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How can I update from my current OS X?

S

SuperFreak

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 16, 2012
36
0
I have a MacBook Pro 15" late 2008, running OS X 10.6.8
It's all the same as when I brought it (not brand new)

I have stayed on OS X 10.6.8 since Ive had it and never needed to upgrade, but I have just tried to install the latest version of some music software I own, and it requires OS X 10.7 or higher, this is the first time this has ever happened to me.

What do I do, i have no idea how to update it.. Do I have to purchases the latest update, or?

Theres is no update showing when I click 'software update' and there never has been.. Should there be? Or only on the appstore?

What do I need to do, I just need 10.7 or higher, how do I go about this?

Thank you.
 
Okay, Mountain Lion is £13.99 in the appstore in in the UK.
Do I not need to update to something newer than my 10.6.8 BEFORE I go straight to the latest OS X?

I'm kind of worried doing this, I've heard theres been a lot of problems with stuff going wrong after updating.

I'm not great with all this, so I couldn't bare lossing all my stuff if the update went wrong... :(


Also, are the latest OS X updates supposed to show up in the 'software update' section in 'about this mac' ? Because I have never had any OS X updates show up there, only updates for other stuff i have on my MBP..

Last of all: Should I just go to the appstore, purchase mountain lion, install it etc, and boom? Am I needed to back things up, or so any crazy stuff first or?

Thanks for your help
 
SuperFreak said:
Do I not need to update to something newer than my 10.6.8 BEFORE I go straight to the latest OS X?
Click to expand...
No, you can go straight to ML from SL.
SuperFreak said:
I'm not great with all this, so I couldn't bare lossing all my stuff if the update went wrong...
Click to expand...
As always, when performing anything as major as an OS upgrade, you should back up your system before proceeding.
SuperFreak said:
Also, are the latest OS X updates supposed to show up in the 'software update' section in 'about this mac' ? Because I have never had any OS X updates show up there, only updates for other stuff i have on my MBP..
Click to expand...
Yes, updates show up in Software Update, but not upgrades. Read the link I posted earlier to understand the difference.
 
SuperFreak said:
Also, are the latest OS X updates supposed to show up in the 'software update' section in 'about this mac' ? Because I have never had any OS X updates show up there, only updates for other stuff i have on my MBP..
Click to expand...

10.6.8 is the latest version that you can go to for free, which is why you're not getting any further updates through Software Update.

Software Update is actually gone in 10.8 so all updates come through the App Store (usually for free).
 
Yes you can upgrade directly from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion via the Mac App Store. The reason that it did not appear under software update is because it is a new version of the OS, rather than update of your current OS.

It is recommended that you backup your system before upgrading the OS. You should be maintaining a backup of your stuff anyway, as no computer is 100% reliable and a hard disk can die at any time. If you are not currently backing up your computer the easiest way is to buy an external hard disk or an Apple Time Capsule and use Apple's built in backup program, Time Machine.

However the process of upgrading the OS is pretty trouble free these days, and only a very small % of users experience a problem.
 
GGJstudios said:
No, you can go straight to ML from SL.

As always, when performing anything as major as an OS upgrade, you should back up your system before proceeding.

Yes, updates show up in Software Update, but not upgrades. Read the link I posted earlier to understand the difference.
Click to expand...

Okay great. Yeah I just read your link, understand the update and upgrade difference, cheers,

How exactly do I back-up my system? I have an external HD, but it only has about 20GB left, what do I need to do inorder to back it all up?

Cheers!
 
SuperFreak said:
Okay great. Yeah I just read your link, understand the update and upgrade difference, cheers,

How exactly do I back-up my system? I have an external HD, but it only has about 20GB left, what do I need to do inorder to back it all up?
Click to expand...
I use Carbon Copy Cloner to make a bootable clone of my drive. Of course, you'll need an external drive with sufficient space to make a backup.

You can use version 3.5.1 ($40) or 3.4.7 (free, and works well on OS X 10.6, 10.7 and 10.8).
 
SuperFreak said:
Okay great. Yeah I just read your link, understand the update and upgrade difference, cheers,

How exactly do I back-up my system? I have an external HD, but it only has about 20GB left, what do I need to do inorder to back it all up?

Cheers!
Click to expand...

For Time Machine you will need as much space on your External HD as you have used on your Macbook Pro. 20GB is unlikely to be enough. I am not familiar with Carbon Copy Cloner, but I know a lot of people recommend it. However I suspect you will need the same free hard disk space as Time Machine. I like Time Machine because it is a one button click solution, and I can forget about it. Time Machine does not create a bootable backup like Carbon Copy Cloner does, but it integrates into a number of Apple Apps so it is easy to recover individual emails, or photos in Mail or iPhoto.
 
Last edited:
Okay, just downloaded Carbon Copy Cloner, says it's a trial version, so do I need to download it from somewhere else, the 3.4.7 version?

Yeah, I am going to wait until I get a new 50OGB or 1TB external HD, then back up my system to it.

I have 159.7 GB 'capacity'
Available: 71.41 GB
Used: 88.29 GB (really dont know how I've used 88GB :( )


But yeah, thats what I'm going to do before I move to mountain lion. Or go the time machine way, I'll figure out exactly how to do that when I cross the bridge of upgrading!

Thanks for your help people, appreciated.
 
SuperFreak said:
Okay, just downloaded Carbon Copy Cloner, says it's a trial version, so do I need to download it from somewhere else, the 3.4.7 version?
Click to expand...
3.4.7 is not a trial version. Use the link in my earlier post to download it.
 
SuperFreak said:
Okay, just downloaded Carbon Copy Cloner, says it's a trial version, so do I need to download it from somewhere else, the 3.4.7 version?

Yeah, I am going to wait until I get a new 50OGB or 1TB external HD, then back up my system to it.

I have 159.7 GB 'capacity'
Available: 71.41 GB
Used: 88.29 GB (really dont know how I've used 88GB :( )


But yeah, thats what I'm going to do before I move to mountain lion. Or go the time machine way, I'll figure out exactly how to do that when I cross the bridge of upgrading!

Thanks for your help people, appreciated.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a sensible plan. If you want to learn a bit more about Time Machine, I put together an article about how to set it up and how it works.
 
James Craner said:
Sounds like a sensible plan. If you want to learn a bit more about Time Machine, I put together an article about how to set it up and how it works.
Click to expand...

Hopefully i'll get it going soon as.
Nice one mate, just bookmarked your article, going to read it up as soon as I have a new external HD and am ready to get going! Thanks a lot!
 
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