How to Downgrade from Yosemite to Snow Leopard?

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How to Downgrade from Yosemite to Snow Leopard?

So I have decided to upgrade from Snow Leopard (10.6.8) to Yosemite (10.10) on my iMac. Since then, my computer is EXTREMELY slow and it varies way too much from the older version. I need to go back to the older version.

So I insert my Snow Leopard DVD in my computer, the DVD drive makes loud noises and it ejects. My (internal) superdrive is extremely hot and won't work with some CDs/DVDs, ESPECIALLY this one. After struggling for 30 minutes, it finally loads. I run the installer, then a pop-up appears and says ''You already have a more recent version of [the installer]"" (my computer is in french, so I "translated". I don't have a Time Machine backup, only the Snow Leopard and a malfuntionning Superdrive.

Is there any way to downgrade back to Snow Leopard using another way or to make it work? I've heard that you can install from another DVD using Windows, but I can't get my Mac to share the network with my windows 7 or to show the installer in the Boot Menu. Any help would be lovely!

Posted on Nov 8, 2014 2:41 PM

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Answer 1

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Allan Eckert

Level 9

79,512 points

Nov 8, 2014 2:50 PM in response to felxman49

The installer will not allow you to install an older version of OS X over a newer version. The only way you can do that it to erase the disk drive first. Once you do that then the installer will install the older version. Of course all of you data and applications will be gone so a backup is a good idea.

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Answer 2

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

Nov 9, 2014 12:26 PM in response to felxman49

Do a backup.

OS X Mountain Lion: Revert to a previous OS X version

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Answer 3

Jan 11, 2015 10:52 AM in response to felxman49

I had the same issue...was psyched about Yosemite and then utterly disappointed...disliked the interface, wifi never worked, processing speed reduced drastically, thankfully I had backed up my data using time machine, so was able to downgrade it back to snow leapord, here is a helpful link:

http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/apple-clinic-5/anyway-downgrade-yosemite-snow- leopard-4859100.html

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Answer 4

felxman49 Author

Level 1

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Jan 12, 2015 7:07 PM in response to Allan Eckert

It actually worked! I did a full format of the Disk, then proceeded to install as normal (But my superdrive took a hour to read the DVD properly). I went back to Snow Leopard and took all of my files that I backed up.

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Answer 5

KEForex

Level 1

13 points

Feb 11, 2015 3:38 PM in response to felxman49

But were you able to import all your email accounts and their contents and settings backwards to Snow Leopard? I've tried the same thing and emails would simply not import or be transferred at all. I think the file and folder structures used by mail in Yosemite is completely different from what was used in Snow Leopard.

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Answer 6

kebir

Level 1

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Apr 6, 2015 4:22 AM in response to Allan Eckert

Hello,

I too want to revert back to Snow Leopard. But nothing I did so far has worked, to the contrary, everything I did only made things worse. Unfortunately I have no Time Machine Backup so my options are kind of limited, I guess.

1. I've tried to boot from a bootable DVD (Mac OS X Install DVD for 10.6.8) by holding the C button during start up. That didn't work at all. The CD would spin for a couple of seconds and then eject itself.

2. Then I've used the OPTION + R combination in order to erase my disk drive (Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with safety-options being the fastest).

3. As the above gave no results, I've this time tried to do the same, but chose the safest option with seven overrides Took the system 7 hours in total. The result being that I don't even have Yosmite now.

4. The only option I have is to install Yosmite (which I don't want).

Anyway, I've ended up with option 4. Right now it's loading the components and will be finished in about two and a half hours. (And it's not even sure wether this will work or not ...)

Whoever says that Macintosh is more user friendly than Windows is a liar. This is so aggravating. What good is my recovery DVD if it doesn't even work?

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Answer 7

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

Apr 6, 2015 6:47 AM in response to kebir

Revert to a Previous OS X - Yosemite

Revert to Snow Leopard

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