OSX upgrade

[honestone]

I have seen the list of stuff in the 'purchased' column of the app store. Some of them are somewhat meaningless to me. I have used Pages for some things, but have never used keynote. Should I upgrade all of these things to avoid possible trouble? Mavericks is also available. I never wanted it. I've always been perfectly happy with Mountain Lion. I suppose that to get to Sierra, I am going to have to go through Mavericks, Yosemite, and El Capitan to get there. Is that correct?

First, it is not necessary to download updates for Apple software you do not use. Heck, I have never downloaded any such updates, except iTunes, and both of my machines work fine. I don't use Pages and/or Numbers, as I have Office 2016, and thus use Word 2016 and Excel 2016. Of course, I upgrade Office 2016 whenever such updates come out.

Secondly, you can go directly from Mountain Lion to ANY of those more recent versions of the Mac OS. But, if I were you, I would do an intermediate "jump", like move to Yosemite. That was a very stable Mac OS (as are the others). The keys are 1) making sure you obtain and install needed updates for any third party software that you have (so that such programs are compatible with, for example, Yosemite), and 2) follow the steps I stated in my post right above this one. In fact, it is just about mandatory that you do a clean, fresh, "virgin" installation of the new Mac OS, given that you are skipping one or two intermediate versions of the Mac OS.

Third, no matter what Mac OS you are using, you need to :

1. Make frequent backups to an external device.

2. Perform disk cleanup, maintenance, and repairs, from a software perspective, often. Besides doing some disk cleanup on your own, there are both excellent free and commercial products available to assist you. I use Onyx (free( and TechTool Pro, and they work flawlessly. In fact, I depend upon them!

 

[247macpcsupport]

I have seen the list of stuff in the 'purchased' column of the app store. Some of them are somewhat meaningless to me. I have used Pages for some things, but have never used keynote. Should I upgrade all of these things to avoid possible trouble? Mavericks is also available. I never wanted it. I've always been perfectly happy with Mountain Lion. I suppose that to get to Sierra, I am going to have to go through Mavericks, Yosemite, and El Capitan to get there. Is that correct?

Hold off on SuperDuper, or CCC. They are not apps for regular users. Run your updates as instructed by your Apple store app.

 

[honestone]

Hold off on SuperDuper, or CCC. They are not apps for regular users. Run your updates as instructed by your Apple store app.

Wrong again. SuperDuper! and Carbon Copy Cloner are very easy to use, and it does not take much effort for one to learn how to use them. Heck, I would be willing to guide folks through on how to use SuperDuper!.

 

[247macpcsupport]

I have seen the list of stuff in the 'purchased' column of the app store. Some of them are somewhat meaningless to me. I have used Pages for some things, but have never used keynote. Should I upgrade all of these things to avoid possible trouble? Mavericks is also available. I never wanted it. I've always been perfectly happy with Mountain Lion. I suppose that to get to Sierra, I am going to have to go through Mavericks, Yosemite, and El Capitan to get there. Is that correct?

Open up Disk Utility, and tell me what your partition map is.

 

[honestone]

Open up Disk Utility, and tell me what your partition map is.

What the heck does Disk Utility and the Partition Map have to do with upgrades? That makes no sense, unless I am missing something. Please explain.

By the way, I use TechTool Pro to check on the Partition Map for each of my drives (actually SSDs in my case).

 

[arc1953]

Ok….this all seems like jumping off into unknown territory to me. I am a welder, mechanic, and farmer, not a tech expert. In my first attempt at obtaining Sierra, the computer informed me that 10.12 is required. Other than obtaining ALL of the upgrades after 10.8.5, how do I overcome that? I have Onyx and Tech Tool Pro 9. Is the E-drive tool in Tech Tool suitable for use in this process? More questions to follow…….

 

[honestone]

OK, your previous expertise can help you with all this, as it just requires one following a sensible, proven plan of attack. And yes, Onyx and TechTool Pro are excellent tools for keeping your Mac "lean, clean, and mean". And they will be helpful in this process. So, here goes.

First, OS 10.12 is Sierra, and the current version is OS 10.12.5. But, as I mentioned, given that you have been using an older Mac OS for some time, unless you have a compelling reason, you should consider upgrading to an "intermediate" Mac OS, an dYosemite would be a wise choice. So, whatever Mac OS you decide to "move" to, you'll need to download it from the App Store. For Yosemite, the resulting file name will be called "Install Mac OSX Yosemite", and it will wind up inside your Applications folder. When the download is complete, it is imperative that you make a copy of that file in another location. If you download Sierra, the file name will be "Install macOS Sierra".

Next, you are making backups to an external device, correct? Again, Time Machine is OK for that, but this installation process will take longer from a Time Machine backup. I'll get to that later.

