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How can I uninstall OS X Yosemite and return to OS X Mavericks?

How can I uninstall OS X Yosemite and return to OS X Mavericks?

Posted on Oct 17, 2014 3:09 PM

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Posted on Oct 17, 2014 3:17 PM

  1. You must have a fully bootable Mavericks system from which to boot the computer. You can then erase the volume with Yosemite, then clone the Mavericks system to the empty volume you just erased.
  2. You can erase the drive and reinstall Mavericks if you have a USB Mavericks installer flash drive.
  3. You can boot the computer via Internet Recovery and reinstall the original version of OS X that came with the computer. This is only feasible on models from 2011 to the present.
600 replies

Nov 20, 2014 11:34 AM in response to PFJ30

If anyone wants to reinstall their old mail folders & mail, & time machine is not operating, try this. I imported my messages from an older mailboxes located inside my backup drive. BTW no-one is ranting at other users. I've sent apple feedback about the problems, I've experienced wt Yosemite, almost everyday. It is apparently falling on deaf cooperate ears.

Nov 20, 2014 11:48 AM in response to greenmind

for the past month and half I tried working with Yosemite but for one reason or another, it "just didn't work".


i tried every hat trick in the book over the past month trying to find some combination of tricks. my original problem had to do with bluetooth connections.


after two reinstallation's, 2 restorations, and a month of every day headaches, I finally wiped my drive and downgraded to Mavericks.


from this side of the OS line, everything works fine. its a solid system and all my daily anxieties and problems are gone.

i recommend this to anyone who knows they have all the data they need as you will need to wipe your whole drive before resintalling.


its not as sexy as yosemite but it just works.

never knew how much that statement really meant till Yosemite.

no more 300% cpu boosts, i get my mail, i can watch a movie, download a semi large file, play a sound from ext hd, and no slowdown.

no more headaches, now i can get some work done.

Nov 20, 2014 11:54 AM in response to readytorun

readytorun wrote:


for the past month and half I tried working with Yosemite but for one reason or another, it "just didn't work".


i tried every hat trick in the book over the past month trying to find some combination of tricks. my original problem had to do with bluetooth connections.


after two reinstallation's, 2 restorations, and a month of every day headaches, I finally wiped my drive and downgraded to Mavericks.


from this side of the OS line, everything works fine. its a solid system and all my daily anxieties and problems are gone.

i recommend this to anyone who knows they have all the data they need as you will need to wipe your whole drive before resintalling.


its not as sexy as yosemite but it just works.

never knew how much that statement really meant till Yosemite.

no more 300% cpu boosts, i get my mail, i can watch a movie, download a semi large file, play a sound from ext hd, and no slowdown.

no more headaches, now i can get some work done.


You realize, of course, that Mavericks was declared to be the absolute worst OS X release ever foisted on the public when it came out, just like you are declaring Yosemite to be. I wonder why Mavericks is running so smoothly for you. Oh, and by the way, every OS X release ever put out was immediately declared to be complete junk. I wonder how Apple has survived all these years.

Nov 20, 2014 12:29 PM in response to lkrupp

lkrupp wrote:


readytorun wrote:


for the past month and half I tried working with Yosemite but for one reason or another, it "just didn't work".


i tried every hat trick in the book over the past month trying to find some combination of tricks. my original problem had to do with bluetooth connections.


after two reinstallation's, 2 restorations, and a month of every day headaches, I finally wiped my drive and downgraded to Mavericks.


from this side of the OS line, everything works fine. its a solid system and all my daily anxieties and problems are gone.

i recommend this to anyone who knows they have all the data they need as you will need to wipe your whole drive before resintalling.


its not as sexy as yosemite but it just works.

never knew how much that statement really meant till Yosemite.

no more 300% cpu boosts, i get my mail, i can watch a movie, download a semi large file, play a sound from ext hd, and no slowdown.

no more headaches, now i can get some work done.


You realize, of course, that Mavericks was declared to be the absolute worst OS X release ever foisted on the public when it came out, just like you are declaring Yosemite to be. I wonder why Mavericks is running so smoothly for you. Oh, and by the way, every OS X release ever put out was immediately declared to be complete junk. I wonder how Apple has survived all these years.

So true. Yosemite has very few complainers compared to the last three or four OSXs. Especially Mavericks which must have had thousands more posts here upon release than Yosemite. Yet all of a sudden Mavericks was the greatest thing ever. Think I have seen this pattern several times.😉


Cheers


Pete

Nov 20, 2014 12:35 PM in response to petermac87

I've seen nothing but complaints about Yosemite. or people just haven't downloaded it cause the argument is that until its completely stable people won't download it. so either way your arguments pretty weak.

and every other system since the Apple iic which I've owned I've never heard or had a complaint.

its just my bad luck this time, but so far I've been pretty lucky with apple and had no trip ups like Yosemite.

my user experience was **** you can't really argue someones experience.

Nov 20, 2014 1:25 PM in response to readytorun

readytorun wrote:


I've seen nothing but complaints about Yosemite. or people just haven't downloaded it cause the argument is that until its completely stable people won't download it. so either way your arguments pretty weak.

Well, you won't see anything but complaints here on the Forum since that's what it's for. You will see a few comments back from people like me that are not seeing any of your issues and could care less about what might have changed with regard to the user interface. As long as it allows me to do my job efficiently, I'm fine with it.


As far as usage rates are concerned, you appear to be correct about adoption rates at the end of last month with Yosemite under 25% compared to Mavericks almost 65%:


OSAll OSOS X
10.101.37%24.1%
10.93.66%64.4%
10.80.57%10.0%
10.70.56%9.9%
10.60.72%12.7%
10.50.14%2.5%
10.40.03%0.5%
Oct 20145.7%100.0%

Nov 20, 2014 1:29 PM in response to MadMacs0

yeah I am thankful for all the leads a couple users gave me regarding this stumbling block.

also research on my own was good too in terms of decision making. learned a lot too and how to take care of my computer with more focus and awareness.

I'm just relating my steps for others who still are arguing with their OS. now that my problems fixed, and I'm enjoying my computer again, thanks for the forum for the discussion. good luck everyone

How can I uninstall OS X Yosemite and return to OS X Mavericks?

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