animeotaku0321
Level 1 (12 points)
Desktops

Q: Mac Pro Early 2008 Upgrading OS 10.6.8 to 10.11 on a new SSD

Hello everyone!

 

I want to upgrade the hard drive of my Mac Pro to an SSD with a new install of El Capitan, but I also want to continue to use Adobe CS3 (I can't afford a new version…>___<).  I've read some people had a lot of issues after upgrading their OS, even when using the Java Legacy 6 for CS3.

 

Does anyone have any good step-by-step tutorials for installing a new OS onto an SSD?  I do have the adapter for my Mac to use the SSD too.  I'm just not *that* tech savvy, so I don't want to mess anything up!  :\

 

Would it be possible to keep my current hard drive with Snow Leopard and run Parallels or Fusion for Adobe CS3 on my SSD?  I've never used Parallels or Fusion (any preferences?), so where would I need the Snow Leopard OS to be?  On a partition of the SSD or can it be on it's own hard drive (the one I'm currently using)?

 

Also not sure when I upgrade my OS, how do I tell my Mac to boot El Capitan and not Snow Leopard if I'm keeping the older OS on its own hard drive?  Is it System Preferences -> Startup Disk?  Is that how I can switch back and forth, if I need to?

 

Here are my specs:

Mac Pro Early 2008 (MacPro 3,1)

2.8 Ghz Quad-Core Intel Xeon

16GB RAM 800 MHz DDR2 FB-DIMM

500GBx2 HDD (one is currently my Time Machine, I will use just as a backup for my pictures)

500GB SSD (not installed in my Mac yet)

4TB HDD (will have Time Machine on half)

 

Would El Capitan be really sluggish on my Mac Pro or should I go with Mavericks or Yosemite?  I'm just trying to extend the life of my Mac as long as possible! 

 

I'm really sorry for all the questions!  Thank you very much for any and all help!!  ^____^

 

~Christina~

Posted on Sep 2, 2016 6:32 AM

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animeotaku0321

Q: Mac Pro Early 2008 Upgrading OS 10.6.8 to 10.11 on a new SSD

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  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Sep 2, 2016 6:51 AM in response to animeotaku0321
    Level 10 (187,626 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 2, 2016 6:51 AM in response to animeotaku0321

    - Unless you previously "purchased" Mavericks or Yosemite is is not available for download.

    - I would just download the El Capitan installer from the Mac App Store and run it and direct that EL Capitan be installed on the new SSD. YOu can then by pressing and holding the Option key during startup to select what OS version you want to boot from. You can set either as the default boot in System Preferences>Startup Disk.

    - During setup you can use the Setup Assistant to migrate stuff from the SN disk. YO can also do that later using Migration Assistant but that created a new used with the migrated information.

    - WIth 16 GB of RAM and an SSD El Capitan will be fine