pull out the Snow Leopard install disc and launch Disk Utility and erase the partition drive and install snow leopard that way?Would like some confirmation on the best way to go before proceeding, but hoping to tackle this right away.Thanks!

Eric Root · Answer

Revert to a Previous OS XRevert to former OS from MavericksRevert to Snow Leopard

MichelPM · Answer

Hello Tara,Not addressing your Time Machine inquiry, but I believe you need to know some things about your upgrade to Mavericks, so you have a better understanding of what is going on and how we here can help you.FIrst, you were on OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard. That is 3 OS X releases from Mavericks. Many things in OS X have changed since then.No matter when you decide to upgrade to a later Mavericks version, chances are if your Mac is having issues with it now, it is still going to have issues later down the road.Things that can slow performance on a new OS:Not enough or barely enough installed RAM.Not enough hard drive free space.Running antivirus software on your Mac.Running "garbageware" like MacKeeper, CleanMyMac, TuneUpMyMac and the like.Not having up to date, OS X Mavericks compatible software.Having old, outdated, incompatible software installed.If you have any connected third party non-Apple peripheral devices, these need update software and device drivers found on the device makers&#x27; websites&#x27;If none if this is addressed, everytime you attempt an OS X upgrade from here forward, you are going to keep experincing issues.If you would like help to sort out your Mavericks issues, It would help us to help you if we could have some more technical info about your iMac. If you so choose, Please download, install and run Etrecheck. Etrecheck was developed as a simple Mac diagnostic reporting tool by a regular Apple Support forum user and technical support contributor named Etresoft. Etrecheck is a small, unobstrusive app that compiles a static snapshot of your entire Mac hardware system and installed software. This is a free app that has been honestly created to provided help in diagnosing issues with Macs running the new OS X 10.9 Mavericks. It is not malware and can be safely downloaded and installed onto your Mac. http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheckCopy/paste and post its report here in another reply thread so that we have a complete profile of your Mac&#x27;s hardware and installed software so we can all help with your Mac performance issues. This is up to you.Good Luck on whatever you decide.

Tara Hollander · Answer

Thanks for the links, Erick Root.  I had read the first article "Revert to a Previous OS X" and may have come across the other articles, but not read them, which is why I wanted to post my own inquiry on the discussions.  There are very different instructions and so many extra steps in the second postsRevert to former OS from MavericksRevert to Snow Leopardcompared to what Apple says.  I&#x27;m still not clear on the answer to what I should do.  The last article for revert to Snow Leopard states, "With all other drives disconnected your ready to erase 10.7/10.8 completely off your boot drive, and you do need to erase the ENTIRE drive....Do not select the indented names, those are just partitions on the drive, you need to erase the entire drive to catch hidden 10.7/10.8 partitions and rebuild the partition map back to 10.6 version." Which is it, can I follow Apple&#x27;s instructions and Choose Apple menu &gt; Restart. Once your Mac restarts (and the gray screen appears), hold down the Command (⌘) and R keys.Select “Restore from a Time Machine Backup,” then click Continue.Or is the later article post the case and that I have to lose my partitions?  That second 100gb partition that continues to run Snow Leopard has been a life saver for the last 3 days, because it actually runs the way my computer should and has been running - fast!  I would like to keep that partition.  It is a stable, not extra applications, test partition.  Can I keep it and follow Apple&#x27;s instructions, "Restore from a Time Machine Backup" or will I have problems?Please confirm why one way may be better than the other and the consequences of either.Thanks!