Third, take an inventory of all your third party apps, and see if any of them need newer versions. As it is, there is a version of Onyx for each specific Mac OS, so that is one you will need to upgrade. Download all such upgrades/newer versions, and if allowed, do the upgrades right away. For Onyx, you will have to wait until you install the newer Mac OS.

Fourth, make a backup after all that. Now, you are ready to start the process.

Fifth, launch Onyx, and use it to do whatever you do with it. Myself, I use it to Repair Permissions, plus a lot of the other cleaning functions.

Sixth, launch TechToolPro (yes, use its convenient eDrive tool), and run through most of its routines.

Restart your Mac, to make sure everything is OK. Then, make another backup.

Now, for the next step and how to proceed, it will depend upon how you are making backups. If you use Time Machine, you'll need to start your Mac from the (hidden) Recovery HD partition. This link explains how to do that:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314

Then, launch Disk Utility from there to Verify (and if needed, Repair) your internal drive (most likely, TechTool Pro would have let you know that earlier, but it does not hurt). Assuming things are fine, have Disk Utility Erase and Format (and if necessary, Partition) your drive.

Unfortunately, I need to get going. The next step is rather "involved", as getting Yosemite from such a process is not possible. You might want to consider downloading and installing SuperDuper! to make a bootable backup, as that is definitely the way to do for the installation of Yosemite. (Note this about which Mac OS you can get via that Recovery HD process:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904

I'll be back in about 8 hours or so.

 

[honestone]

OK, I'm finally back. Weather was just too nice to stay at home!

In any event, back to the issue at hand. In order for you to install an OS "lower" than Sierra, booting to the Recovery HD partition will not permit you to get to that "Install Mac OS Yosemite" file, for as you can see via the link I provided above, depending on how you boot to that partition, you will only get "a version" of Sierra. But if you had a bootable backup created with either SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner, you could boot your Mac to that backup, run Disk Utility from there, and launch the "Install MacOS Yosemite" file from there. Basically, booting from such a backup is basically like booting from another Mac, but it can "operate" directly on your machine. I use SuperDuper!, and it works like a charm.

 

[arc1953]

I'm soaking all this up, printing all of this plus the info in the links you provided. If I try to install Yosemite it will tell me that 10.10 is required.

 

[honestone]

You will actually not be "told" that OS 10.10.x is required, but when you download it from the App store, it should be the last version of Yosemite, OS 10.10.5.

By the way, and just in case, Apple released a Security Update for Yosemite V1010.5 the other day. You can get it form here:

https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1919?locale=en_US

 

[arc1953]

Actually it did. The day I tried to install Sierra, I went down through the list and found that it always required a higher operating system than 10.8.5. It would appear that I am going to have to start with Mavericks and go from there.

 

[honestone]

Actually it did. The day I tried to install Sierra, I went down through the list and found that it always required a higher operating system than 10.8.5. It would appear that I am going to have to start with Mavericks and go from there.

When you tried to install Sierra, did you just do an "upgrade ij place", that is, have Sierra try and upgrade the "stuff" in OS 10.8.5? If so, then possibly you are correct. But, by doing a clean, fresh, "virgin" installation of Sierra (or any higher OS), you would be wiping everything off the drive and doing the OS installation. In that case, one does not need any prior OS on their machine. IN fact, after doing the Erase and Format of the drive, it will not be there.

 

[arc1953]

Ok, I understand that.

 

[honestone]

Ok, I understand that.

You still did not answer my question: were you trying to upgrade "in place" from OS 10.8.5 to Sierra (OS 10.12.4, I assume)? And if you were, how exactly were you trying to do that?

 

[arc1953]

Yes, upgrading in place. Downloading Sierra from the app store and trying to install without erasing 10.8.5.

 

[arc1953]

And so, after all of this has been said…….can I erase 10.8.5 from the hard drive, and use the Tech Tool Pro E-drive tool to install Sierra? Is the E-drive a bootable backup, or is it just a last resort emergency tool?

 

[honestone]

No, you cannot use TechTool Pro for that. And it is not a "last resort" emergency tool. It is an excellent way of maintaining your Mac via disk cleanup, maintenance, and if needed, repairs. I already mentioned that before (along with using Onyx).

As I also mentioned above, that is a huge, and possibly somewhat risky, jump from OS 10.8.5 to OS 10.12.5. Some folks that visit here have tried such a "direct" jump from OS 10.7.x to OS 10.12.x, and had some serious issues. That is one reason I recommended above that you upgrade to an intermediate OS, like Yosemite (OS 10.10.5). Your chances of success are better.

Here are your two choices, and both of them are not "upgrades in place", ie, they require Erasing and Formatting your internal drive:

1. If you want to upgrade to Sierra, OS 10.12.5, you would do that via booting to the (hidden) Recovery HD partition. This link explains how to do that:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314

But, that will slow process, depending on your internet connection.

2. If you want to upgrade to, say, Yosemite, O 10.10.5, you'll first need to use a different program for your backups. SuperDuper! is an excellent choice, as it makes a bootable backup/clone. You'll also need to download the Yosemite installation file from the app store.

