How would I wipe/restore to mavericks once the next OSX is out?

[easy-peasy]

If it's a year from now and the next OSX is out, how would I wipe my MBA and still keep it on Mavericks?

At the moment if I wipe my MBA and reinstall the OS it downloads the latest one from Apples servers. I assume that once the next OS comes out then it won't give me an option to download mavericks which is what I want to avoid.

 

[Nermal]

Mavericks will likely still show up under "Purchased" in the App Store (Mountain Lion still does for me so I assume that the same will be true once the next one launches). You can then use the createinstallmedia tool to make a USB installer.

 

[Macman45]

If you want to prepare you can download a copy of Mavericks now and stash it away on an external etc, but it's probably better to go with whatever Apple come up with next time around....you have plenty of time to do it but this may help:


http://download.cnet.com/Apple-Mac-OS-X-Mavericks/3000-18513_4-76018588.html


Other sites including Apples own will allow you to do the same thing...just go to the purchased tab in the Mac App Store

 

[easy-peasy]

Mavericks will likely still show up under "Purchased" in the App Store (Mountain Lion still does for me so I assume that the same will be true once the next one launches). You can then use the createinstallmedia tool to make a USB installer.

If you want to prepare you can download a copy of Mavericks now and stash it away on an external etc, but it's probably better to go with whatever Apple come up with next time around....you have plenty of time to do it but this may help:

http://download.cnet.com/Apple-Mac-OS-X-Mavericks/3000-18513_4-76018588.html

Other sites including Apples own will allow you to do the same thing...just go to the purchased tab in the Mac App Store

Thank you both for taking the time to answer my question, especially so quickly like you did

I ended up ordering an 8gb flash drive off amazon and will come back if I have any trouble.

 

[AlanTheBrit]

Thank you both for taking the time to answer my question, especially so quickly like you did

I ended up ordering an 8gb flash drive off amazon and will come back if I have any trouble.

Best course is to have a clone of of your Mavericks installation on a partition on a suitably formatted external drive. Update the clone every day for peace of mind.
I use SuperDuper 2.7.1; it's never let me down. 1st clone takes some hours; refreshing it (smart update) takes only minutes. The clone is easy to restore to your Mac - though will take some hours to restore. Cloning is a wonderful way to get back to work with little loss of data (depending how long it is after the last cloning). I have two clones - one on an external 3.5" drive and one on a 2.5" 2TB Toshiba portable drive (the portable is small enough to fit in a jacket pocket so my data; apps and carefully customised OS installation will survive, even if my house disappears into a sink-hole!).

 

[Weaselboy]

If it's a year from now and the next OSX is out, how would I wipe my MBA and still keep it on Mavericks?

At the moment if I wipe my MBA and reinstall the OS it downloads the latest one from Apples servers. I assume that once the next OS comes out then it won't give me an option to download mavericks which is what I want to avoid.

As long as you don't remove the existing Mavs recovery partition from the drive, you will always be able to get Mavs.

So let's say OS X Ceiling Cat is out next year and you want a clean install of Mavs. Just command-r boot to recovery and erase Macintosh HD then click install OS and you will get Mavs installed. It will always install the OS version of the recovery partition you have booted from.

Now if you install Ceiling Cat and want to go back to Mavs you would need to have the Mavs installer. Presumably it will stay in your previous purchases like ML is now, or as mentioned, you can DL it now and keep it.

 

[ardchoille50]

At the moment if I wipe my MBA and reinstall the OS it downloads the latest one from Apples servers...

I was unaware that this was possible. Nice to hear the user can actually do this, heck of a bonus there. Everything I learn causes me to love the Mac mini more.. and I don't even own one yet.

 

[casperes1996]

Recovery partitions get updated.

As long as you don't remove the existing Mavs recovery partition from the drive, you will always be able to get Mavs.

So let's say OS X Ceiling Cat is out next year and you want a clean install of Mavs. Just command-r boot to recovery and erase Macintosh HD then click install OS and you will get Mavs installed. It will always install the OS version of the recovery partition you have booted from.

Now if you install Ceiling Cat and want to go back to Mavs you would need to have the Mavs installer. Presumably it will stay in your previous purchases like ML is now, or as mentioned, you can DL it now and keep it.

Pretty certain that updating the OS updates the recovery partition to that OS. It did for me anyways. But... Mavericks should still be in the App Store (purchased tab), so it isn't a problem. Worst case scenario, you can call Apple, and have them set up a solution for you. They're relatively flexible when it comes to deprecated software no longer available. I know people still getting Final Cut 7 from Apple, but the catch is that you have to call.

 

[Weaselboy]

Pretty certain that updating the OS updates the recovery partition to that OS. It did for me anyways. But... Mavericks should still be in the App Store (purchased tab), so it isn't a problem. Worst case scenario, you can call Apple, and have them set up a solution for you. They're relatively flexible when it comes to deprecated software no longer available. I know people still getting Final Cut 7 from Apple, but the catch is that you have to call.

Yes it will, but that is not what the OP asked. He is saying when the next OS X versions comes out, what would he need to do to do a clean install of Mavs, and I explained that. OP seemed to be under the impression a reinstall would give him the new OS he does not want, and that is not the case. OP would still have a Mavs recovery partition so a wipe of Macintosh HD and reinstall would give him Macs, even after a new OS version is out.

 

[casperes1996]

I'm not sure I follow

Yes it will, but that is not what the OP asked. He is saying when the next OS X versions comes out, what would he need to do to do a clean install of Mavs, and I explained that. OP seemed to be under the impression a reinstall would give him the new OS he does not want, and that is not the case. OP would still have a Mavs recovery partition so a wipe of Macintosh HD and reinstall would give him Macs, even after a new OS version is out.

If you delete Macintosh HD and do a reinstall, it will do an install or the OS you're recovering from, and if that OS is the new version, you won't get mavericks, and it would be the new version by default, since your restore partition and Apple's servers are both updated to the new version. If you were to go back, you' denied to either download the old OS, or use physical media with the OS

 

[Nermal]

If you delete Macintosh HD and do a reinstall, it will do an install or the OS you're recovering from, and if that OS is the new version, you won't get mavericks, and it would be the new version by default, since your restore partition and Apple's servers are both updated to the new version. If you were to go back, you' denied to either download the old OS, or use physical media with the OS

Correct; but that wasn't the original question. The question wasn't "how do I downgrade?" but rather "how do I reinstall once a newer version is released?". If you don't "buy" the new version then you'll still get the current one.

 

[MacLC]

Just make a second partition

Good idea for an insurance package. The simplest way to do that is probably:

You can always add a second partition to the HD and install 10.9 on there so you have 2 Mavericks partitions. Then you update one of them to 10.10(Yosemite?) and keep the other original on Mavericks.
That way you can use both and either OS should be able to access documents and possibly apps from either partition.