Lost Installation CD's

[ScottishDunc]

Good day all,

Firstly, I have searched and cannot find exactly what I am looking for.

I have a Mac Book White from 2008 that came with Leopard. I then upgraded to Snow Leopard approx. a year ago. In the last 6 months I have had multiple issues with my Mac Book (very slow on every app/airport issues/constantly getting the beachball). This all happened at a time when I had my macs HD full and it has not worked right since. I have tried all suggested fixes and have come to the conclusion that a clean install is required. Herein lies my problem.

I'm in the military and have moved SEVERAL times since first getting the Mac and cannot find either the original CD or the Snow Leopard CD. Is there anyway I can do this without the CD's? (from my online searches I'm assuming not) If no, can I go and buy the $30 Snow Leopard CD and to a clean install?

Note: I'm in Atlantic Canada and there are no Apple Stores near here and I will not be going anywhere near one for several months or more.

Thanks in advance!

 

[blueroom]

Contact Apple and order the replacement DVD for your MB, it should cost about $15

 

[simsaladimbamba]

You can get the Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Upgrade DVD for 29 USD an do a clean install via that.
Short version: Clean Install of OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
Long version: Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard: How to Erase and Install

 

[ScottishDunc]

Thanks! I'll run and get another copy of Snow Leopard in the morning.

I have manually copied the stuff I want to backup onto an external drive but I cannot use that for Time Machine (wrong format) is there any way I can create a backup on the Mac Book and not have it be erased? I'm assuming its a large file and wouldn't fit on a thumb drive.

Thanks again!

 

[blueroom]

There is a patch / hack for OSX that will let you use any external drive as a Time Machine backup. This would be worthwhile IMO as it doesn't restore the OSX core files so it won't screw up your new install.

 

[ScottishDunc]

Any chance you would have the name/link for that patch?