 

[arc1953]

Ok, thank you. I think that it is probably wisest to upgrade to an intermediate OS before jumping to Sierra, like you said. I am studying this issue as much as I can before making the leap. Today, I got the latest Tech Tool Pro. I am going to look into getting Super Duper. Which version do you use? Is it 2.9.1? And from which site did you obtain it?

 

[honestone]

Cool. Yeah, I got the latest version of TechTool Pro also earlier today. Don't forget that after you upgrade to TechTool Pro V9.5.1, get rid of the "old" eDrive, and create a new one. Then, you'll be up to date with that also. Also, when you upgrade to the new Mac OS, you'll need to delete the eDrive again, and create a new one, which will be based on the newer Mac OS you plan to upgrade to.

Now, regarding your plan of attack, here are some suggestions/comments/assistance, etc (as you'll see, a lot of it is based on you choosing Yosemite to upgrade to):

1. You can actually use SuperDuper! in demo mode (note where it says "Download the free trial now"), and here is the company's site:

http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

Note that the latest version, V2.9.1, is compatible with OS 10.8 and above. When you use it in demo mode, it has just about all the functionality as in paid mode, but it runs "somewhat" slower (but still at a decent rate). I actually used it in demo mode for almost a year before I purchased it. As you can see, the paid version is available for $27.95. I have been using it for a long, long time, and I would not be without it. To repeat, when you launch the program, select your "system" to be copied/cloned, and then the destination external drive (maybe partition on your external drive), SuperDuper! will create a bootable backup/clone. When it is done, you can restart your Mac from that backup/clone, and it will be just like having another Mac. You can then run anything from that backup, like you would on your Mac. That's the beauty of it.

2. The first thing you should do is download the Mac OS you want from the App Store. So, if it's Yosemite, that should be V10.10.5, the last one. After you download it, a file entitled "Install MacOS Yosemite" will be inside your Applications folder. Make a copy of it in another location on your internal drive, some place where it is easy to find.

3. Next, of course, as I have previously stated, you'll need to check which third party software you have will need to be upgraded. You are good to go with TechTool Pro and SuperDuper!, but you will definitely need to get the version of Onyx that is compatible with Yosemite. You'll also need to check on the rest of your third party stuff, and download whatever updates you need.

4. I assume you have been making Time Machine backups. That's good, but as you'll see, once you use SuperDuper!, unless there is some compelling reason, you will not need to do backups with Time Machine anymore. I have never used it, and I have used SuperDuper! to 1) do some recovery, and 2) go through the process I describe below. It has always worked for me.

5. Download and install SuperDuper! on your Mac.

6. Do as much disk cleanup on your own as possible. Maybe get rid of some old files you no longer need, for example.

7. Run Onyx to clean up stuff on your internal drive. Also, use its Repair Permissions feature, and execute it. You'll most likely need to run the Repair Permissions feature at least twice, to repair just about all the permissions (interestingly, TechTool Pro also has a Repair Permissions feature, as does Disk Utility for all versions prior to El Capitan. I actually don't know which is the "best one", but I have always had success with Onyx).

8. Run TechTool Pro. For most of its features, you'll need to run them from the eDrive. I just run everything from the eDrive. Not sure how many of their features you execute. And for SSDs (like I have), a number of its features are useless (and in fact I do not run them at all, as they could do harm). A couple you need to do, assuming you have an HDD (versus an SSD), are File and Volume Optimization via the Tools section. I used to run those all the time when I had HDDs, but they are two of the ones I cannot run for SSDs.

9. OK, now you have a "clean, mean" system. Launch SuperDuper!, and backup/clone your "now mean and clean" system (I am assuming you have already dedicated a partition on your external drive for the SuperDuper! backup). Once that is done, boot your Mac from that backup/clone.

10. From that backup/clone, launch Disk Utility to Erase and Format (and if necessary, Partition) your internal drive.

11. Launch the file entitled "Install MacOS Yosemite", and perform a clean, fresh, "virgin" installation of Yosemite onto your internal drive. Once that is done, you'll be offered the opportunity to "migrate"/copy needed "stuff" from your backup. You obviously want to select the SuperDuper! backup for that.

12. Restart your Mac from your internal drive/Yosemite, and viola, you are just about there! A couple of things you need to to, though, at a minimum:

A. Install the new, Yosemite-compatible version of Onyx. The "old" one that was migrated (and compatible with OS 10.8.5) will not work.

B. You'll need to create the eDrive by launching TechTool Pro. The migration "process" does not "migrate"/copy the prior eDrive, but you don't want it anyway, as it is based on OS 10.8.5.

C. For any remaining upgrades of third party software, you would do that also.

OK, there you go! If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask!

 

[arc1953]

Thank you for the advice. More questions to come later.