Tara Hollander · Answer

Thanks for the post MichaelPM.  It is more than I want to consider because of the time commitment, but I have always been aware of the possibility of old programs, or files perhaps corrupting or causing problems and that this could continue into new OS upgrades.  I may or may not have time to address and tackle the issues you suggest, but I would like to give you information so that the community can perhaps suggestion answers of what is truly "must do" actions no matter which way I go.  If good sound suggestions are provided, I will follow them, as I am a person who generally understand a lot of details about the Mac (intermediate-advanced understanding), but is not super advanced.1. I have 4GB of RAM and that has worked very well.  (I also thought and was enticed that Mavericks was supposed to have engineering updates that made the OS more efficient in terms of CPU use, etc., etc. - so wouldn&#x27;t my 4GB of memory be sufficient?)  2. I have more than 85% of my HD free of space, which I understand is considered good practice.  Details are I have 397GB capactiy and 101.4GB available.3. I do not run antivirus software.4. I do not run the cleaning softwares you mentioned.  (I have OnyX, but haven&#x27;t used in in over 14 months.)5. My only software that was PowerPC was Quicken 2006, which I deleted from the Applications folder (but not any files, extensions or preferences from other folders - where are they?), and Epson Scan.app, which I also deleted/moved to the trash.6. I have not yet connected my LACIE backup hard which has my time machine backup with OS 10.6.8 files, so I don&#x27;t think that can be an issue (i.e. it is not trying to index the backup as I understand other people have problem with constantly happening and making the computer run slowly.So I feel these things are addressed unless you can explain otherwise.  Please advise.I would like suggestions and response to this post, but in another post I will copy an entrecheck report.Thanks!

Tara Hollander · Answer

Here is teh entrecheck report.  Can you advise on any issues or items that defeinitely and easily can be addressed?  Is there anything here that could be causing the tremendously slow, nearly not function computer with Mavericks (I feel like I&#x27;m back in the days of OS9), which was FINE on Snow Leopard?Hardware Information:          MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009)          MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro5,3          1 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2 cores          4 GB RAMVideo Information:          NVIDIA GeForce 9400M - VRAM: 256 MB          NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT - VRAM: 512 MBSystem Software:          OS X 10.9.2 (13C64) - Uptime: 0 days 0:9:51Disk Information:          Hitachi HTS545050B9SA02 disk0 : (500.11 GB)                    EFI (disk0s1) &lt;not mounted&gt;: 209.7 MB                     Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 397.17 GB (92.91 GB free)                    Recovery HD (disk0s3) &lt;not mounted&gt;: 650 MB                     Macintosh HD 2 (disk0s4) /Volumes/Macintosh HD 2: 101.94 GB (68.08 GB free)          MATSHITADVD-R   UJ-868  USB Information:          Apple Inc. Built-in iSight           Apple Internal Memory Card Reader           Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad           Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver           ALCOR Generic USB Hub                     HP Deskjet 6940 series           Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub                     Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller FireWire Information:Thunderbolt Information:Launch Daemons:          [System] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist 3rd-Party support link          [System] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist 3rd-Party support link          [System] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist 3rd-Party support linkLaunch Agents:          [System] com.google.keystone.agent.plist 3rd-Party support linkUser Launch Agents:          [not loaded] openlaunch.plist 3rd-Party support linkUser Login Items:          DropboxInternet Plug-ins:          Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.4.4.2 3rd-Party support link          FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 12.0.0.77 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link          Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9          Flash Player: Version: 12.0.0.77 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link          QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3          o1dbrowserplugin: Version: 5.2.4.18058 3rd-Party support link          SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link          Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 7.0 3rd-Party support link          googletalkbrowserplugin: Version: 5.2.4.18058 3rd-Party support link          iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0Safari Extensions:          Evernote Web Clipper: Version: 6.1Audio Plug-ins:          BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9          AirPlay: Version: 2.0 - SDK 10.9          AppleAVBAudio: Version: 203.2 - SDK 10.9          iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3 - SDK 10.9iTunes Plug-ins:          Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.4 - SDK 10.9User Internet Plug-ins:          CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: Version: 1.0.105 3rd-Party support link          Picasa: Version: 1.0 3rd-Party support link          Unity Player: Version: UnityPlayer version 1.6.2 3rd-Party support link3rd Party Preference Panes:          Flash Player  3rd-Party support link          Flip4Mac WMV  3rd-Party support link          Growl  3rd-Party support link          handyPrint  3rd-Party support linkOld Applications:          /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MERP2.0                    Microsoft Error Reporting:          Version: 2.2.9 - SDK 10.4 3rd-Party support link                    Microsoft Ship Asserts:          Version: 1.1.4 - SDK 10.4 3rd-Party support link          Solver:          Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link                    /Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Office/Add-Ins/Solver.app          Audacity:          Version: 2.0.5.0 - SDK 10.4 3rd-Party support link                    /Applications/Audacity/Audacity.app          /Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Office                    Open XML for Excel:          Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link                    Microsoft Office Setup Assistant:          Version: 14.2.0 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link                    Microsoft Alerts Daemon:          Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link                    SyncServicesAgent:          Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link                    Microsoft Database Daemon:          Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link                    Microsoft Graph:          Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link                    Microsoft Database Utility:          Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link                    Microsoft Office Reminders:          Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link                    Microsoft Upload Center:          Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link                    My Day:          Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link                    Microsoft Chart Converter:          Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link                    Microsoft Clip Gallery:          Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link          /Applications/Microsoft Office 2011                    Microsoft PowerPoint:          Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link                    Microsoft Excel:          Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link                    Microsoft Outlook:          Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link                    Microsoft Word:          Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link                    Microsoft Document Connection:          Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link          Microsoft Language Register:          Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link                    /Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Additional Tools/Microsoft Language Register/Microsoft Language Register.app          Microsoft AutoUpdate:          Version: 2.3.6 - SDK 10.4 3rd-Party support link                    /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0/Microsoft AutoUpdate.app          Smilebox:          Version: 1.0.0.21770 - SDK 10.4 3rd-Party support link          Picasa:          Version: 3.9.16 - SDK 10.4 3rd-Party support link          MultiMode Cocoa:          Version: 6.3.1 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support linkTime Machine:          Skip System Files: NO          Auto backup: YES          Time Machine not configured!Top Processes by CPU:               4%          OverDrive Media Console               3%          WindowServer               1%          EtreCheck               1%          mds_stores               1%          mdsTop Processes by Memory:          336 MB          mds_stores          143 MB          com.apple.IconServicesAgent          123 MB          Dropbox          106 MB          com.apple.WebKit.WebContent          70 MB          SafariVirtual Memory Information:          1.17 GB          Free RAM          1.47 GB          Active RAM          619 MB          Inactive RAM          520 MB          Wired RAM          371 MB          Page-ins          0 B          Page-outsOne other issue that concerns me.  I launched Activity Monitor because the computer was so slow and it shows the "memory used: 3.99GB" out of "Physical Memory: 4:00GB" seems like it is being used up (though Entrcheck may be giving different information), which doesn&#x27;t make sense as I wasn&#x27;t running too many, and not energy/memory hogging programs (i.e. just Mail, Contact, Safari, &amp; OverDrive).Any thoughts on this?

