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How to update mac os x 10.8.5 to a leter version for exemple mac os x el capitan?

How to update mac os x 10.8.5 to a leter version for exemple mac os x el capitan?

MacBook Air, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Feb 11, 2016 5:07 AM

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2 replies

Feb 11, 2016 5:43 AM in response to Fatitaaa

Before you upgrade verify that your software is up to date. A few programs that ran fine in Mt Lion needed upgrades - including printer drivers. I had to retire an inkjet printer when I upgraded from 10.9 to 10.10 so check that the vendor of your printer has an upgrade to El Capitan. Also if you never downloaded any version of the Mac OS between 10.8 and 10.11 your only choice is to install El Capitan. If you did download a version in between you’ll find it in the list of Purchased software in the App Store. Finally, if you have 4GB of RAM and your computer has a standard mechanical hard drive (rather than an SSD) you should consider upgrading the RAM (if you can) or replacing the hard drive with an SSD. El Capitan is considerably more resource hungry than Mt Lion. (Note: since you didn’t mention specifically what computer you have I am trying to cover all the bases. I know most MacBook Airs have an SSD and that none of them can have RAM upgrades. But sometimes people post in the wrong spot.)


  1. Back up your computer one last time (or - shudder - for the first time). Upgrades don’t usually go wrong but sometimes they do
  2. Even though the upgrade installer will perform a drive directory verification and repair (if needed) I like to do it myself first. Since you have Mt Lion installed, reboot into the Recovery Partition (command R), run Disk Utility, and select Repair Drive. Assuming you don’t get an error message at the end. (Or you can skip to step 3)
  3. Reboot normally and launch the App Store program.
  4. Search for El Capitan and download it.
  5. The program will automatically launch and want to run. I recommend that you quit the installer and make a copy of the installer in your downloads folder. Once El Capitan is installed it will erase itself from your Applications folder but the copy in your downloads folder will remain. It is nice to have a copy rather than being forced to download it again
  6. Relaunch the installer and let it do its work.

How to update mac os x 10.8.5 to a leter version for exemple mac os x el capitan?

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