trying to format HD but issues with installation discs :S

[craigbing]

Hello. Im looking to format my hard drive and start fresh. My Macbook Pro came installed with Tiger which I have since upgraded to Leopard using an update disc and updated to 10.5.5

However Im currently living abroad and all my installation discs are at home in London. I have managed to get hold of an original copy of Tiger 10.5.2 installation disc from a friend with the same Macbook model as me but when I try to install it I recieve the message "disc cannot be installed on this computer" after the language select screen.

I own all the licences and original software but do not have the discs available to me. Is there any way round this using the disc I have? I have read elsewhere that it is not possible to install an older OS on a more recent one...

Anyone got any ideas? Much appreciated.

Oh and my Mac is a Macbook Pro 2.16 Ghz Intel Core Duo 2, 1GB 667 Mhz DDR2 SDRAM,

 

[wrldwzrd89]

You have what is called a Mac-specific disc. These are designed to install ONLY on the machine they came with, and will refuse to install on any other Mac. Unfortunately, there isn't a way around this.

 

[amersault]

hmmm, from what i know you can't format down (move to older versions). i'm not sure how to get around it w/o booting from an external drive and then maybe using Carbon Copy.

other folks might have other suggestions.

 

[craigbing]

Woah! Thanks for the super swift response! Well Im thinking if its not possible the alternative would be to try and format the hard drive without removing the OS.Im not desperate to remove the OS anyway. Im thinking that manualy deleting files this would still leave folders and bits as I would miss things but I would like the HD to be completely fresh. Is there a way you know of to format the HD but retain the OS? Thanks man!

 

[amersault]

what if he just bought Install disks online? would that work?

consider those back up if it does.... otherwise i guess you'd need them mailed to you

 

[dubhe]

You sure the Tiger disc you have was not an upgrade disc for computers shipping with Panther? It will only upgrade, not start fresh.

 

[sickmacdoc]

Hello. Im looking to format my hard drive and start fresh. My Macbook Pro came installed with Tiger which I have since upgraded to Leopard using an update disc and updated to 10.5.5

However Im currently living abroad and all my installation discs are at home in London. I have managed to get hold of an original copy of Tiger 10.5.2 installation disc from a friend with the same Macbook model as me but when I try to install it I recieve the message "disc cannot be installed on this computer" after the language select screen.

I own all the licences and original software but do not have the discs available to me. Is there any way round this using the disc I have? I have read elsewhere that it is not possible to install an older OS on a more recent one...

Anyone got any ideas? Much appreciated.

Oh and my Mac is a Macbook Pro 2.16 Ghz Intel Core Duo 2, 1GB 667 Mhz DDR2 SDRAM,

OK this is getting confusing very quickly! In the first paragraph you mentioned your computer coming with Tiger (10.4) but upgrading with an "update" disk to Leopard (10.5). When you say "update" disk, do you actually mean a full retail Leopard boxed disk?

In the second paragraph you mention an original copy of Tiger 10.5.2, but 10.5.2 isn't Tiger- it is Leopard....

And to mention something that has already been mentioned above, not only does the borrowed install disk have to be from the same model (i.e. MacBook Pro) but it must be from the same generation/revision of MacBook Pro as well for that to work. There have been about 5 revisions/generations of the MacBook Pro to choose from so far.

Your only sure fire way to get this working is to either have your disks mailed to you or to go out and purchase a retail boxed copy of Leopard (which is currently sold as 10.5.4) to use.

An no, in answer to a later post of yours- you can't reformat a drive and keep the OS in place. That would be the equivalent of telling the computer to erase the whole drive (format the drive), but skip over certain items and leave those areas unformatted.

 

[craigbing]

Sorry for the confusion. When I bought the mac it had Tiger pre installed on it and included Tiger installation discs.

My friends computer has Leopard installed on it and the disc he used to install his OS has 10.52. In the second paragraph it should have said Leopard 10.5.2 not Tiger.All these animal names are confusing! My bad. The "Update disc" was bought for me by my company so Im not even sure whether its an update or full retail. Im assuming if an update disc doesnt exist its full retail...So short of using the original discs at home it doesnt look like I will be able to format the Mac.

I think Im just gonna mannually delete everything and keep the OS for now.

Thanks for the help.