Eric Root · Answer

Your choice(s) depend on how your hard drive is partitioned. If your 100 GB partition is the first/top partition, you can delete the Mavericks partition and expand the top partition down. If your 100 GB partition is the second partition, then you will have to erase the hard drive to recover the space. Try Apple&#x27;s suggestion first as it is the easiest.If you will open Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility, select the Partition tab, and take a screen shot, perhaps someone can make a better suggestion.Screen shotsYou might want to decide if you want to solve Mavericks or revert so people trying to help can focus on one or the other. Mavericks runs fine on the 2 computers in this house and in some areas is faster than the Snow Leopard partition I have.

Tara Hollander · Answer

Thanks again for the reply.  Unfortunately, the 100 GB partition is the 2nd partition.  If I try Apple&#x27;s suggestion first, will I have 100 GB of unusable hard drive space?  Or, will that process automatically erase both partitions and give me one 500 GB hard drive?I would like to revert to Snow Leopard (maybe tomorrow), AND, continue to fine tune my system and files to be better prepared for a more successful upgrade of the OS in the near future?  Thus if people are able to give feedback on my etrecheck report too (below in this thread), please do and thanks!

MichelPM · Answer

HI Tara,Sorry, I have to get back to you so late, I have been away today.If you are using any Google software, especially, Google Chrome or Drive and, maybe even Google Earth, it is best to uninstall all of this software per instructions on Google&#x27;s website.Currently, Google software has some capatibility problems with OS X Mavericks.In additon check to see if there is updates for all of your installed software.Not all Mac software is listed at the Mac App Store. So, you will need to visit some software developer&#x27;s website&#x27;s to check for updates.One piece of software to immediately check for updates is Telestream Flip4Mac.If there is no Mavericks compatible updates for this Internet plugin, then unistall this per instructions on the Telestream website.Download, install and use VLC playerr, instead.

