getting rid of os x server

[bl33d]

about six months ago I purchased a used Imac core i3 (mid 2010) and I love it. My issue is that it was sent to me with os x server installed, I have no need for server and its constant needless background processes and other sluggish features are slowing down my machine when I am trying to produce music tracks. Which is primarily what I do on the mac. I want this crap off of my machine and I want to be able to install either regular snow leopard or lion. Any Ideas?

* due to this being a used system I was not given the disks for server they retail for $200 thats ebay's price... dream on

* I do NOT want to do a dual boot or some other ridiculous ghetto rig that involves hooking someone else's macbook into my imac. which these are most of the quick fixes I have found online.

Im considering just removing the HD altogether getting a blank 2tb replacement and having it installed via a local service center and then I can install a new copy of os x onto it. Will this work with a copy of a regular snow leopard or lion DVD? any other tips you guys have would be greatly appreciated.

 

[tentales]

Why waste money on a service center or a blank 2TB replacement ?

Maybe you're mixing 2 issues together. Do you need more space or is it just the OS version? Why "waste" the existing internal drive ?

If it's just the Server OS X that bugs you, why not reformat and install over the internal drive ? If space is the argument, you could add an external FW800 drive and use both the internal and external drive. I assume the internal is 1TB or less or you wouldn't be talking about a 2TB replacement, right ?

For example, you could download Lion and install on the ext. drive first, then boot up from the external to test your speed and performance from there before clobbering your internal drive. Or never clobber your internal drive, just in case you ever want to switch to the server version down the road when you upgrade your Hardware and keep it as an iTunes/File/whatever Server.

The other advantage to keeping your system external, it's easy to migrate to the next Mac or take along to a buddy's Mac.

 

[VPrime]

Can't you just call apple and ask for factory restore disks? Since ( i don't think)the iMac didn't come with sever preinstalled and it would have been an extra optionappe would send you the factory restore disk with snow Leopard on it.
Ithink they charge 10 dollars for the replacement copy.


Or you can buy a retail copy for 29 and just format the drive using disk utility and reinstall the os.

 

[Bernard SG]

I would think that if you install Lion, it would kill the server stuff.
Whether you will like Lion or not is a whole different story. (FWIW I love it but there definitely are stability issues to be addressed, plus it doesn't always play nice on some specific models of Mac.)

 

[bl33d]

yeah nice ideas but none of them will work

The Imac was purchased on ebay no warranty first of all. 2nd you cannot reformat the drive without the server disks and you cannot wipe the os and install regular snow leopard without having the server disks. is there any way to do a factory reset on an Imac?

when you do install a new hard drive how can you get the os as in snow leopard to boot and load into the new drive? Lion doesnt overwrite server all it would do is make it lion server from what ive been told...

Im not really sure about what the issue is with the computer itself running disk utility detects "problems" in need of repair. It cant make the repairs with out the original server disks. popping a legit snow leopard disk into the drive brings up a message that says "you cannot overwrite server with snow leopard"

Today the mac started acting really unstable kernal task was constantly staying at over 2 gigs even when nothing was running computer felt really warm and a loud beeping kept happening and after that a you need to restart your computer message kept coming up. Tried all the tips on apples website like resetting pram etc and still nothing. Anyone who can help me make sense out of all this I would greatly appreciate it because the local mac dealer wants $400 to fix it

 

[xraydoc]

The Imac was purchased on ebay no warranty first of all. 2nd you cannot reformat the drive without the server disks and you cannot wipe the os and install regular snow leopard without having the server disks.

I've never seen an instance where booting from an installer DVD would allow you to reformat/erase the HD and install from scratch. It may not let you install a non-server OS on top of the server OS, but it should allow you to erase the entire drive first, then install.

NO reason to spend $400 at all!!