MichelPM · Answer

Also,Mavericks uses memory different from previous versions of OS X.Mavericks will tend to make use of all of the available memory installed as needed. That stated, your MBP can take a total of 8 GBs of RAM.I would strongly advise purchasing and installing the additonal 4 GBs of RAM into,your MBP.Correct and reliable Mac RAM can be purchased from online Mac RAM sources Crucial memory or OWC (macsales.com). Good Luck!

Tara Hollander · Answer

Thanks for the post, much appreciated.I will follow these suggestions on uninstalling Google software and one-by-one check software updates for other applications.  Question: Can installed software that&#x27;s on the HD and not the most updated version, but not being used, cause problems or slow down a computer?  Thus, if I uninstall these programs, and update ones needing updating, will Mavericks and my computer run more normally and faster and not be super slow?Thanks.

Tara Hollander · Answer

Since I hadn&#x27;t had a slow MBP until upgrading to Mavericks, I didn&#x27;t think upgrading memory was needed on this MBP, though I&#x27;ve done it regularly with previous computers (PowerBook G4, PowerBook G3, and desktop Macs).As I posted in another thread only about my memory situation, I received within a reply the following: "Adding RAM only makes it possible to run more programs concurrently." I utilized running multiple programs at once always, and switching between them regularly so I will upgrade to the full 8 GB of memory to maximize that computing method.  Ordered from OWC as I&#x27;ve worked with them in the past.

Eric Root · Answer

Based on your screen shot of Disk Utility, you can select the smaller partition and then hit the minus sign to delete it. Then move your cursor up to the bottom right of the remaining partition (where the /// is) and drag it down to use all your hard drive space.

Kate_Mac · Answer

Tara, I&#x27;m sorry you&#x27;re having these problems.  This would be a good time for you to learn procedures that will keep you safe and happy in the future any time you are considering installing new system software.  I too was considering upgrading from Snow Leopoard to Mavericks, here&#x27;s what I did....I installed Mavericks on an external hard drive, not the hard drive I normally use.  Then I installed the latest versions of the main apps that I most often use on to the drive with Mavericks.  Then I tested some of the things I normally do with those apps.The point here is that I didn&#x27;t touch my main hard drive with my current  Snow Leopard set up in any way.  Thus, when I concluded that Mavericks wasn&#x27;t for me, I didn&#x27;t have to fix or change anything.  I just rebooted my main drive, and returned to work under Snow Leopard.  I&#x27;m sorry this post doesn&#x27;t really help where you are now, but in the future you will face many more opportunities to install new system software, so I hope I&#x27;ve helped you avoid many potential problems down the road.

Tara Hollander · Answer

Thanks, this is helpful, and I will consider this practice in the future.  I thought I was pretty secure having the second partition with Snow Leopard still on it, and in fact, I think it was/is a good thing, but I see the limitations now of that partitioning and the benefits of always having extra backup external drives.  I have one only (to go with this computer) and keep it with only TM backups.  BTW, Can I install Mavericks on a 500GB Lacie external HD, while it is the main storage location of my Time MAchine backups?Also, people talk about creating a extra copy of Mavericks on a bootable USB or other Can I install a bootable Mavericks installer on that same 500GB Lacie external HD, or does it need to be on it&#x27;s own separate data storage such as a USB stick or thumb drive?Of course a trial of the new OS on a separate drive keeps everything, well, separate, but also an external HD will always run a bit slower, at least it has been in my experience, than the actual drive on the computer, but it will allow me to work with and test the new OS.Thank you very much for your post.  I will utilize it in the future.  And the two above questions are fair game for anyone to help me as I will try to keep a copy of Mavericks even if I revert to Snow Leopard.

Eric Root · Answer

You can&#x27;t install an OS on a Time Machine partition. You can partition the external and then install Mavericks on the new partition which should give you a bootable Mavericks if the external is attached to the computer.